The ball hadn't been snapped, but Seth Henigan knew where it was going.

Memphis football's quarterback had 37 seconds left to save the Tigers' season. That's not an exaggeration — if they didn't score a touchdown, their season was effectively over. He might've been playing for his legacy as a Tigers college football player, too, but that's a conversation that can wait.

Six seconds later, he'd done exactly that.

The Tigers (7-1, 3-1 AAC) eked out a 33-28 win over Charlotte on Saturday at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, preserving their AAC title hopes for at least another week. And it was those precious 6 seconds that made the difference. For today, at least.

"I never lost faith in our team, man," said defensive end William Whitlow Jr., whose sack ultimately sealed the game.

Inside the play that saved Memphis' season

Orson Welles once said: "If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story." But where do you start?

This one needs a prologue. It was 363 days ago that Henigan was 12 minutes from his hometown of Denton, Texas, attempting to save a season that was seconds away from going up in smoke. The Tigers had just blown a double-digit second-half lead to North Texas, and now they needed a touchdown in less than a minute.

No problem. Henigan moved Memphis to midfield, then lofted a pass to Joe Scates that went for a 36-yard score. It was remarkable because they'd run the same play earlier that game, and Scates had been open. He'd just dropped it.

Now, almost a year later, Henigan was in the same position. The Tigers had again blown a double-digit fourth-quarter lead. The opposing team — Charlotte, this time — had just scored on a dynamic, quick touchdown drive. True freshman quarterback Deshawn Purdie had dazzled in the second half, and Henigan needed to engineer a touchdown drive. Memphis was down four points.

A few seconds earlier, they'd been at their own 25. Now they were on the Charlotte 24, thanks to a timely catch by tight end Anthony Landphere.

So, back to Henigan. He looked to his left, saw 49ers cornerback Elijah Culp 7 yards away from Roc Taylor. He told running back Mario Anderson, standing to his right, to stay in and protect. He knew where the ball was going.

The snap. Taylor broke to the inside, like he was running a slant.

Taylor is Memphis' best receiver. But he'd also had a bad drop on a would-be touchdown earlier in the game, and he was frustrated on the sideline.

"We're going to throw you the ball again," coach Ryan Silverfield told him. "Keep your focus."

His teammates told him, too — keep your head in it.

"I was just so frustrated, because those are routine catches I make at practice," Taylor said. "I never miss those catches. And it was a perfect ball."

Roc Taylor's second chance for Memphis Tigers

A few minutes earlier, Taylor had been on the sideline, wondering if he'd get a chance to make up for it. Now he was cutting hard to the left, beelining for the corner of the end zone. Safety Al-Ma'hi Ali, occupied by three Memphis receivers in the middle of the field, didn't immediately shift toward Taylor.

Henigan had been looking at him the whole play. There might as well have only been two players on the field.

They've played together for four years, the last two with Taylor as Henigan's top target. This season has been a struggle, though — defenses have been trying hard to take him away. He's the subject of pass interference penalties seemingly every week, something that Taylor acknowledged has gotten aggravating.

Henigan lofted the ball — 38 yards, give or take, with ample air under it going toward the back corner of the end zone.

Purdie had thrown a pass just minutes earlier, heading in the opposite direction and finding O'Mega Blake to kick-start Charlotte's touchdown drive. That led to a tense moment for Memphis fans, with the realization that the entire season now came down to the next drive.

"I'm not too emotional," Henigan said. "I'm pretty stone-faced on the sideline, especially in situations like that. People may see it as, if we didn't win the game, they'd have been like, 'Oh, he's not into it.' But you just to have that mentality."

Silverfield had huddled the offense together.

"This is Wednesday practice," he said. "That's all it is. We're just a few hours late."

Culp was only a half-step behind Taylor. Henigan threw it perfectly, the ball gliding over Culp's fingers and into the waiting arms of Taylor. It was his 91st touchdown pass with the Tigers — one more than Brady White, whose record he broke on that play.

A few seconds of game time and a defensive stop later, it was the touchdown pass that gave Memphis its seventh win and kept its AAC title game and College Football Playoff hopes alive.

"I just dropped back, and then Roc made a great play," Henigan said. "That's how I saw it."

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

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Seth Henigan, Roc Taylor and the play that saved Memphis' season