Orlando, Michigan and Philadelphia all move to 4-0 with convincing wins as they each score over 40 on their march to victory. Memphis upsets Oakland, Pittsburgh gets their first W of the year, the Stallions fall to 0-4, and Houston stuns Baltimore to move to 3-1.
SCORES
MEM 28 OAK 26
Memphis evens their record with 2nd straight win off a 4 TD performance from Walter Lewis. Oakland drops 2nd in a row to also end up at 2-2 as Sipe again has a rough outing against a fierce pass rush.
JAX 23 LA 20
Bulls edge the Express as Ed Luther does just enough to win. Gary Clark catches 7 for 110 and rookie HB Tommy Agie makes the most of limited action, rushing for 55 yards on only 7 carries.
BIR 19 DEN 29
Birmingham drops to 0-4 and rumors of a midseason coaching change are already swirling around Legion Field. Denver gets a solid game from Bob Gagliano as rookie wideout Mark Carrier gets into the mix.
ORL 41 OKL 13
Orlando is just too much for their expansion rival as Reggie Collier and Curtis Bledsoe dominate. Oklahoma, playing with 3rd string QB Blair Kiel, cannot muster offense, but rookie Brian Bosworth has a breakout game in defeat with 13 solo tackles.
PHI 41 NOR 28
Despite a good game for Breakers backup QB Matt Robinson (22 of 32 for 229 and 2 TD’s) the Stars are just too much for the Breakers as Chuck Fusina tosses 3 scores and the special teams kick in with a 78 yard punt return TD from Chris Snyder.
NJ 10 MGN 44
The Panthers continue to impress as Jack Trudeau throws for 4 scores and 340 yards against a beleaguered Generals secondary. Without Walker the Generals offense sputters for a 2nd straight week.
WSH 23 CHI 13
Chicago continues to have issues on offense, falling to 0-4 and gaining only 222 in total yards against the feisty Federals. Don Majkowski, in for the injured Neil Lomax, looks like a keeper, going 18 for 29 for 250 and 2 scores.
HOU 31 BLT 17
The Gamblers are on a roll, moving to 3-1 with a convincing win over Baltimore. Houston outgained the Blitz 418 to 228, as Jim Kelly went 24 for 34 for 349 yards and 3 scores, but it was the Houston D that surprised many, as they held Tim Spencer to only 8 yards on 9 carries.
PIT 33 SAN 16
The Maulers get their first win as Alan Risher finally finds his groove. Risher throws for 3 scores and the Maulers defense bends but does not break, allowing 311 yards to Rick Neuheisel, but keeping the Gunslingers out of the endzone.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Tampa Bay Bandits 27 Arizona Wranglers 24
A tough home loss for the Wranglers, who fall to 1-3 as Tampa’s John Reaves mounts classic final drive for a field goal to edge Arizona by 3. Tampa had held the lead for most of the game after starting off with two beautiful Reaves to Truvillion scores, a 34 yarder in the 1st and a 61-yard bomb in the second. Arizona slowly marched back, making the score 14-7 at half on a James Wilder 5-yard screen pass for a score. In the 2nd half, Reaves found Truvillion for a 3rd score, the teams traded field goals, and to start the 4th it was Tampa up 24-10.
In the 4th QB Robbie Bosco found a groove, and within 8 minutes he had equalized the score with a touchdown toss to Louis Lipps and another to Curtis Duncan. But they left John Reaves too much time, and the veteran led the Bandits down field to a 35-yard FG from new kicker Benny Ricardo with 51 seconds left. Arizona mounted a desperation drive, but a 4th and 5 pass from Bosco to TE Keith McKeller was disrupted by Tampa linebacker Paul Plurowski, and fell harmlessly to the ground, ending the game.
The win helps Tampa (3-1) keep pace with the surprising Orlando Renegades (4-0) while the loss drops the Wranglers to 1-3, but still only a game out of first with Oakland’s second straight loss.
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
Plenty of solid offensive performances this week, but we are going to give a team shoutout to the entire Houston Gambler defense. Not only did they hold the explosive Baltimore Blitz to only 228 total yards, but they also absolutely stuffed the run game. The Blitz were limited to 15 yards on 19 carries for the game, an astonishing lack of production. Add to this the ability to draw penalties on the Blitz O-line (6 false starts in one game), a safety, and the 0 for 9 third down debacle the Blitz put in, and you have a truly outstanding defensive day. What makes it even more impressive is that there was no one hero here. The top tackler had only 6 and 8 different players had at least 3 tackles. Houston managed to not only shut down the run, but an aggressive blitz scheme led to 5 sacks of the elusive Vince Evans. It was the kind of performance that made QB Jim Kelly’s day quite easy, as there was little pressure to score, and almost no serious threat of a late comeback. All in all an outstanding performance by a squad that simply does not get enough recognition around the league.
NEWS AND NOTES
We are four weeks in and time to look at the 1987 rookie class and see who is making waves. At QB the only rookie starter in the league is Chicago’s Chuck Long, who has struggled, throwing 2 TDs and 4 Ints so far. The big revelation may be in Washington, where UVa’s Don Majkowski, playing for the injured Neil Lomax, has looked like a very good value pick for the Federals. Admitedly, he has only played one full game, but he looked poised, elusive, and showed a strong arm against the Chicago Machine. At HB the rookies have really not had a chance to shine. LA’s Christian Okoye leads the bunch with only 120 total yards, while Tommy Agie (JAX) and Jaime Mueller (PHI) have seen some spot action only. We are still waiting to see if others like Brent Fullwood (BIR), Alfred Jenkins (WSH) or Paul Palmer (OAK) can get on the field behind stars like Cribbs, James, and Whittington.
Defense seems to be where the early Rookie of the Year contenders are coming. With a 13-tackle day this week, Oklahoma’s Brian “The Boz” Bosworth is now the league leader in that category. Orlando CB Melvin Jenkins already has 33 tackles and 7 passes defended. Memphis LB Mike Junkin is a steady starter, with 28 tackles and 2 sacks to his name, while Michigan’s Hardy Nickerson has worked his way into a starting role and has racked up 22 tackles as part of the killer Panther D.
It is very early, and in addition to the rookie class, there is a lot of quality play coming from the NFL transfers, but when we look at the true rookies, we are seeing a lot of potential, but perhaps the USFL has reached a point in its roster depth where top level rookies are not automatic starters or top performers on their team. While we are certain that several will become stars in the USFL, it is a good sign that the big names coming out of the draft are not automatically the best players on their teams from day one.
INJURIES
The good news around the league is that Week 5 should see the return of several starting QBs, though Doug Williams is still listed as questionable, as is Neil Lomax. LB Sam Mills is also expected back in action for the Stars, as is WR Vic James in Orlando, LB John Bunting in Oklahoma, and DT William Perry in Tampa. The bad news is that several key players may be missing some time. Chicago, who cannot afford to lose offensive playmakers, may have lost WR Reggie Langhorne for the year with a neck injury. Washington is now down two starting linemen, as both Tackle John Sherman and Center Joel Hilgenberg are out at least a month. And in New Jersey, all eyes are still focused on Herschel Walker. After two games out, and 2 losses for the Generals, they are hoping he can return, but is still listed as questionable this week.
LOOKING AHEAD
Week Five is a make-or-break week for several teams looking at the basement of the standings. We could start to see some changes if teams cannot get a win this week. Once again 16 of the 20 teams are in divisional play, so this will be a key week for many teams regardless of where they are in the standings. Baltimore hopes to rebound with a trip to Pittsburgh while New Jersey has a tough game at Washington. In the South, Birmingham, still searching for their first win, is in Orlando, who have yet to lose. Jacksonville and Tampa will renew their fierce rivalry as well this week. Arizona is hoping to get back in contention but face a feisty Denver Gold team on the road. Oakland is in Oklahoma, where we still are not sure who will play QB for the Outlaws. Chicago has a brutal 5th game, playing in Houston, while New Orleans hope to put all the pieces together against the Gunslingers. In inter-divisional play we have LA headed to Memphis, and what is certainly the best game of the first 5 weeks of the season we have a real slobberknocker ready to go in Veteran’s Stadium as the 4-0 Michigan Panthers come to town to take on the 4-0 Philadelphia Stars in a rematch of the 1986 Championship. This one should be a true clash of titans.