PIT 17 BAL 14
After falling behind 17-7 to the Maulers, Baltimore got a late TD from Miller to Hill, but could not convert the onside kick to get the ball back for a game tying fieldgoal. Pittsburgh got a monster day from Mike Rozier against the Blitz D, as Rozier carried the ball 29 times for 156 yards.
WSH 16 PHI 26
The Stars showed why it was wise to bring in a veteran QB as Bob Gagliano came in for an injured Browning Nagle and led the Stars to their first win of the season. Nagle went out late in the 2nd with what appeared to be a neck injury after a hard hit from Dexter Manley. Gagliano came in, went 9 of 16 and threw a TD to Mike Quick to give Philly a lead they would not relinquish. Kelvin Bryant added another as Philadelphia reveled in a 10-point win over the defending division champ.
ORL 24 BIR 21
The Renegades got two field goals in the final 2 minutes of the game to steal a win away from the Stallions. Fuad Reveiz was the hero as he not only nailed a 53-yard attempt as time ran out, but also provided the chance by kicking a perfect high-hopping onside kick after Orlando had tied the game at 21 with 2 minutes left. Orlando recovered, and 5 plays later it was Reveiz’s leg for the win.
TBY 13 MEM 27
Memphis continues their surprising fast start as the Buddy Ryan-led defense proves effective against Tampa’s deep ball attack. Troy Aikman finished with 284 yards, but Tampa only scored 13 against the tough Memphis D. The Showboats got 2 scores from Mike Kelley and a solid 87 yards rushing from Greg Boone on their way to the win.
CHI 24 TEX 24 OT
Well, it was not a win, but for the first time in 14 games a Marty Schottenheimer-led team did not lose. After falling behind on a Quinn Early TD catch with only 1:50 left in the game, Scott Zolak did the unexpected and led the Machine down the field, hitting Wendell Davis for the game-tying score with only 18 seconds left to play. Neither team could find their footing in overtime, so the game ended as a tie.
NOR 21 HOU 7
New Orleans took advantage of 3 Houston turnovers to hold the Gamblers at bay and walk out of the Astrodome with a win. Neither team looked in rhythm on offense, but it was Houston that made the fatal turnovers and came out on the losing end.
POR 26 DEN 7
Portland’s defense and an ineffective run game doomed Denver to a 19-point loss. Denver could only muster 33 yards rushing on the day, and a total of 165 total yards as Portland dominated the line of scrimmage. Four Al Del Greco fieldgoals and short TD’s from both Webster Slaughter and Cris Carter were more than enough for the Portland offense in this one.
STL 7 ARZ 30
The St. Louis Knights ran into a buzzsaw in Tempe as the Wranglers racked up more than 400 yards of offense on their way to a convincing home victory. Robbie Bosco threw for 203 and 2 scores, while the combo of Clack (56) and James (143) provided nearly 200 yards of rushing to the Wrangler attack.
NJ 8 MGN 24
The Michigan Defense regained some of its old swagger, limiting Doug Flutie to 51% completions while nabbing 5 sacks on the day as the Panthers rolled over the 2-0 Generals. Jack Trudeau only completed 50% of his throws, but for 292 yards and 3 scores, one each to Rolle, Carter and rookie HB Rodney Culver. Culver also added 48 yards rushing on 11 attempts.
Jacksonville Bulls 31 Oakland Invaders 30
In a game that had one of the best back-and-forth 4th quarters you could hope for, the Jacksonville Bulls would not go away and got the final score of the day to take a 1 point lead and hold it until the whistle sounded. It was an evenly matched game from start to finish, with Tony Eason throwing for 334 while Gale Gilbert notched 336 yards. Henry Ellard nabbed 9 passes for 165 while Hassan Jones was the star for Jacksonville with 5 catches for 125.
Tied at 17 in the 3rd quarter, the Invaders took a lead on a Matt Bahr 48-yard field goal, and then added to it when Mark Duper caught a beautiful ball from Gale Gilbert and took it 34 yards for a score. Down 27-17, Jacksonville responded with a drive of their own, and after 9 plays, TE Steve Johnson got the TD toss from Eason to pull within 3. Oakland would drive again in response, but when a 3rd and 7 pass was defleced out of the hands of Sam Bowers, they had to settle for 3, now leading 30-24. Jacksonville got the last laugh as they ate up 3 minutes of clock before Johnson’s game-winning score.
Tony Eason would finish with 4 TD’s on the day, including the game-winner with just over 1 minute left on the clock. Gilbert would finish the game with 3 scoring tosses, but likely convinced that with just a little more time he could have made it to 4 and regained the lead for Oakland. But, time was not on their side, and with the clock winding down a final Hail Mary failed to find a receiver and Jacksonville was heading home with their first win of the season.
Just on sheer pluck alone, we are going to give this week’s game ball to Scott Zolak of the Chicago Machine. Zolak, subbing for the injured Chuck Long, had a poor outing last week and came into this week with no guarantee that he would be able to finish the game if he could not come through.
He bookended the game with 2 TD’s both to Wendell Davis, the first to begin the scoring in the 1st quarter, and then to wrap it up with 18 seconds in the game to tie the score at 24. In between these two tosses, Zolak threw the ball an unnerving 54 times, despite 34 carries between Ricky Watters and Albert Bentley. He would complete 28 of those tosses for 258 yards and 3 TD’s on the day. These are not mindblowing numbers, but they were enough to give Chicago some hope and keep Texas off the field long enough to come back and tie the game. The tie, while frustrating for all parties, marks the first success of Marty Schottenheimer’s short tenure in Chicago, and Zolak, who was looking over his shoulder to see if former Seminole Reggie Slack was going to get a shot, came through with a gutsy performance for the Machine. We don’t get a chance to salute gutsy performances that don’t lead to wins very often, so this week we will.
Three weeks into the 1992 season and once again we have to wonder if we have some teams with QB controversies already. The obvious first place to look is in Birmingham, where and injury to Cliff Stoudt has provided 2nd year QB Brett Favre to get a shot at the starting gig. He has looked very good, leading all quarterbacks in the USFL with a 106.9 QBR and 6 TDs to zero interceptions to date.
However, he is only 1-1 in his two starts, and with as many as 4-5 more weeks before Cliff Stoudt returns, a lot can change. If Favre is sitting at 5-1 at that point, or is even 3-3 but has a top QBR, it may be hard to pull him. New Head Coach Ron Erhardt has had nothing but praise for the young gunslinger, but would you really remove an icon like Stoudt from the Stallion lineup?
The other obvious spot where a team might change courses is in Philadelphia, where Browning Nagle was ineffective in his first two games, injured this week, and his replacement, veteran Bob Gagliano was able to rally the Stars to a victory. Gagliano is likely to start again next week with Nagle out, and if he performs well it may be hard for Coach Bicknell to justify a swap back to the younger Nagle.
Finally, what will happen to Dave Krieg if he continues to struggle and the Gold continue to lose? Vince Evans certainly knows his way around a USFL field, but will Coach Walton feel comfortable putting the journeyman USFL vet in and removing the high profile NFL transfer? Unlikely at 0-3 but at 0-6 or 0-7, we could see it happen.
A bad week for injuries around the league as we saw several top players go down. Baltimore will have to go without their starting RDE as Charles Buchanon is out at least 3 months. Arizona lost FS Martin Bayless for 2 months with broken ribs, while New Orleans wideout Charlie Smith could miss up to a month with a neck injury. Out for up to 2 weeks we have Michigan DT Pio Sagapolutele, Chicago guard Mike Munchak, and Oakland wideout Wyatt Henderson. Jacksonville’s James Wilder could be in a similar situation after a stress fracture was discovered in his left foot. Players who are listed as Doubtful or questionable, and are considered day to day include Baltimore CB Leslie Frazier, Tampa FS Roy Gee, Pittsburgh DE Scott Keller, Tampa wideout Chris Collinsworth, and the aforementioned Browning Nagle, who might get the start this week despite lingering pain.
Week 4 provides more divisional action. New Jersey and Pittsburgh, both starting the year well at 2-1 face off at Three Rivers. Baltimore and Washington, both 1-2 will try to level their records at RFK. Birmingham and Tampa are also trying to get to .500 as they clash in Tampa Stadium. Jacksonville is in Orlando for an in-state rivalry game. Michigan takes their 3-0 record to Chicago, who stand at 0-2-1 after their tie this week. Houston will try to reach 2-2 if they can win in San Marcos against the Texas Outlaws. Oakland is in Arizona this week, with a chance to get back to .500 against the Wranglers, while Denver will try to get their first win as they host the St. Louis Knights. In inter-conference play we have Philadelphia headed to New Orleans to face the 3-0 Breakers while Portland is at home to another 3-0 team, the Memphis Showboats.