Opening weekend in the USFL and we are off and running on one of the most anticipated, wide open and unpredictable seasons in league history. A lot of new faces in new places, a lot of excitement around the league, and a lot to be played for. As we kick off the 8th season of USFL spring football, it's time to lace them up, put on those helmets, and play football once again.
SCORES
BAL 17 WSH 23
It took overtime, but the Federals pulled out their season opener against rival Baltimore. Vince Evans tied the game up early in the 4th with a scoring toss to Jackie Flowers, but neither team could get a game winning field goal in the final minutes so it went to overtime. In the extra period, a costly fumble by Derrick Fenner gave Washington the ball deep in Blitz territory and they finished the game with a walk off touchdown as Majkowski hit HB Kevin Harmon for the win.
NJ 9 PHI 24
The defending champs did not look ready to play for keeps when they faced off with rival Philadelphia in Veterans Stadium. Philly got an early pick 6 to take the lead, and then added 2 scores from Kelvin Bryant to build up a healthy lead, which their revamped defense held, thanks to 6 sacks of Doug Flutie. Despite the poor output offensively, Herschel Walker gained 114 on the ground.
BIR 6 TBY 16
Another huge rivalry game to kick things off. The Bandits D held Joe Cribbs to only 30 yards rushing, and Troy Aikman hit Eric Truvillion for two scores as a big crowd in Tampa was thrilled by all three phases of the Bandits’ game in their season opener.
JAX 6 MEM 33
It was all Showboats from the opening kickoff as Memphis held Jacksonville to 167 total yards on the day. Mike Kelley threw two TD’s, both to recent signee Robb Thomas, as the Showboats overwhelmed the Bulls pass defense. Mel Gray, still defying his age, caught 9 balls for 116 yards on the day as Memphis rolled.
CHI 19 MGN 24
The Machine and the Panthers came out like two heavyweights, jabbing and looking for a quick kill all day, but the game stayed close throughout. A 4th quarter 19 yarder from Trudeau to Smiley would be the key to the Panther win. Chicago’s defense was tough, though, finding Trudeau seven times for sacks from 7 different players.
HOU 17 TEX 35
Kelly Stouffer made a huge first impression as he found Carlos Carson for 3 scores and threw for 296 yards and 4 scores on the day. Rookie Reggie Cobb had a solid debut as well, rushing for 79 yards on 17 carries and scoring twice (one rush, one reception) in his Outlaw debut. Texas also got 2 sacks from Bob Buckowski and 3 interceptions of Jim Kelly, who did not start the year well, completing only 53% of his passes.
ARZ 35 LA 0
The Wranglers blanked the Express in front of a smallish crowd in LA (only 23,000 on hand for the season opener). New Express QB Walt Lewis looked rusty in his first start in 2 years, while Robbie Bosco threw for scores to Steve Wilkes and Trumaine Johnson as Arizona cruised to a win. How bad was LA’s offense? Well, rookie Darrell Thompson was the leading rusher with 7 yards. That’s right, 7 yards. Lionel James for Arizona had 70, and the Wranglers as a whole rushed for 136 to LA’s 24 total rushing yards.
PIT 7 NOR 47
Pittsburgh came out of the gate without a plan to stop the Breakers’ multifaceted attack and it showed. Matt Robinson completed 77% of his passes and hit on two TD tosses, while Marcus Dupree ran wild for 136 yards on only 17 carries. Dalton Hilliard not only ran the ball 12 times, but was the team’s leading receiver with 6 for 42 yards. It was over by the 4th, allowing backup QB Matt Dunigan to get some playing time in this snoozer.
ORL 13 OAK 28
Oakland started off fast, building a 19-0 lead before Orlando could react. 4 field goals from Kevin Shea helped lock up the win as Oakland won the game despite being outgained 300-241. Mark Duper had a good game, catching 7 for 92 yards and 2 scores. Curtis Bledsoe struggled against Oakland’s front four, rushing 12 times for only 19 yards in the game.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Denver Gold 17
Portland Thunder 21
As if league champion losing to last year’s 5th place Atlantic Division Stars was not enough to prove that a lot can change in the offseasn, we have this game. Denver played in the USFL Championship in July while Portland was coming off a 1-15 season, the worst in USFL history. But, a lot happens during the offseason and it seems clear that Portland were not going to let another season go by the wayside. They spent a great amount of effort this summer updating their roster for new head coach Dennis Erickson, and the investment in both players and a new leader seem to have paid immediate dividends.
One of the first investments the Thunder made was to pull a QB over from the NFL in former Atlanta Falcon signalcaller David Archer. Archer repaid the Thunder with a strong season opener, completing 27 of 33 passes (a stunning 82%) against the usually stingy Denver defense, and accounting for all 3 Thunder touchdowns. After a shaky start which saw Archer get caught in the endzone for a safety, he rebounded in the second quarter, hitting another new NFL import, WR Cris Carter with a 17-yard touchdown. This was followed by a TD to former Washington Federal wideout Webster Slaughter in the 3rd, and, the coup-de-gras, a short TD pass to halfback Terrance Flagler with only 1 minute left to play to give the Thunder the lead, and 60 seconds later, the win.
It seems clear that with high impact additions like Archer, Carter, Slaughter, and CB Gill Byrd (10 tackles and an interception on the day), this will be a very different Portland Thunder team. Meanwhile, Denver has to worry that their offseason departures, HB Harry Sydney, CB Solomon Wilcots, and DT Laval Short, may be a bigger worry than the team anticipated. New DT Dave Butz contributed only 2 tackles on the day and rookie HB Barry Foster was held to only 12 carries and 40 yards rushing. And while Bob Gagliano had a solid outing, the paucity of big plays for Denver has to be alarming. Portland outgained the Gold, and deserved the win, something we did not hear much last year, but may soon have to get used to. This is the USFL, and team fortunes can rise and fall quite easily in the course of one offseason. We will see if today’s game is an indicator of such as shift, or perhaps just opening night jitters for the Western Conference Champions.
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
There are any number of Texas Outlaw players who we could award with POTW for their game against Houston. Rookie Reggie Cobb had a very solid 4.6 yards per carry against the Gamblers, and added two scores, while newly acquired QB Kelly Stouffer had a rousing debut, throwing for 4 scores. Brian Bosworth had 10 tackles, 4 pass defense and a rare interception, while veteran DE Bob Buczkowski added two sacks. But, all those accomplishments aside, we are choosing to celebrate WR Carlos Carson, whose 150 yards on only 4 receptions blew the lid off of Houston’s defense. His 3 touchdowns were enormous for the Outlaws, particularly in the final quarter, when Carson caught both a 72-yard score and, just for good measure, a 52-yarder as well.
With Houston closing the gap in the game to a Texas 21-17 lead, Carson’s explosive 4th quarter helped quell any thoughts of a late game slide and a Houston comeback. Carson, in both cases, made easy work of both cornerback Domingo Bryant (who shadowed the former Chief all day) and new Houston SS Robert Blackmon, whose rookie nerves clearly showed. In both of the long plays, on almost identical routes, Carson used a quick juke move to convince the CB that the route was cutting short, and then sped past the safety to snag the deep ball from Stouffer. It was a clinic in double-move routes by the veteran wideout. If Carson has achieved a synergy with Kelly Stouffer this quickly, as the 3 TD’s seem to indicate, it could be a banner year for the Outlaws.
NEWS & NOTES
With excitement about the 1990 USFL season at a peak, the league today announced that the 1990 USFL Championship in Orlando this upcoming July would indeed have a name. The league announced that its annual finale would be called the “Summer Bowl”, and would represent all that is loved about the season. Not just the culmination of the season for the spring and summer league, the Summer Bowl would include several days of events, taking advantage of the sites and unique summer opportunities available in each city.
With Orlando being the host this year, and Los Angeles in 1991, it is clear that the league is ready to push the “summer fun” motif. Expect pool parties, sand volleyball, open air concerts, and lots of bikinis and board shorts as the league turns their championship into a midsummer blowout. It is already rumored that the Orlando organizers are trying to line up a big name Florida-identified musical act for the halftime show. Among those under consideration are Gloria Estefan, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and Lynryd Skynyrd.
The league presented the 1990 USFL Summer Bowl logo as well this week, a stylized league trophy in gold and orange, with a summer sun behind it and magenta lettering. A very tropical, very summery design. it is expected that each year the host city will help to design the Summer Bowl logo, so it is LA's turn next as they prepare to host the big game at the LA Coliseum.
INJURY REPORT
Opening week means the first injury report of the year. Only one significant injury in a relatively clean and healthy week for the league. Bob Otto, the veteran DE now with the Portland Thunder ,will likely miss 4-6 weeks with a broken arm. All others are listed as doubtful or questionable, meaning that they will likely miss only 1 week at most. On the doubtful list we find Memphis WR Robb Thomas and Houston guard John Rienstra. Questionables for this week include Houston HB Thurman Thomas and Denver TE Demetrius Davis. Among players who had to come out of week 1 games but who are likely to play this week we find NJ guard Dave Widdell, Mauler’s rookie TE Charles Arbuckle, Denver wideout Odessa Turner and Philly DE William Fuller.
LOOKING AHEAD
After kicking off the season with some divisional rivalries, we move to conference inter-division games in Week Two, as the Southern teams host the Atlantic squads and the Pacific teams host the Central Division. Highlights of the week feature New Jersey @ Tampa Bay and New Orleans @ Denver. Orlando hosts Baltimore, Birmingham will play the Philadelphia Stars, Pittsburgh is in Jacksonville, and the Washington Federals are facing the Memphis Showboats in the Liberty Bowl in the Eastern Conference. In the West it is Chicago traveling to Oakland, Houston in Portland, the Michigan Panthers at Arizona, and the Texas Outlaws visiting Angel Stadium to take on the LA Express.