1992 Week 1 Recap: Kicking Off A New Season

Opening week, when all 20 teams are undefeated and the possibilities are endless. New coaches, new players, even a new team this year, all ready to make a good first impression. Oakland, beaming off of their first USFL title, Orlando itching to grab one of their own, Washington hoping to return to glory, and 17 other teams hoping that this offseason has brought them the right combination of players and strategies to make it all the way to the top of the mountain. It's football season again, so let's get right to the action.

BAL 20 PHI 7

It took Coach Infante only 1 week to show that the culture in Baltimore was changing as the Blitz won their opening game, on the road, against a Philadelphia team that clearly has not found their identity yet. While Chris Miller and Jackie Flowers helped the Blitz win, it was the defense which showed surprising cohesion early in the season, limiting Kelvin Bryant to 21 yards rushing and harassing Browning Nagle all game long.

WSH 21 NJ 34

The Generals got a big opening day win as they shell-shocked the Federals with 21 first quarter points and then kept the pressure up all day. Kirby Jackson returned a punt 78 yards and also led the team in tackles, while newly-arrived Irving Fryar caught 4 Flutie passes for 40 yards to do his part.

BIR 17 MEM 20 OT

The Showboats and Stallions went into overtime to settle this one as Mike Kelley hit Jo-Jo Townsell with a late TD pass to tie the game. In overtime it was newly-arrived kicker Kevin Shea, fresh off his Summer Bowl win with Oakland, who sealed the deal for the Showboats in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. Coach Buddy Ryan had to be happy to see the Showboats land 6 sacks of B’Ham QB’s, including one that may lead to Cliff Stoudt missing up to 2 months of action with what looked at first to be a groin injury, but has been diagnosed as a hernia. Brett Favre saw his first real action in relief, going 11 for 21 and tossing 2 TDs for Birmingham.

CHI 24 MGN 25

The Panthers stormed back from a 24-15 deficit in the final 10 minutes of the game to steal a win away from the Machine and thrill the home crowd. Jack Trudeau hit Johnny Holloway with a 35-yard TD pass to pull within 2 with 9 minutes left, and then, on the final drive of the day, Brad Daluiso kicked the Panthers to the win from 44 yards out. Daron Carter was the surprise star of the day, looking like Anthony Carter with 7 catches for 115 yards.

TEX 24 HOU 16

Kelly Stouffer threw for 3 scores and Reggie Cobb rushed for 70 yards as Texas held the Gamblers at bay. 3rd year receiver Shawn Collins was the surprise performer of the day, catching 4 balls for 105 yards and 2 scores, including a 58-yarder that would prove to be the game winner in the 4th. Houston’s lone TD was a Kelly to Proehl toss in the first quarter, after which they were held to only 3 field goals.

ARZ 14 OAK 17

A nip and tuck battle in Oakland as the Invaders held a furious 2nd half Arizona comeback just short to earn the win. The defending champs jumped out fast thanks to a TD run from Fred McAfee and a Gilbert to Wyatt Henderson TD, but Robbie Bosco found both Terry Orr and Trumaine Johnson for scores in the second half to draw close. Rookie Siran Stacy helped Oakland preserve the win by toting the rock 10 times in the final quarter, after having only 12 carries in the first three.

DEN 17 STL 32

An enthusiastic crowd in St. Louis’s Busch Stadium for the team’s first game as the Knights was rewarded with an impressive outing from the new look roster. Dan McGwire tossed 2 touchdowns and the combo of Thompson and Jordan rushed for a combined 135 on the day for St. Louis. The defense also did their part as interceptions from Ron Pitts and Chip Banks made Denver QB Dave Krieg’s first USFL start one to forget.

PIT 7 NOR 20

New Orleans’s defense does not seem to have taken a break from last season’s #1 ranking, as they hold Pittsburgh to only 7 points on an early Mike Rozier TD run. Marcus Dupree takes on the lead back roll with 14 carries for 74 yards, and TE Dan Ross has a career day against the Mauler secondary, catching 5 balls for 123 yards, including a 59 yard TD in the first quarter as New Orleans rolls at home.

ORL 19 POR 14

Portland plays tough at home but 4 Orlando field goals, paired with a Collier to Jefferson TD pass are enough to win the game for the Renegades. Portland holds new Orlando HB Dalton Hilliard to only 30 yards on the day, but their own run game only manages 43 yards in total as neither team could break off the big gainer with the run game.

TAMPA BAY BANDITS 35 JACKSONVILLE BULLS 34

Two teams that were hoping to see improvement in their defenses this year ended up in a high-scoring shootout, perhaps the first of many for both. Tampa QB Troy Aikman had a career day, throwing for 469 yards and 5 touchdowns as the Bandits edged the Bulls by one. Jacksonville QB Tony Eason was not far behind, throwing for 278 and 2 scores, while James Wilder punched the ball in twice for the Bulls.

The game seemed to be going Jacksonville’s way as they built up a 34-14 lead after 3 quarters. Touchdowns from Wilder (2), Lawyer Tillman and Jamie Morris seemed to have the Bulls in control, but a wild 4th quarter saw Aikman lead the Bandits on three scoring drives, the last one following a successful onside kick with only 1:40 left in the game, as the Bandits roared back and took the road win. It was rookie Robert Brooks who scored the final game-winning points, nabbing a short TD toss from Aikman with only 13 seconds left to play. It was only Brooks’s 2nd catch of the day, as Aikman relied heavily on Truvillion and TE Ben Coates most of the day.

For both teams the defenses and the run game did not seem ready for prime time, but both starting QB’s seemed ready to roll the dice and play the shootout game. Aikman was particularly impressive in the second half, where he had a 12 pass streak without an incompletion and orchestrated the three drives that would bring the Bandits all the way back. Both Tampa and Jacksonville are going to hope to see defensive improvement over the next few weeks as both defenses allowed far too many yards and far too many 20+ yard plays to their opponents.

We highlighted Troy Aikman’s 5 TD day above, so let’s give some praise to our other outstanding player of the week, New Jersey cornerback and kick returner Kirby Jackson. Not only did Jackson play a major role in defeating the Washington Federals on defense, tracking Joey Walters, making 12 tackles on the day, defending 3 balls and picking off one Don Majkowski pass, but he also contributed a punt return TD that brought the New Jersey crowd to its feet. The 79 yard punt return included a complete juke-out-of-his-shorts moment against the Washington gunner, but then a brilliantly timed cutback against a line of Federals that sprung him to the left sideline and up the field, making the rookie punter John Jett look foolish in his desperation tackle attempt before high stepping into the endzone. Jackson’s return was one of 3 NJ touchdowns in the first quarter that set the Generals up for a big win against last year’s division champion. Add in his outstanding day on defense and Kirby Jackson is this week’s POTW.

The saga of the LA Express is not over now that the St. Louis Knights have officially become part of the USFL. While details on the announced 1995 expansion round remain sketchy, one element which is assured is that LA will be among the franchises added, and that they are almost guaranteed to be a renewal of the LA Express brand. The question of who will own the LA franchise may be settled well before other aspects of the ’95 expansion are known. The league is expected to get a formal proposal from William Tatham to allow him to sell of his controlling interest in the Texas Outlaws in order to put together a preliminary bid for the Express franchise in LA. If approved, the Fresno-based real estate mogul could get together an early bid and preempt any possible competition for the LA market from outside candidates. Many USFL owners like the prospect of securing an LA franchise with a known commodity in ownership, particularly one as well-received and respected as Tatham has become in his short stint as owner of the Outlaws. So, as St. Louis plays its first USFL games, and as fans in LA come to realize that this year there is no USFL in town, the prospect of having the LA Express set and ready to return, with a known ownership group in place, well before the end of this season is looking quite plausible. As for any other expansion news, we expect it will be at least until the summer meetings in August before we get any serious updates on the plan for 1995.

Two injuries of note, both to quarterbacks ,which will impact the opening weeks of the season. The most serious is the hernia suffered by Birmingham’s Cliff Stoudt in their game against Memphis this week. Stoudt is expected to be out up to 2 months in recovery, leaving Birmingham to turn the ball over to 2nd year QB Brett Favre out of Southern Miss. The other QB going down was Chicago’s Chuck Long, who suffered a pinched nerve in his hip which may keep him out up to 2 weeks, depending on his rehab progress. In his absence, Chicago will turn to Scott Zolak, the 2nd year QB out of Maryland.

Of course. there were also the wide range of bumps and bruises in this week’s first full speed games, leaving several players listed as doubtful or questionable for next week. Among those potentially missing out on next week’s action are Baltimore HB Barry Foster (knee), NJ linebacker John Offerdahl (turf toe), Houston LB Johnny Holland (concussion), Orlando TE Marv Cook (neck), and New Orleans DE Jerry Reese (hamstring).

After beginning the season with divisional play, we head into inter-divisional matchups this week as the Southern and Atlantic teams square off, as do the Pacific and Central. Games to highlight on the schedule include Jacksonville at New Jersey, Tampa Bay at Washington, the Panthers hosting the Invaders, and the Thunder visiting New Orleans. Orlando is in Pittsburgh this week, and Arizona heads up to frigid Chicago. Also on the docket we have Baltimore’s home opener against the Cliff Stoudt-less Stallions, Philly trying to win its first against the Showboats, Denver traveling to Houston, and the St. Louis Knights taking on the Texas Outlaws in San Marcos.