We have reached the halfway point of the season and it seems safe to say that this is not the season that anyone expected. The defending champs find themselves in the basement of their division, the Stallions and Gamblers are also inexplicably in crisis. The Wranglers look like a solid playoff contender and the team leading the Atlantic is the… Washington Federals? Something odd is definitely happening this season.
SCORES
JAX 3 BAL 16
Baltimore becomes the latest team to feast on the Jacksonville Bulls winless season, pushing the Bulls to an ignominious 0-8. The Bulls actually outgained the Blitz, thank in large part to 114 yards receiving for Brian Blades, but they were unable to turn yards into points and Baltimore took an early 10-0 lead and held that advantage throughout.
MEM 24 NJ 3
The Generals’ struggles continue as they too have no luck finding the endzone against a tough Memphis defense. Mike Kelley hit on 3 TD passes, including 2 in the first quarter to force New Jersey into an uncomfortable game of catch up, which they could not. Memphis wound down the game by using Boone and Jordan for a combined 152 yards rushing.
TBY 17 PIT 15
The Maulers made the day an uncomfortable one for Troy Aikman and the Bandits, but when a 2 point conversion failed after Alan Risher’s late TD run, the game was Tampa’s to win. Aikman finished the day with 2 scores, including another TD to his new favorite target, Chris Collinsworth, while Risher relied on Danny Buggs and Mike Shaw to help him move the ball as Tampa targeted Mike Rozier, limiting him to 58 yards on 19 carries.
BIR 27 WSH 13
The Stallions got the big road win to even their record at 4-4 and knock the Federals into a tie for first with Philadelphia after only their second loss. The offensive star for Birmingham was once again HB Brent Fullwood, who rushed 17 times for 100 yards and a score. Don Majkowski played for Washington, but his 3 interceptions proved deadly for Washington’s comeback hopes.
DEN 3 CHI 23
Chicago also finds themselves at 4-4 after knocking off the Denver Gold at Soldier Field. Denver’s Cody Carlson had his worst game of the year, completing only 42% of his passes and missing on several key 3rd downs. Chicago got a strong game from veteran back Albert Bentley, who rushed for 91 yards on the day. Chuck Long also had good success finding his top receivers, Langhorne, Haynes and TE Wesley Walls, each of whom contributed to a 246-yard day for the former Iowa signal caller.
LA 17 HOU 24
Houston got just their second win of the season as Sean Salisbury found both Ernie Jones and rookie WR Ricky Proehl for scores. The Express, who surprised many by starting former USC QB Rodney Peete in the game, stayed competitive throughout, despite 3 Peete interception tosses. Darrell Thompson had his biggest play of the season on a 38 yard rush, one of only 2 touches on the day.
OAK 10 MGN 20
The Panthers double up the Invaders thanks to 2 Jack Trudeau touchdown passes. John Williams also contributed 83 yards on the ground, outpacing fellow “Williams Brother” Richard, who only gained 50 yards on 23 carries for Oakland. Ronnie Paggett got yet another sack, though he still trails Memphis’s Reggie White in that statistic.
POR 7 NOR 17
After a scoreless first half, New Orleans ran off 17 consecutive points to fly past the Thunder. It all started with an errant Kerwin Bell throw which Gene Atkins returned 35 yards for a score. Fullback Greg Paterra added a late TD and it was all the Breakers needed to notch a seventh win on the year and continue to hold the best record in the league.
ARZ 14 TEX 36
Texas charged out of the gate, putting up the first 17 points and never looked back as they continued to add points, avoiding a Wrangler comeback. Rookie Reggie Cobb had a huge game against the Wrangler D, rushing for 148 yards and a score. Eric Metcalf led all receivers with 99 yards on 4 receptions, including a 40 yarder early in the game that led to the Cobb touchdown.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Orlando Renegades 26
Philadelphia Stars 27
In one of the more bizarre finishes in recent memory, Philadelphia helped Orlando pull within 1 in the game’s final seconds by taking a deliberate safety in the waning moments of the game. The strategy worked as the ensuing kick left Orlando too far to realistically reach field goal range with only a few seconds left. Reggie Collier impressed despite the loss, adding 419 yards passing to his annual total, while Philadelphia’s Kelvin Bryant added another 2 touchdowns to his rushing total.
The game seemed to be Philadelphia’s throughout, but the final minutes did make it interesting. Philadelphia scored on a Kelvin Bryant 18 yard run on the first possession of the game, and then added another 3 points with a Trout field goal only 4 minutes later. Orlando got on the board with a Fuad Reveiz kick to end the 1st quarter. In the 2nd Bryant again scored, this time from 1 yard out, but Orlando had their pass game working well and they responded with a John Jefferson TD catch on the very next drive. The two teams went into halftime at 17-10 Stars.
Philadelphia would build their lead in the 3rd, as they got a lucky break on a tipped Collier pass, as it fell right into the waiting hands of CB Lorenzo Lynch, who scampered through flailing arms to reach the end zone and put Philly up 24-10. Another Trout field goal followed and it appeared that the Stars were set at 27-10. But, Orlando did not quit on the game. Collier found HB Todd Fowler for a score to close out the third quarter and then added another on a beautiful 40-yard fly pattern to Wamon Buggs in the 4th.
After a failed Renegade drive, Orlando thought they had caught a break when they downed the ensuing punt on the Philadelphia 2 yard line, with just under a minute to go. Orlando still had time outs and used one as a Bryant run went nowhere on 1st down. They anticipated trying to do the same on 2nd down, but Coach Bicknell threw a wrinkle at them, telling Chuck Fusina to take a knee in the end zone and the safety. Doing this allowed Philadelphia to kick the ball from their 20, and when punter Sean Landeta unleashed a beautiful 65 yarder, Orlando was backed up, with only 1 time out and a long way to go to reach field goal range. The gambit had paid off and players enthusiastically celebrated the win with Bicknell on the sideline as the clock wound down.
For a team that suffered through a miserable 1989 campaign only to see their beloved head coach leave for the NFL, this win clearly helped cement Jack Bicknell in their minds as a capable, daring leader. With Phillly now tied with Washington atop the Atlantic Division the Stars players and fans are beginning to believe that they are ready for resurgence and a return to their usual spot in the playoffs.
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
This week’s POTW goes to a rookie, perhaps the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year, Texas HB Reggie Cobb. The Tennessee product leads his fellow rookie Barry Foster by more than 300 yards for the best production at the position by a 1st year player. His only real competition may come from the defensive side where both Tampa Bay’s Keith McCants and Portland’s Bobby Houston are quickly becoming factors for their clubs’ defensive success.
This week Cobb had his best game yet, rushing for 148 yards and a score against the Wranglers. This is his 3rd hundred-yard game of the year, and his 3rd TD for the Outlaws. Cobb almost immediately became the workhorse for the Outlaws, with his 156 carries easily dwarfing the 2nd place back, Lee Rouson, who has only toted the rock 34 times this year. The Texans have yet to truly utilize Cobb in the passing game (only 5 targets and 3 receptions in 8 games) as they tend to use either fullback Undra Johnson (18 targets) or backup Lee Rouson (10 targets) on obvious passing downs, but there is no denying that as a ballcarrier Cobb is making waves and taking command of the Outlaws’ run game.
NEWS & NOTES
Since we will be publishing a midseason report, we won’t emphasize the records or individual achievements of the half-season here, but we did want to highlight another number that we are sure the league offices in New York are viewing with great attention, attendance. With 8 weeks in the books, the league is seeing its best average attendance in its 8 seasons. The leaguewide average sits at 38,374 per game, well above the longstanding target of 35,000 and perhaps pushing the league to consider 40,000 per game its ultimate goal.
Adding to this is the fact that of the 20 USFL franchise there are currently 11 with a season average over 40,000, including 4 of 5 Southern Division teams, 3 of 5 in the Atlantic and 3 of 5 in the Central. Only the West is trailing and ongoing success from Arizona and Oakland may make it possible to see that number increase. Even better for the league is the fact that there are no franchises lurking in the 25,000-35,000 range, and only 3 below a 25,000 average, with 2 of those 3 being the two franchises with stadium capacities of 24,000 (Portland and Texas). With this year being the last when the Outlaws will play in San Marcos, and with the Alamo Dome being an option next year, with as many as 64,000 seats available, the USFL has to be happy with where they stand.
The same is almost certainly not true for the owners of the LA Express, whose 20,784 is the lowest attendance in the league, despite playing in a stadium that can easily hold twice that. LA has been suffering a slow bleed of fans since their rough offseason, and with only 2 wins so far this season, and an offense which has been more offensive than productive, the Express could see those numbers drop even further. LA is a tough market, even for successful teams with star power. This Express team appears to have neither success nor star power to fall back on. Owners Alan Harmon and Ted Field were simply not aggressive in retaining their top offensive stars, and are now paying the price at the box office.
INJURY REPORT
As we head into the home stretch of the season, we find that some teams are looking quite healthy, while other locker rooms look like a physical therapy center. Birmingham, LA, New Jersey and Orlando each have only 1 player on their injury list at present, while the Pittsburgh Maulers reported no injuries, a true oddity this late in the season. On the other side of the picture we find Oakland with 5 players expected to miss the Week 9 matchups, including DE Kim Bokamper and G Collin May.
And, of course, we also have to take into account the duration of injuries, which is why we worry about New Orleans, particularly on their D-Line. They lost both starters for the year in the past 2 weeks, which inspired them to seek a trade to try to avoid using players off the street. They were able to find a willing trade partner in Jacksonville, who sent them DT Shawn Lee and a 5th round pick for guard Harry Grimminger and a Breakers 3rd rounder. The trade helps fill the gap for New Orleans by bringing a veteran presence to the depleted line. They also signed Thomas Houston off of the waiver wire for depth. With several players looking at possible 6-8 weeks of rehab, do not be surprised to see more trades as more players may end up on the IR before too long.
LOOKING AHEAD
We kick off the 2nd half of the season with more divisional matchups. Time for teams on the cusp to make a move and for those at the top to solidify their positions. We find the 4-4 Blitz facing the surprisingly ineffective Generals at Giants Stadium this week, while Philadelphia travels to the 3-5 Maulers, who must make a move soon if they hope to finish the year in playoff contention. In the south, Birmingham has a chance to get over .500 against the sad sack Bulls. Memphis can also build up its lead in the division if they can get past the Renegades in Orlando.
In the Central an intriguing matchup of 4-4 clubs as Chicago faces the Outlaws in San Marcos. Michigan has a huge match Saturday night in New Orleans as a win would bring them even with the division leaders. Out West Arizona will try to maintain its division lead but have a tougher than usual Portland squad to face at Civic Stadium. LA and Oakland renew the NoCal-SoCal rivalry by the bay as well. In inter-divisional games Washington hopes to improve their record to 7-2 as they visit the Houston Gamblers, and the Tampa Bay Bandits hope to come out of their game in Denver with a 6th win.