Defense, Mario Anderson's two TDs power Memphis football past Troy

Another week, another workmanlike win for Memphis football.

The Tigers (2-0) easily dispatched Troy 38-17 in front of 23,246 fans on Saturday at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, using a dominant defense and impressive running game to beat the overmatched Trojans.

Mario Anderson rushed for 125 yards and two touchdowns, Elijah Herring made eight tackles and Memphis had no problems beating Troy (0-2) in setting up next week's nonconference showdown at Florida State.

Fears of a potential trap game were greatly exaggerated, apparently. Brandon Thomas rushed for a touchdown to open the scoring for Memphis and Troy answered with a Goose Crowder rushing touchdown.

But Crowder suffered an injury on the touchdown run, and Memphis scored 24 unanswered points.

Here are our takeaways from the game.

Running game survives without Sutton Smith

With Sutton Smith out due to a knee injury, Anderson took the reigns of Memphis' rushing attack. And he had his way in the first half, rushing for 60 yards and a score before the break. Thomas continued his stellar work as Memphis' goal-line back, scoring two touchdowns on two first-half carries.

Smith's absence also meant more playing time for Greg Desrosiers, who had eight carries for 59 yards.

Elijah Herring dominates

Though Memphis' defense didn't pitch a shutout as it did in last week's win over North Alabama, it had control for almost the entire game. A lot of that was because of Herring, who created the game's only turnover when he ripped the ball away from Troy running back Gerald Green to set the Tigers up with great field position.

Herring's relationship with fellow linebacker Chandler Martin has been the driving force of Jordon Hankins' defense, and it was on display throughout Saturday's game.

Seth Henigan, Memphis passing game still looking for improvement

Memphis hasn't needed quarterback Seth Henigan to do anything extraordinary during the first two weeks of the season. But the fact the Tigers have been carried by their defense and not their offense has been against-type, especially going back to last season.

Henigan was 20 of 32 for 161 yards and a touchdown — more than enough to beat Troy. As the challenges get tougher, though, Memphis will need more from its passing game.

It was penalties galore on both sides

Both teams were heavily penalized, almost from the jump. There were more than 100 combined penalty yards, and that doesn't even tell the whole story. In one sequence, Troy got a pass interference penalty that brought Memphis to the 2-yard line, then got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that was assessed half the distance to the goal.

And it didn't stop with the players. After a roughing the passer penalty in the third quarter, coach Ryan Silverfield and the Memphis bench were so fired up that they got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of their own.

Next up

The Tigers have arrived at the game circled on every fan's calendar: A trip to Florida State on Saturday (11 a.m. CT, ESPN).

Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on X @thejonahdylan.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Defense, Mario Anderson's two TDs power Memphis football past Troy