The 1953 Memphis State Tigers football team was an American football team that represented Memphis State College (now known as the University of Memphis) as an independent during the 1953 college football season. In their seventh season under head coach Ralph Hatley, Memphis State compiled a 6–4 record.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 19	Mississippi State	Crump Stadium Memphis, TN	L 6–34		[1]
September 25	at Chattanooga	Chamberlain Field Chattanooga, TN	W 7–6	5,000	[2]
October 3	Louisiana Tech	Crump Stadium Memphis, TN	W 13–7		[3]
October 10	at Murray State	Murray, KY	W 20–0		[4]
October 17	Tennessee Tech	Crump Stadium Memphis, TN	W 14–7		[5]
October 24	at Middle Tennessee	Horace Jones Field Murfreesboro, TN	L 20–26		[6]
October 31	No. 19 Mississippi Southern	Crump Stadium Memphis, TN (rivalry)	W 27–13		[7]
November 7	Arkansas State	Crump Stadium Memphis, TN (rivalry)	L 0–20	6,918	[8][9][10]
November 14	at No. 13 Kentucky	McLean Stadium Lexington, KY	L 7–20	20,000	[11]
November 22	at Southeastern Louisiana	Strawberry Stadium Hammond, LA	W 21–7		[12]
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game