BIR 26 BAL 20
Brett Favre has a solid game (2 TDs, 287 yards) in his first pro start, and shows off a big arm, hitting Shannon Sharpe on a 33 yard TD and Ernest Givens on a 46-yarder to lead the Stallions to a win in Baltimore. Baltimore’s Chris Miller completes 72% of his passes, with newly-arrived Bill Brooks the main recipient (7 for 88 yards), but falls short on the scoreboard.
JAX 10 NJ 35
The Generals impress both on offense and defense against Jacksonville. Doug Flutie hits Lam Jones for a big 43-yard score to open the game, and a John White 39-yard interception return score helps the Generals pull out of reach in the 3rd quarter. Tony Eason is sacked 8 times by the Generals’ pass rush, including 3 sacks by last year’s Defensive Rookie of the Year and the single season sack record holder, Phil Hansen.
MEM 14 PHI 3
A low-scoring affair as neither team was effective at turning field position into points. Memphis got a big day from Greg Boone (119 yards) and Philadelphia got decent production from Kelvin Bryant and rookie Bernie Parmalee, but Browning Nagle continues to struggle, throwing 2 interceptions that killed drives and kept the Stars from scoring needed touchdowns.
ORL 22 PIT 27
The Maulers get a big early season win over Orlando as Mike Rozier rushes for 140 yards and Raynard Brown makes both his catches count, scoring two TD’s on the day. Dalton Hilliard got only 10 carries as it was Todd Fowler who had the hotter hand for Orlando, carrying the ball 20 times for 76 yards. The key play of the game was Moe Gardner’s 12 yard fumble return for a score in the 3rd quarter for Pittsburgh.
TBY 14 WSH 34
The Feds rebound from an opening week defeat by thrashing the Bandits. Don Majkowski threw for 3 scores and the Federals defense pressured Troy Aikman all day, causing 2 interceptions and snagging 5 sacks of the Bandits QB.
ARZ 40 CHI 19
Arizona gets all the breaks in a beatdown of the Chicago Machine. Scott Zolak completes only 48% of his passes and throws 2 interceptions (one for an ARZ touchdown) in his first start in the USFL, while Clack and James combine for 124 yards rushing and Robbie Bosco throws for 2 scores as Arizona rolls.
DEN 21 HOU 41
Houston dominates (462 yards to 241) as Jim Kelly throws for 315 and 3 scores. Thurman Thomas adds 123 on the ground and contributes 3 catches for 37 yards as well. Dave Krieg tosses 3 scores of his own, but his two interceptions are costly for the Gold.
OAK 11 MGN 14
Michigan wins a tough defensive battle against Oakland thanks to TD’s from Dexter McNabb and rookie Rodney Culver. Culver rushes for 115 yards on the day, surpassing Vince Workman on the carries list, though Workman’s 56 yards on only 8 carries also help the Panthers grind out a win. For Oakland, two Gale Gilbert interceptions prove costly in a close game.
POR 14 NOR 31
The Breakers come back from a 14-0 deficit after 1 quarter, scoring 31 unanswered points as both Marcus Dupree and Erric Pegram rush for scores. Matt Robinson finds both Charlie Smith and Michael Jackson for 2nd half TD’s as well as the Breakers shut down Portland despite 159 yards from Robert Drummond.
ST. LOUIS KNIGHTS 29 TEXAS OUTLAWS 24
Whether it is the change of scenery, the maturing of a roster, or the refinement of a new system, something has helped to change the outlook of the once punchless LA Express into a more focused, more dangerous St. Louis Knights team. One week after winning their first game as the Knights in their new home at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, the “newest” franchise in the league came into San Marcos, Texas and upset last year’s #1 Western Conference team.
The Knights did it by keeping pace with what had been one of the league’s most potent offenses, gaining 406 yards on the day, only 20 yards less than the Outlaws’ total. The combination of Buford Jordan and Darrell Thompson averaged 5.5 yards per carry, gaining 111 yard between them, and QB Dan McGwire, now starting his 2nd year under center, went 20 for 33 for 296 yards, 2 TD’s and no interceptions.
Texas was expected to win easily, and despite 107 yards from Reggie Cobb, and 3 TD tosses from Kelly Stouffer, they were in a dogfight all day. Early on it looked like they would take the game as planned, with two early Kelly Stouffer TD passes putting them up 14-0 after 1 quarter, but St. Louis roared back in the 2nd, with Buford Jordan scoring on a 34-yard run, then McGwire hitting Rocket Ismael for a score. After a few field goals, it was 20-17 Knights after 3.
St. Louis boosted the score to 23-17 with a Scott Olivera field goal to begin the 4th, but Stouffer found Eric Metcalf for a third TD toss, with only 1:56 left in the game and it seemed that despite the valiant effort by St. Louis, the Outlaws would take this game by 1 point. What happened next was a shock to the Outlaw faithful at Bobcat Stadium and a stunning final drive for a franchise that had shown no offensive punch for almost 2 full seasons.
Getting the ball at their own 25, Dan McGwire completed 3 straight passes, including an 18-yarder to Eric Martin, to get the ball to the Texas 44. A false start penalty 3 plays later left St. Louis with a 4th and 16, seemingly ending any hope for a comeback, but an amazing play from McGwire, he found Eric Martin again, and Martin turned what looked to be a 10-yard out into a 48 yard play all the way to the Texas 2 yard line. Only a diving tackle from Najee Mustafaa kept Martin from scoring, but only 1 play later McGwire hit Moffett on a bootleg option play and St. Louis was up 5. They went for two and failed, but the damage was done. The Knights had pulled off an amazing comeback victory, scoring with only 16 seconds on the clock and shocking not only the Outlaw faithful, but the entire league.
This week we had three strong candidates for player of the week and all three were on the same team. Houston manhandled the Denver Gold and in doing so we had outstanding performances from three different Gambler players. QB Jim Kelly went 17 for 31, throwing for 315 yards and three touchdowns. Thurman Thomas rushed for 123 yards and caught 5 balls for another 37, and CB Reggie Sutton, clearly the least heralded of the three, had a monster day, making 5 tackles, intercepting a Dave Krieg pass and running it back for a touchdown, but also forcing 2 fumbles on the day, and recovering one.
Sutton’s interception for a touchdown only 7 seconds into the 3rd quarter took a 21-17 Denver lead and flipped it upside down, giving Houston a lead they would never relinquish as they went on to score 24 unanswered points. It proved to be the spark that started Houston on the path to a dominant half and their first win of the season. Kelly would hit Proehl for his 3rd TD on the day, Thomas would rush for 73 yards in the half, and the Gamblers would shut down the Gold for the rest of the game. All three performers would prove essential to the Houston win, so we award all three with our POTW this week to recognize a true team effort in knocking off the Gold.
Some news out of the New York league offices of the USFL as the league shored up some leaguewide business. Firstly, the expected has happened, as the league and the ABC/ESPN networks have agreed to an alteration of their 3 year TV contract. The league will lose just about $18M in revenue over the next three seasons due to the loss of the Los Angeles market, and has committed to a return to LA for the 1995 season. ABC/ESPN will continue to cover 9 games per week (10 in weeks 1, 2 and 16 this year), with FOX having the rights to 1 game per week, the Friday Night tilt in weeks 3-15, as well as 2 playoff games.
The new agreement also essentially guarantees that in 1995 we will have expansion rather than relocation as the contract requires the league to provide ABC/ESPN with 10 games per week. The contract with FOX also requires a growth to 1 game per week each week by 1995, so that means that the league has agreed to 11 games per week at a minimum. A 22 team league would be able to meet that expectation, though the USFL has not ruled out the possibility of moving to 24 teams. According to inside sources, the league has also looked at the possibility of shortening the season from 16 to 14 weeks to allow them to maintain a July championship while beginning the season later in March. Reducing the number of weeks in the season would be a controversial move as it would require that salaries across the league be restructured and recalculated for the shorter season. More to come on both the season schedule and league structure to be sure as the league decides just how to meet the expectations of its television contracts.
In another announcement from the league, the logo for the 10th league championship (or 3rd Summer Bowl, depending on your perspective) has been released. This logo combines the summer iconography we have seen with the Orlando and Los Angeles Summer Bowls with landmarks of the host city, Washington DC, while retaining a very “summery” look in its use of color. The 1992 Summer Bowl will be hosted at RFK stadium in Washington, D.C. on August 2nd, the first time the championship game has been held in August. The game will begin at dusk, with a 7pm ET start, and organizers are hoping to avoid what can be some muggy humid weather in DC at that time of year.
Another week of bruises, bumps, and bad breaks as several teams lost key performers, at least for a couple of weeks. The one injury expected to be more than a 1-2 week issue is the torn posterior cruciate ligament in the right knee of Tampa Bay DE Fred Stokes. Stokes is expected to be out at least 6 weeks and possibly longer after going down this week. Among the 1-2 week concerns we find WR Alfred Jackson of Orlando, tackle Matt Patchan, also of Orlando, Center Tony Mayberry of Tampa Bay, HB James Wilder of Jacksonville, and FS roy Gee of Tampa Bay, in what seems to be a plague against Florida teams.
Several other players are likely to miss this week, listed as Doubtful or Questionable, including DE Dwayne Board of Chicago, DT James Herribone of Denver, and CB Derrick Beasley of Washington. Expected back in action Week 3 we have HB Barry Foster of Baltimore, LB John Offerdahl in New Jersey, WR Weegie Thompson in Jacksonville, and SS Marcus Quinn in Oakland.
Back to some divisional action in Week 3 as the Blitz host the Maulers, the winless Stars take on Washington, the Stallions and Renegades clash in Legion Field, and the Bandits take on the 2-0 Memphis Showboats at the Liberty Bowl. In the Western Conference we have Chicago, looking for its first win, headed to Texas, the Breakers in a big game vs. Houston in the Astro Dome, the surprising Knights in Arizona, and a battle of 0-2 teams as Portland head to Denver. Our two inter-divisional games are intriguing as well, with 2-0 New Jersey facing off against 2-0 Michigan in Pontiac, while the Bulls hope to get their first win of the year, facing the league champion Invaders in Oakland. We should have some good games out of this slate of matchups, to be sure.