Marcus Stokes added another line to a growing awards haul on Monday, earning Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Week honors after powering Memphis past Army, 49-22.
The redshirt junior was sharp from the start, finishing 29 of 35 for 371 yards and four passing touchdowns. He also did damage on the ground, running for 30 yards and another score. That total of five touchdowns made him the first player in program history to account for five or more touchdowns in back-to-back FBS games.
The recognition followed a busy Monday for Stokes. He was also named the American Conference Offensive Player of the Week and landed on both the Manning Award Stars of the Week and the Davey O’Brien Great 8.
Stokes’ season numbers help explain why the honors keep coming. He has guided the nation’s fifth-best offense and the national leader in first downs, while his own stat line includes a 178.5 passing efficiency rating, 2,532 passing yards and a tie for the national lead in passing touchdowns with 25.
This is also a notable first for Memphis in several years: Stokes is the first Tigers quarterback to win Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Week since Brady White in 2020.
The Davey O’Brien Award goes to the nation’s top college quarterback each year and is considered the oldest and most prestigious national quarterback honor.
Memphis, now 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the American, is off this week before heading to South Florida for a Thursday night game on Nov. 12.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT on ESPN.
The Bulls play at East Carolina before hosting the Tigers.
In Other News...
Mike Norvell's Post-Memphis Run Just Reopened An Old Tigers Debate
Mike Norvells firing at Florida State has put his name back in the spotlight, and for Memphis fans, it also brings back a familiar question about what his run here really meant. Norvell left the Tigers after building the program into a steady winner and earning a bigger job, and now his seven-year tenure in Tallahassee has ended with Florida State turning to Rick Stockstill as interim coach while it begins a national search.
The move adds a new chapter to an old debate that never fully went away in Memphis: how much of Norvells rise was proof of his coaching ceiling, and how much was tied to the situation he inherited and improved here. His dismissal on Nov. 1, 2026, and his 41-39 record at Florida State only sharpen the contrast, giving Tigers fans another reason to revisit the legacy of a coach whose post-Memphis path has been anything but simple. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa State Just Got An Early Reality Check On This Team
Iowa State walked into its season opener as the heavy favorite and walked out with a reminder that early expectations mean little once the games begin. Memphis handed the Cyclones a loss in a matchup that exposed some immediate issues on both ends, with the defense not nearly as sharp as it needs to be and the offense never really finding a steady rhythm.
For a team trying to blend together so many new pieces, the opener also made clear how much work remains on the chemistry front. The Cyclones will need cleaner possessions, better scoring balance and a more connected effort defensively if they want to look like the kind of team that can live up to the preseason hype. [Read more 🡒]
