200 X 3 = 8

If you answered 'false' to the title of this post, good for you. You aren't clueless when it comes to basic arithmetic. But this ain't no math quiz. Instead it's my crystal ball's own special way of alerting me of the feat accomplished by a certain running back with dreads. Almost immediately after the end of the AAC championship game three weeks ago (on Dec. 1), CB2 was displaying something right for a change rather than one of its ridiculous predictions. In flashing blue and gray lights, no less, were the numbers that are nonsense to the mathematician but which make perfect sense to any Memphis Tigers football fan. The numbers indicated that RB Darrell Henderson (jersey #8) had just rushed for at least 200 yards in a game for the 3rd time this season. Obvious, right?

Henderson, a 5-foot-9, 200-pound speedster, gave glimpses of his potential during his freshman season in 2016 when he scored 9 touchdowns (5 rushing, 3 receiving, and 1 on a kickoff return) in very limited action before quietly having a sensational 2017 sophomore season, during which he rushed for 1,154 yards and 9 TD even though he averaged just 10 carries per game. He finished the year with 5 straight games of over 100 yards rushing, so he entered his junior year with quite a head of steam. Well, there was nothing quiet at all about what Henderson did in 2018. Oh, you may not have noticed because Memphis doesn't play in one of the so-called Power 5 conferences. But if you regularly checked the FBS rushing stats, you saw his name near or at the top of the list for nearly every week of this season. 

Playing much more than his first two seasons (his 214 carries in 2018 almost equaled the 217 combined he had in 2016-17), Darrell ran for 1,909 yards - second most in the FBS - while averaging a ridiculous 8.9 yards per carry. Throw in his 295 yards receiving and the 124 he gained on kickoff returns and you have your national leader in all-purpose yards with 2,328. He also leads the nation in touchdowns, making a school record 25 house calls in 2018. He was a finalist for the Doak Walker Award (given to the nation's best RB - he didn't win) and was named 1st team All-America by the AP as well as everybody else, as detailed in this article from the team's official website: https://gotigersgo.com/news/2018/12/13/football-henderson-named-memphis-first-unanimous-all-american.aspx

I was all set to do this feature on Henderson way back in September; but after he rushed for 212 yards against Navy in Week 2 and then a career high 233 yards the next week vs. Georgia State, that third 200-yard game turned out to be as elusive to him as he is to any defender trying to tackle him. Four times between Weeks 4 and 13 he topped 170 yards rushing only to fall short of 200. Most frustrating of all was the Tigers' first meeting with UCF, at home in Week 7.

I was certain I'd be doing this post after finding out that Henderson had rushed for 172 yards in the 1st half of that game (on Oct. 13), helping the Tigers take a 30-17 lead over the #10 ranked Knights. During that half he surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the season, joining two other RBs with dreads - Curtis Steele and the great DeAngelo Williams - as the only Memphis players in history to top 1,000 rushing in more than one season. But then when I viewed the details of the game after it was over, I could hardly believe my eyes to read that not only did the Tigers fail to score in the 2nd half - and in the process lose the game 31-30, allowing the Knights to escape with their 19th straight victory - but Henderson only rushed for 27 yards in the 2nd half, finishing with an even 199 for the game. On his final carry of the afternoon, with just under 7 minutes remaining in the game, Darrell ran for a 32-yard TD that would have put Memphis back in the lead; but the play was nullified by a holding penalty, and the Tigers punted two plays later. By the time they got the ball back there was so little time left that they had to throw the ball on every play, leaving Henderson with no chance to get the one more yard he needed to get to 200.

IT HAPPENED AGAIN

The Tigers finished with only a 5-3 record in AAC play, but that was good enough for 1st place (on a tiebreaker) in the West Division. So the Tigers got on the plane to Orlando for another shot at UCF in the conference championship game. And wouldn't you know it, Henderson again started the game on fire, taking his 2nd carry of the game 62 yards to the house (first photo below) and his 3rd carry of the game for a 12-yard TD (second photo below) and then in the 2nd quarter racing 82 yards for another TD. Just before halftime and on just his 9th carry of the day Darrell ran for an 8-yard gain, upping his total to 203, at last (!!) over the 200-yard barrier. On the next play he went for 4 more yards, giving him 207 on 10 carries. And then for good measure three plays later he threw a pass for a 4-yard TD with :23 remaining in the half, increasing the Tigers' lead to 38-21. 

But then, wouldn't you know it, the Tigers' offense, unstoppable in the 1st half, suddenly became very stoppable in the 2nd half, just like in the game in October. The Tigers scored a measly 3 points in the 2nd half; and Henderson, incredibly, gained only 3 yards rushing in the entire half on 6 carries. THREE! At least he didn't have negative yardage and drop below 200; but by the end of the game, after the Tigers' defense also collapsed completely in the 2nd half, Darrell couldn't really celebrate his accomplishment. Instead it was the #8 wearing a UCF uniform doing the celebrating after doing some serious damage after halftime, second string QB Darriel Mack, who led the Knights to touchdowns on all 5 of their 2nd half possessions and scored 4 of the TD himself, as UCF came back to win 56-41 and finish the regular season undefeated for the 2nd straight year.

I was planning to have this feature on Henderson done in time for it to be a lead-in to the Tigers' bowl game against Wake Forest on Dec. 22, during which he'd be making his farewell performance in a Memphis uniform and perhaps gaining so many yards that he'd finish as the nation's leading rusher (he trailed Jonathan Taylor of Wisconsin by 80 yards as of the end of the regular season). But that was before I found out that he had announced that he wasn't going to play in the game and risk an injury that would possibly lower his NFL Draft stock. So if you want to see him in action, you're going to have to wait until the NFL Combine in March. In the meantime here's a video in which you can see all 25 of the touchdowns he scored this season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkrt6LkE-xo

From what little I've read about it, Henderson is expected to be picked on Day 2 of the 2019 Draft; and if that happens, it'll be well worth skipping his senior season with the Tigers.

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                                                      31 + 11 + 2 = 0  

Although Henderson's college career is finished, there are still a couple of months to go for you to catch another Memphis star with dreads, this one wearing a blue and gray Tigers basketball uniform. The numbers to the left of the = sign above (all either career or season highs) are the stat line (in points, rebounds, and blocked shots) of senior F Kyvon Davenport (#0) from the Tigers' 102-92 home loss to #3 ranked Tennessee on Dec. 15 (He has since established a new career high in rebounds with 15 in the Tigers' next game). And as rapidly as he is improving, numbers like those might become the norm rather than the exception for the rest of this season.

Unlike most players Davenport wasn't planning on playing Division 1 college basketball; but when you grow to be 6-foot-8, you have to at least find out if you're any good or not. At first Kyvon wasn't very good at all. In the first game of his junior season in high school he had a double-double - but not the kind anyone would be proud of: 10 points and 10 turnovers. But he improved so much that by the time he finished HS he was talented enough to play in college. Junior college first, at that famous basketball factory (not!) known as Georgia Highlands College, where their idea of a dorm is a place that used to be a Motel 6.

Actually GHC became a powerhouse while Davenport was there, going 66-3 in his two seasons. After that Kyvon took his talents to Memphis. And in his 2017-18 junior season he started all 34 games for the Tigers and in 29 minutes averaged 13.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Those numbers are up so far this season even though he's playing fewer minutes (24 per game) than last season. Kyvon has started his senior season on fire (except for free throws), currently averaging 15.3 points and 8.3 rebounds while shooting 56.9% from the field (almost as high as his 58.2% mark from the FT line). Where he has improved the most is his shooting from 3-point range - from 35.5% last year up to a sizzling 46.4% (13 for 28) so far this season. I don't think he's going to shoot that well all season; but if he does, he just might be hearing his name called in a draft in 2019 about 2 months after Henderson hears his.

I did a Google search on Davenport, and it didn't take long to come across the article I was looking for. It's from the Commercial Appeal from just before this season started and it describes his humble beginnings in basketball. Included with the article is a lengthy photo gallery of shots from last season; so if you're interested, you definitely should click on the first link below. Below that, the second link is to a video showing the 31 points he scored 9 days ago.
https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/sports/college/memphis-tigers/basketball/2018/11/01/memphis-basketball-penny-hardaway-kyvon-davenport-tigers-aac/1812921002/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNOlE-28yAY

Once AAC play begins in January, you'll be able to see Kyvon on a regular basis. Nearly all of the Tigers' conference games are scheduled to be televised by either ESPN2, ESPNEWS, or the CBS Sports Network, so you'll have plenty of chances to see him shine. But (unfortunately) don't expect his dreads to shine too. They're certainly long enough to; but they don't because for every game he keeps them folded up into a bun. It takes away some of the enjoyment watching him play, but not too much.