Memphis averaged 7.3 yards per carry on the ground in a 38-17 victory over Troy at Simmons Liberty Bank Stadium on Saturday.

Mario Anderson and Brandon Thomas each ran for two touchdowns for the homestanding Tigers, who totaled 211 yards rushing on 29 carries. Seth Henigan also threw a touchdown pass for Memphis, which improves to 2-0.

Troy played without starting center Eli Russ before losing quarterback Goose Crowder to a shoulder injury in the second quarter, and couldn’t keep up offensively. The Trojans fall to 0-2 for the first time since 2014, when they started 0-5 and finished 3-9 in the final season under coach Larry Blakeney.

“When you play good football teams, the room for error is very small, and at the end of the day, if you don’t win any phases in the game, you are not going to win the game,” Troy coach Gerad Parker said. “You’re fighting an uphill when your starting center and quarterback are out of the game.

“Memphis is a fine football program that’s built up by great players, coaches and environment.”

Matthew Caldwell replaced Crowder behind center and played until Tucker Kilcrease came in for the Trojans’ final series. Caldwell, a Gardner-Webb transfer, completed 11 of 19 passes for 113 yards and rushed for a touchdown.

Memphis took the opening kickoff and drove for Thomas’ 2-yard run to go up 7-0 after one quarter. Troy answered with Crowder’s 11-yard TD run to tie the game early in the second, but the Trojans quarterback took a hard shot to his right (throwing) shoulder on the play and did not return.

Touchdown runs by Thomas (1 yard) and Anderson (21 yards) made it 21-7 at the half, with pass interference penalties on Troy contributing to all three Tigers touchdowns. Memphis added Caden Costa’s 32-yard field goal and Henigan’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Brendan Doyle to increase its lead to 31-7 late in the third.

Scott Taylor Renfroe hit a 22-yard field goal to pull Troy within 31-10 after three quarters. Memphis tacked on Anderson’s 4-yard run to go back up by 28, then Caldwell’s 1-yard TD run with 6:27 left set the final score.

Troy gained only 251 yards, just 101 rushing. Damien Taylor, who sat out the first half due to a targeting suspension, led the Trojans with 33 yards on seven carries.

“I am proud of our guys on how they prepared with those players going down,” Parker said. “They responded. We operated well, and Matthew (Caldwell) managed the huddle and did a lot of great things. I’m sure there are things to fix, but he did well. It’s not going to get easier, but we are going to lick our wounds and patch ourselves up on this long bus ride. We will figure it out and get a solid game plan to get ready for a good opponent in Iowa.”

Troy is back in action next Saturday at Iowa. That game kicks off at 3 p.m., with television coverage on Fox Sports 1.