Two expansion teams get solid wins, Washington makes an early statement, and Michigan reminds the league that they are still Champs. All this plus two overtime games to thrill USFL fans in the season's first week of action.
SCORES
BIR 16 BLT 21
Vince Evans won this game with his feet, a 31 yard run for a score in the 4th gave the Blitz enough to hold on against the Stallions despite 100 yards from Joe Cribbs and 125 yards for Ernest Givens.
JAX 20 NJ 25
Despite a poor day from Doug Flutie (195 yards, 2 TD, 2 Int), Walker’s 158 yards helped power the Generals over the Bulls. Ed Luther played well and likely will get a 2nd start, but the Bulls need to tune up their O.
MEM 6 PHI 26
This game was dominated by the Stars defense, which gave up only 2 first half field goals to Memphis. The Showboats only mustered 47 yards on the ground and went 4 of 14 on 3rd down.
ORL 20 PIT 9
The Maulers thought they should win this game, but were outperformed by the Renegades. Rozier had 124 but could not find the endzone, while Collier hit Buggs and James each for a score on the way to a W.
TBY 21 WSH 28
Neil Lomax shines in the 3nd half, leading the Federals back from 21-7 deficit with 3 unanswered scores. He finishes with 361 and 4 TD’s, two to a revived Joey Walters. Late in the game, John Reaves suffers an injury which could keep him out of action for 1-2 weeks.
ARZ 23 CHI 3
Chicago just did not have an offensive rhythm in this one, going 1 for 11 on 3rd down and gaining only 38 yards rushing. Robbie Bosco looked ready for prime time with 301 yards and a 77% completion rate.
DEN 3 HOU 28
Jim Kelly was in prime form, Bob Gagliano was not. Kelly threw for 354 yards and 4 scores to 4 different receivers while Gagliano could not mount a steady offense.
LA 16 MGN 38
Michigan looks like they have not lost a step as Jack Trudeau does his best Bobby Hebert imitation, throwing for 375 and 4 scores against a bewildered LA defense.
OKL 24 SAN 27 in OT
In the first matchup of expansion clubs, both came out looking good. The Gunslingers got a late Neuheisel to Carson TD to send the game to overtime, where Mike-Myer got the home team the win. Both QB’s played well and threw for over 300 yards. Stump Mitchell also contributed 115 for the Outlaws.
GAME OF THE WEEK
OT: Oakland Invaders 34 New Orleans Breakers 31
We predicted a shoot out and that is just what we got in this overtime thriller. At the half the Breakers looked like they would run away with the game, up 31-10, but Oakland stormed back with 21 unanswered in the second half to tie the game and send it to overtime. With momentum on their side they found the will to win after multiple overtime possessions led to a 31 yard Kevin Shea game winner.
The Breakers had it all working in the first half. Eason found Dan Ross for a score, then hooked up with Franz on a beauty of a fly pattern for 57. Dupree and Hilliard also punched in scores of their own and the home team was sitting pretty up by 21 at the half.
In the second half, Oakland, either out of design or out of desperation, abandoned the run game of Whittington and just let Brian Sipe sling the ball all over the field. He would end the day with 405 yards passing and in the second half he found Henry Ellard 9 times. Ellard would not score, but the need to double cover him made it possible for Mark Duper, Ray Chester and Wyatt Henderson each to find open spots in the dicey Breaker zones and Oakland was back in the game.
In overtime, both teams had 2 possessions each before Oakland managed to get close enough for Kevin Shea to boot the game winner. A lot of good football in this one. Sipe was the star, but we saw good games from multiple players on both teams (mostly on offense). Eason had 2 picks, but otherwise looked solid, throwing for 247 and 2 scores. Dupree and Hilliard split carries and ran for a combined 106 with 2 scores. Ellard finished with 12 receptions and 124 yards on the day and Mark Duper caught 6 for 108 and 2 scores as well. A fun game in the Super Dome, and a clear sign that both of these clubs are going to light things up this year.
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
Rather than pick one player on a day when so many had strong games, let’s give this award up to the new faces in new places. In some cases, like Jack Trudeau’s 375 yard day for Michigan or Robbie Bosco’s strong game for Arizona, it was a strong first act for a player replacing a legend. In others, like Neil Lomax or Carlos Carson, it was an NFL star shining for the first time in the USFL. And for several others, like the shootout between Doug Williams and Rick Neuheisel, it was proof that the expansion clubs made good calls in spending draft capital to sign a veteran QB. It’s a new season, and we are all trying to figure out which teams made good offseason decisions and which did not. So far there is a lot of positivity around the league surrounding the big moves.
NEWS AND NOTES
Week One is in some ways still a version of pre-season in the USFL, where teams only have a couple of controlled scrimmages and 1 pre-season game to prep for the year. So we should not take the first week’s results as gospel for the rest of the year. After all, the only Southern Division team with a win was expansion Orlando, and while we like what we saw out of Michigan, Oakland, Philly and the Feds, let’s not book those playoff ticket purchases yet. Sure, if you are a fan of Denver, Chicago, or Pittsburgh you need to be concerned about the lackluster first week, but these are teams still trying to gel and find their mojo for the year.
INJURIES
While the John Reaves injury is getting most of the press, he will likely miss only a game or two with his injured right foot. Baltimore is likely to be without CB Leslie Frazier for up to 2 months after a likely MCL tear, and Philly will be without their most experienced wideout as Tom Donovan will be out at least 2 weeks with a wrist injury. New Jersey is likely to miss their new NFL acquisition as DE Gary Jeter also hurt his wrist in their win, but may be able to play with a cast as soon as week 3. Finally, Philly LB Sam Mills suffered a concussion in their game, but will likely be out no more than one week.
LOOKING AHEAD
Week Two offers us a full slate of divisional games and another battle of expansion clubs. Chicago will travel to San Antonio in hopes of getting their first win, while Michigan takes on New Orleans in an important early test for both clubs. Baltimore takes on the Generals at the Meadowlands and Philly will face Pittsburgh at Three Rivers as the Penn Rivalry renews this year. In the South, Birmingham heads to Jacksonville and Memphis is in Orlando. Out West, LA heads up the 1 to Oakland and Arizona heads to Tulsa to face the Oklahoma Outlaws.
With each division having 5 teams, there will always be two interdivisional games in weeks when all other teams are fighting divisional battles. In this first week of intra-divisional battles we also find Washington flying out to Denver to face the Gold and Tampa Bay, with untested Oliver Luck at QB, in a tough matchup against Jim Kelly and the Gamblers in the Astrodome.