The USFL's first week of play surprised many with its high quality brand of football, some nail-biters, and some upsets. With coverage on ABC and ESPN outpacing expectations, and attendance averaging just under 30,000 per game for the week, the new league seems tobe off and running.
BRM 42 WSH 27—Birmingham QB Bob Lane had a monster game, throwing for 278 yards and 4 TD’s against a Washington Federals defense that had no answers. The Stallions combined for 441 total yards, including 114 receiving yards from Alabama State product Greg Anderson. The effective air attack was seconded by a ground assault that led to 140 rushing yards, including 93 yards on only 13 carries from lead back Cornelius Quarles. Washington was abysmal in the first half, scoring only 3 points to Birmingham’s 35, but fought back, scoring 3 TD’s in the second half. Too little, too late for the Federals as Birmingham wins the first match in USFL history.
OAK 22 TBY 25 – Well, Bandit Ball promised to be exciting and this nailbiter sure was. In front of a solid crowd of over 47,000 in Tampa, the Bandits waited until the last minute to take the lead for the first time in the game. The score was 17-17 at half, with both QB’s having strong first halves. After a field goal, Oakland added a safety when they sacked Tampa QB in the endzone with about 8 minutes left. Tampa rallied, and after holding Oakland out of field goal range, they marched down the field, and with 40 second left Reaves hit star wideout Eric Truvillion on a fade route to take the lead. They went for 2 and got it, giving them the 3 point lead and leaving Oakland little time. Tampa came away with the win and the fans went home excited about USFL football.
MGN 18 BOS 14 – Sometimes it just takes 1 play to change a game. Boston and Michigan had been going back and forth for 3 ½ quarters when that play happened. A broken coverage left former Michigan wideout Anthony Carter uncovered and rookie QB Bobby Hebert found him for a 76 yard score with 8 minutes left in the game. Boston would never recover. The Breakers had built their offense around the slow and steady running of Richard Crump and a short passing game from veteran QB Johnnie Walton, but when it came time to mount a final drive, the plays just were not there. Michigan got strong performances in all 3 phases of the game, including a safety as DE Ronnie Paggett found Walton in the endzone, and a 52 yard field goal from Novo Bojovic.
DEN 20 CHI 9 – A shocker in Chicago as the highly favored Blitz fall to the unheralded Denver Gold. Denver took advantage of 4 Chicago turnovers and kept both Tim Spencer and Trumain Johnson in check throughout the game. While Chicago outgained Denver 336-299, it was the turnovers that told the story. The first, a Greg Landry interception by Denver MLB Putt Choate led to the game’s first score, a FG in the first quarter. A later interception would set up Denver for the first TD of the game, a 30 yard rumbling score from bruising back Harry Sydney. Chicago would never see the endzone, as the Denver D tightened up every time the Blitz sniffed the Red Zone. This was not the Blitz that most of the 33,500 fans at Soldier Field expected to see. For Denver fans, the Gold gave them a reason to look into getting tickets for their home opener next week against Washington.
PHI 24 ARZ 20 – A hard fought game in the desert came down to who wanted it most, and the scrappy Philadelphia Stars were able to muster just enough to hold off the homestanding Wranglers. Both offenses played well, though scoring was tough. Philly’s Chuck Fusina found wideout Scott Fitzkee 6 times for 115 yards, while RB Kelvin Bryant averaged 4.3 yards a carry on his way to a 77 yard day. On the other side of the field, it was a mixed performance for former LSU QB Alan Risher, who threw for 318 yards but was unable to find receivers in the endzone. RB Calvin Murphy scored twice, but was only able to average 3.4 yards a carry against the stalwart Philly defense. In a game this close it is usually self-inflicted wounds, turnovers and penalties, that cost a team the win, and that was the case for Arizona, who had 2 turnovers and 7 penalties, including a costly defensive pass interference that wiped a TD off the board. A good game overall, and an exciting opening weekend in Phoenix.
NJ 22 LA 12 – In the week’s marquee matchup it was the ability of the Generals, led by Herschel Walker, to pound out first downs and kill clock that helped them earn the win. The combination of a solid run game, with Walker gaining 94 yards on 26 carries, and a defense that caused LA to go 5 of 17 on 3rd down conversions made the difference in a game that saw 6 field goals in total and a weird safety on a penalty called against NJ wideout Mike Friede for hands to the face on a block far from the action when NJ was pinned back to the 2 yard line. For LA the inability of Tony Boddie to rush the ball effectively meant that former USC signal caller Mike Rae had to abandon the play action pass, and that just made it much easier for New Jersey to focus on obvious passing downs. I guess if there is good news, it is that there were plenty of Los Angelinos who missed the game, so the first impression of a lost was not a big one. Only 21,400 attended the first game in the cavernous LA Coliseum, despite the lure of Herschel Walker, a possible sign that all is not well in the world of LA football.
Comments