Memphis Team Report (Yahoo! Sports)

Thu, 01 May 2008 12:23:47 PDT

Memphis enters the spring with renewed hope on defense but still needs a quarterback to step up in August.

Defense has been a primary weakness the past two seasons, but this time around, the Tigers return nine starters who took a big step in the right direction under new defensive coordinator Tim Walton.

"We're better defensively," Memphis coach Tommy West said. "We're much more aggressive. We're still learning. We're still giving up a few too many big plays right now, but as far as the everyday play, it's been good."

Now the Tigers need to work on finding a quarterback to replace two-year starter Martin Hankins. Neither junior college transfer Arkelon Hall nor sophomore Matt Malouf won the job in the spring.

"I would not pick any of them to play right now,"...