<BillNo> <Sponsor>
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 609
By Vaughan
HJR0609
007051
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A RESOLUTION to honor the University of Memphis Tigers
football team on an outstanding 2024 season.
WHEREAS, the members of this General Assembly take great pleasure in recognizing
the University of Memphis (UM) Tigers, a football team that broke or equaled several school
records in 2024, while racking up eleven wins, including a post-season bowl victory; and
WHEREAS, Memphis posted the first back-to-back double-digit win seasons in program
history, and the Tigers' eleven wins in 2024 also marked just the second season in program
history with eleven or more victories; and
WHEREAS, the Tigers compiled an extraordinary 21-5 record over the past two
seasons, setting the UM record for most wins in a two-year span; and
WHEREAS, UM currently holds the longest active streak in the nation of scoring twenty
or more points in forty consecutive games, dating back to a 33-28 win over Tulane on Nov. 27,
2021; and
WHEREAS, the Tigers' 20-12 victory over Florida State in 2024 marked their first win
over a power conference opponent on the road since they defeated Kansas in 2015; and
WHEREAS, Memphis spent ten weeks either ranked or receiving votes in the AP Poll
and fourteen weeks in the AFCA Coaches Poll during the 2024 season; and
WHEREAS, the Tigers finished the season ranked No. 23 in the AFCA Coaches Poll
and No. 24 in the AP Poll, marking the first time since the 2019 season that UM was ranked in
either poll at season's end; and
WHEREAS, seven Tiger gridiron greats earned First Team All-American Athletic
Conference (AAC) honors and three received Third Team All-AAC nods; the seven first-team
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honorees are the most for Memphis since joining the AAC in 2013, while the ten total honorees
are the most for the Tigers since the 2019 season; and
WHEREAS, UM quarterback Seth Henigan eclipsed 14,000 career passing yards in the
team's 42-37 win over West Virginia in the Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl and finished his
collegiate career ranked 13
th
in NCAA history with 14,266 yards; and
WHEREAS, Seth Henigan broke a longstanding UM record in the team's 33-28 win over
Charlotte, when he threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Roc Taylor with 31
seconds left in the game to put the Tigers in the lead and seal the victory; his 91
st
career
passing touchdown surpassed Brady White's total for the most touchdown passes ever by a
Tiger; and
WHEREAS, Seth Henigan threw his 104
th
career touchdown pass to Clayton Tune
versus Houston to tie the AAC's career record; and
WHEREAS, Seth Henigan secured his rightful place in Memphis football history as the
program's all-time leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns, and completion percentage; all
four of his collegiate season performances fall in the top ten single-season passing yard totals in
Tiger history, ranking third (3,883 in 2023), sixth (3,571 in 2022), seventh (3,502 in 2024), and
ninth (3,322 in 2021); and
WHEREAS, Seth Henigan was named the Offensive Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the
2024 Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl, while his teammate Chandler Martin was named Defensive
MVP; their selections marked the second consecutive year that both Mr. Henigan and Mr.
Martin were named bowl game MVPs, having received the same honors in the 2023 AutoZone
Liberty Bowl; and
WHEREAS, after receiving an invitation to the Reese's Senior Bowl, Seth Henigan
played with and against some of the best college football players in the land; he completed 12 of
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14 passing attempts for 132 yards and a touchdown and was named MVP of the American
Team; and
WHEREAS, Chandler Martin's 111 tackles ranked 29
th
in FBS, while his 16 tackles for
loss ranked in the top fifteen nationally; and
WHEREAS, linebacker Chandler Martin and his teammate Mario Anderson, Jr., earned
All-America Honorable Mention recognition from Phil Steele for their exemplary play during the
season; and
WHEREAS, Mario Anderson, Jr., had one of the most productive seasons for a Tiger
running back in program history, totaling 1,362 yards on the ground (sixth in Memphis history)
while rushing for 18 touchdowns (tied for third); and
WHEREAS, Mario Anderson, Jr., finished the season ranked 8
th
in the country in total
scrimmage yards (1,674) and total touchdowns (21); and
WHEREAS, Coach Ryan Silverfield and his staff molded the Tigers into ferocious
predators whose hunger could only be satisfied by victory after victory; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED
FOURTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE SENATE
CONCURRING, that we honor and congratulate the coaches and players of University of
Memphis Tigers football team on an outstanding 2024 season during which they posted eleven
victories for the second time in school history and won the Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl in post-
season play with numerous All-AAC, All-American, and MVP honorees contributing.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that an appropriate copy of this resolution be prepared
for presentation with this final clause omitted from such copy and upon proper request made to
the appropriate clerk, the language appearing immediately following the State seal appear
without House or Senate designation.