No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, and no......
Several reasons that didn't happen.
1. Memphis was a disappointing 4-4 heading into the game and knew losing to UT meant they would have to win out against Southern Miss & Marshall to make a bowl.
2. DeAngelo was a very strong preseason Heisman candidate. He'd pretty much fallen out of any practical consideration for the Heisman but showing out against UT would have guaranteed DeAngelo a trip to New York.
3. DeAngelo's draft stock. He was trending as a probable top 10 pick. Not being able to play against UT severely hurt his draft stock. Scouts really wanted to see him in that game.
4. Tommy West coached through 2009. 2005 was not when Memphis knew they needed to make a change.
5. Finally Tommy West's exit interview was IMHO epic. He got emotional not out of selfpity but out of concern for the program and then went scorched earth on UofM's administration. I'm paraphrasing but something to the effect "You can't expect to get big time results operating like a small time program. I'm not gonna self doubt about what went wrong and what we could have been done better. Like the last three predecessors before me I'll leave you with - Until the UofM administration becomes willing to commit the resources to the football program like they do for the basketball program they will not be able to achieve the results they desire.
DeAngelo was chasing all time NCAA records, prestigious hardware, and lots of NFL dollars. Tommy West actually gave Tiger High all he had. He didn't bench DeAngelo to throw the game.