In the aftermath of the 31-30 loss to UCF last Saturday, Memphis quarterback Brady White went straight to the aggravating bottom line: “We should have won that game, no doubt.”

Four days later, with time to absorb the loss in a more macro way, and with the benefit – and yes, deepening frustration – of watching replays, White doubled down on his initial assessment.

“More, more that way,” he said. “I mean, I felt like we should have won it. Obviously, we didn’t, so shoulda, woulda, coulda doesn’t count.

“Looking back at it, we could have played even better than we did in the first half,” White said after Wednesday morning’s practice, and looking ahead to Saturday’s game at SEC foe Missouri (3-3, 0-3). “And obviously in the second half you know if you don’t have some of the things we had (turnovers and penalties), we play better. But that’s in the past, so you move on.”

Memphis, of course, scored all 30 points in the first half. White was 10-for-17 passing for 117 yards and scrambled 11 yards for a first-quarter touchdown (more on that in a moment). Darrell Henderson had continued his season as a tailback run wild with 172 rushing yards through two quarters and a TD.

After halftime? UCF shut down Henderson (27 yards on 10 carries) and the run game and White completed 7-of-12 passes for 92 yards.

It wasn’t enough.

All of which leaves White, as the quarterback, to make a hard inspection of himself and the offense as a whole. Through seven games, Memphis is 4-3 (1-3 in the American Athletic Conference) and two of the league losses were by a single point.

His personal numbers don’t leave room for a lot of blame: 125-of-185 passing (67.6 percent) for 1,758 yards with 15 TDs thrown and just one interception.

So, how does he evaluate himself and the ongoing process of trying to be better and make improvements?

“First and foremost, the W column,” he said. “I don’t care what the statistics are as long as we win. That’s all that matters to me. But at the same time, you have to learn from everything that happens in a game whether you win or lose. It’s more the big picture, but then breaking the game down in details. Not just individually, but as a unit.”

Let’s go back to White’s 11-yard touchdown run. It came as a surprise to pretty much everyone in the press box and probably to many on the UCF defense. White is not the so-called dual-threat quarterback who can force teams to keep one defender on QB-Run Watch. Yet, he’s mobile enough to make a play running the ball when all the conditions are just right.

"I don’t care what the statistics are as long as we win. That’s all that matters to me. But at the same time, you have to learn from everything that happens in a game whether you win or lose."
Brady White, U of M quarterback

Memphis coach Mike Norvell says that was the case against UCF when White scored that touchdown.

“Brady did a nice job stepping up in the pocket,” Norvell said. “They had brought pressure from the field side and left open a gap and he was able to make it count. I don’t want him to pull the ball down and just start to run if it’s not there.”

For his part, White says that play was an example of “letting the game come to you. You can’t put it in your head, 'I’m going to go run more.’ You’ve got to play the game. Part of that is moving up in the pocket, and you don’t see anything or it’s covered up, then yeah, you can use your legs. That’s understanding the situations of the game and owning the football.”

Tony Pollard, whom the Tigers deploy as both receiver and running back, says White is enhancing his connectivity with the team’s playmakers as well as fitting into his field general’s skin.

“Our timing as a receiving corps with the quarterback has definitely gotten better,” Pollard said. “Consistency with the throws and all that. You start to see him step into that leadership role as a quarterback, him getting a feel for the players.”

The group lacks a clear go-to receiver such as Anthony Miller, now working for the Chicago Bears. Norvell says the group is growing, singling out John “Pop” Williams and Damonte Coxie for having “done some nice things.” But Norvell says Coxie also had a couple of “missed opportunities” in the UCF game.

It’s all part of the progression. And for White, too. There are the plays you make, the mistakes you make, and the plays that are left unmade.

“It’s just those in-game experiences,” Norvell said of White growing as a quarterback. “You try to simulate in practice as much as possible, but it’s building the confidence of getting out there on the field and doing it. He’s getting better. He played solid in the game last week, and there’s some things he’s still gonna learn from. It’s part of it. He’s got seven games under his belt and you see that progression with each opportunity.”

All of which is why White said then and believes even more now that the UCF game was one that got away.

“Little things add up and are what separates those games,” he said. “When you go back and watch it, it’s literally an inch more of me locating a football or straining a little more and (Henderson) or (Patrick Taylor) are out the door.”

The mindset as he heads to Missouri?

Try to duplicate that first half from last week then finish the work at game’s end when those inches matter the most.

“That’s on me, that’s on everyone,” White said. “We don’t have to do anything spectacular, we just gotta do our job.”