Freshman Becomes Part of Memphis Football History

When freshman Sam Craft scored the first collegiate touchdown of his young career against Arkansas State, little did he know that he immediately became a part of Tiger football lore. With his five-yard scoring run during the second quarter of Memphis's 31-7 win over the Red Wolves, Craft became part of the first father/son duo to score touchdowns for the Tigers in the school's 101-year history.

Craft, the multi-talented receiver/back from Olive Branch (Miss) High School, is the son of former Memphis Tiger wide receiver Ray Craft. The elder Craft played for the then Memphis State Tigers from 1986-89 and had over 700 yards receiving. During his junior season, Ray caught touchdown passes against Southern Mississippi and Vanderbilt in helping Memphis to a 6-5-0 record.

Sam Craft was a prep standout at Craigmont High School in Memphis in both football and basketball before transferring to Olive Branch High School for his senior season in 2012. He led OBHS to the state 6-A playoffs and was named the region's 6-A MVP.

There have been several father/son and even a grandfather/grandson duo's in school history, including Keith and Blake Butler, Glenn, Sr. and Glenn Rogers, Jr., Stan and Austin Weaver and the grandfather and grandson duo of Harry and Stephen Schuh. However, no scoring plays were recorded by these combos.

Notable

On Monday, the American Athletic Conference announced the Tigers' first league game, set for Oct. 5th against UCF, will kickoff at 3:30 p.m. in Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. The game will be streamed online through ESPN3 (WatchESPN.com).