TULSA, Okla. -- A roar went up from the Memphis locker room, briefly shaking the halls of Chapman Stadium.

Revenge, in this case, is a dish best served loud.

The 23rd-ranked Memphis Tigers routed Tulsa 41-14 on Friday night, setting things right in the Tigers' eyes for last year's 59-30 loss to the Golden Hurricane in Memphis.

"That's what made tonight really special," Memphis coach Mike Norvell said. "This was a game last year that hurt us. Throughout the offseason, I know I spent a lot of time thinking about it."

This time, a Tulsa season-low crowd of 17,383 watched Memphis quarterback Riley Ferguson throw for four touchdowns and 298 yards while the Tigers defense forced three-and-outs on Tulsa's first three possessions of the second half.

"That was huge," Norvell said.

In a Friday night matchup of teams at opposite ends of the American Athletic Conference West Division standings, Memphis (8-1, 5-1 AAC) won its fifth in a row to extend its lead in the West, while Tulsa (2-8, 1-5) lost for the third straight week.

Ferguson completed 27 of 39 passes and fired touchdown throws to Darrell Henderson, Anthony Miller, Tony Pollard and Damonte Coxie.

Memphis led by just seven at halftime but opened the second half on an epic touchdown drive, a 17-play, 90-yard march that wasn't over until Patrick Taylor smashed in on fourth-and-goal from the 1 to give the Tigers a 28-14 lead.

The Golden Hurricane, who had compiled 243 total yards and 14 first downs in the first half, then went more than 22 minutes without picking up a first down.

"To have that kind of drive to start off," Norvell said, "and the defense keeps them from being able to establish anything, was huge."

"Obviously it is," said Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery. "They had a huge drive there to start the second half, and we don't come out and help ourselves. That's probably the most frustrating thing. We've got things open you've got to take advantage of. But when you're sitting there in those situations, that's the difference in ballgames."

The first half was back and forth, ending with a 21-14 Memphis lead. But the second half was all Tigers, offensively, defensively and nearly special teams (Pollard returned a kickoff 95 yards for an apparent touchdown but it was negated by a holding penalty).

"In every phase," Norvell said, "I thought our guys did a really nice job controlling that game."

After a slow start, Norvell dialed up some razzle-dazzle to get the Tigers on the scoreboard.

Miller took a reverse pitch, stopped and threw to a wide-open Roderick Proctor for a 35-yard gain. On the next play, Ferguson rolled right, stopped and threw left for 17 yards into the end zone to a wide-open Henderson.

The Golden Hurricane responded immediately with a 95-yard touchdown drive, sparked by D'Angelo Brewer runs of 30 and 23 yards and capped off by Luke Skipper's 10-yard keeper.

Memphis wasted no time retaking the lead, however. Ferguson slipped a short pass to Pollard, who broke three tackles and tight-roped the sideline for a 59-yard touchdown reception and a 14-7 Memphis lead.

The touchdown parade continued when Tulsa went 80 yards to tie it at 14-14. Skipper delivered a 44-yard pass to Keylon Stokes, and two plays later, Chad President scored from 7 yards out on a third-down keeper.

Memphis jumped ahead again two possessions later when Ferguson lofted a throw into the corner for Miller, who made a diving catch in the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown reception and a 21-14 lead.

By the time Tulsa got its initial first down of the second half -- about midway through the fourth quarter -- Memphis had built its lead to 38-14 on Ferguson's 9-yard pass to Coxie between two Riley Patterson field goals.

"Put our defense in a couple bad situations there overall," Montgomery said. "You're playing a really explosive team. Take nothing way from them. They're a good football team. We had opportunities in there to do some things that we didn't take advantage of, and we've got to step up and make plays."

Brewer, the AAC's second-leading rusher this season with 1,099 yards, rushed for 119 yards, while Skipper was 18 of 31 for 157 yards with an interception.

Henderson rushed 14 times for 123 yards and caught six passes for 50 yards and a touchdown. Miller, Memphis' all-time leader in receiving yards and touchdown catches, caught six passes for 46 yards. Defensively, Memphis had seven tackles for loss and nine passes defensed.

"I see a football team that's progressing," Norvell said.

NOTES: Memphis went into the game on a 13-game winning streak on regular-season weeknight games. ... Anthony Miller's 30th career touchdown catch extended his Memphis record. He also owns Memphis marks for receiving yards and went into Friday needing 10 catches to surpass Duke Calhoun (212) as the Tigers' all-time leading pass catcher. ... Memphis' 7-1 start was its seventh in school history but only its second in the last 50 years. ... Tulsa PK Redford Jones became the Golden Hurricane's career scoring leader last week at SMU, surpassing the previous mark of 299 points. ... Tulsa RB D'Angelo Brewer, who came in ranked second in the American Athletic Conference in rushing at 122.5 yards per game, is just the fourth Tulsa player with more than 3,000 yards rushing. ... Tulsa's 38-34 loss at SMU last week was its fourth loss this season by one possession and its third loss in which the Golden Hurricane held a 14-point lead.