RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The box score from Charles Huff’s Memphis debut , the coach believes, is incorrect.
At minimum, incomplete.
Sleeping in his office following a Saturday night game at UNLV unfolding into a Sunday morning return to Bluff City, Huff spots a shortcoming after finding himself turtling on the turf inside Allegiant Stadium.
A celebratory chest-bump gone awry.
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“I realized when I jumped up, it was one of the D-linemen (Jacari Gatling) who was going nuts in the second half; I think we had six sacks ,” said. Huff, calling it his first office sleep since Marshall's stunning win at Notre Dame in 2022. “But, I will count his. He sacked me, so that might have been seven.
“I probably should have picked one of the DBs.”
Memphis head coach Charles Huff was FIRED UP after winning in his debut on the road pic.twitter.com/59BwAUfAvq
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) August 30, 2026 UNLV likely wishes it picked a different opening foe.
The Tigers opened the Huff era burnishing plans to compete for College Football Playoff Group of Six contention with a come-from-behind, 27-21 win in the city that in January plays hosts to the CFP Championship.
Memphis is 1-0 after a road game under a new coach for the first time in program history.
Memphis scored the game’s final 13 points and held UNLV scoreless the game’s final 25 minutes.
“I think that's the process,” Huff said. “How you manage training camp, how you manage building up to that first game, and everything goes into that. Reps, practice modalities, rotations. We do a really deep dive into the cultural piece in training camp of setting the table for what the year is going to look like or what our guys need to know. How we control our mental disposition.
“We start working opponents in the summer to try to give our guys an opportunity to get exposed to them, so it's not new. Like this trip, we spent probably $20,000-plus into just managing this trip, hiring (recovery/wellness expert) Dr. Cheri Mai, talking to NFL teams that did the east-west travel. Woke up Saturday, everybody was calm; no nervousness.”
A former top assistant coach at Alabama to Nick Saban, Huff, now 5-1 in six season-openers as head coach, talks process. He refuses to look beyond the path immediately in front of him, even as college football takes note: Memphis is 1-0, hosts Arkansas State this week and has another high-profile G6 opportunity Sept. 12 at Boise State.
A university funding football at previously unseen levels and openly dreaming about Power conference inclusion, sooner than later, could be the Group of 6’s darling before Week 2 ends.
Meanwhile, that process.
Huff concedes a roadmap to the season’s opening three weeks — because of a schedule demanding approximately 7,000 miles in travel practically before Labor Day linens are done drying.
PARTY OUT WEST Ⓜ️ #GoTigersGo | #CloseTheGap pic.twitter.com/VjGaUT9U0m
— Memphis Football (@MemphisFB) August 30, 2026 Huff knows his Tigers are 1-0 after early-week storms and power outages in Memphis required players to find emergency housing, 71 of them newcomers and all part of Huff’s latest rebuild following his prior work at Marshall and Southern Miss.
There’s one more element of that debut box score Huff acknowledges: His spot in the game’s record from an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
“As you saw (Saturday) night, I fight for my players, man,” said Huff, receiving a game ball from A.D. Ed Scott and bestowing one to sports administrator Katie Sulentic. “It probably cost me a 15-yard penalty. But these kids work too hard not to be fought for. We fight for our kids, man.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Charles Huff slept in his office, awoke a Group of 6 contender
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