Darrell Henderson – Noteworthy
Memphis’ Darrell Henderson has bigger goals to accomplish, so he doesn’t have time to waste celebrating his American Athletic Conference record or his status as the nation’s second-leading rusher. Henderson wants to win an AAC championship. Memphis (8-4) carries a four-game winning streak into Saturday’s AAC championship game against No. 7 Central Florida (11-0, No. 8 College Football Playoff ). The Knights have won 24 straight games over the last two years but will be playing this week without injured star quarterback McKenzie Milton. The Tigers’ opportunity to claim a conference title comes one week after Henderson set the AAC’s single-season rushing record.
“It felt good, but I had to flush that because we’ve got a (chance at a) bigger accomplishment this week,” Henderson said. “We’ve got to go play for the conference championship, so I’m just focused on my team right now. This championship is more important right now.” This game represents a second chance for Henderson, whose potential go-ahead 32-yard touchdown run was nullified by a holding penalty in the fourth quarter of a 31-30 loss to UCF last month. Even without that touchdown, Henderson still rushed for 199 yards in that game. “We’ve just got to play relentless and make sure we finish this game,” Henderson said. “We just had too many turnovers and too many mistakes (last time).” Henderson is the biggest reason why Memphis is back in the conference championship game one year after losing quarterback Riley Ferguson and Chicago Bears rookie receiver Anthony Miller, who had formed one of the nation’s most dynamic passing combinations. – AP College Football
