Orlando finds their first win of the year, Portland steals one in Denver, and the Generals get the road win in Pittsburgh in a wild week of USFL action. Add in another monster week from Bobby Hebert, Thurman Thomas returning to form, Mike Kelley making a statement, and Brett Favre going off against the Bandits’ defense and you have a lot to talk about this week in the USFL. All that and a USFL coach returns to the sideline for expansion Seattle.
Portland snags a share of first in the Pacific with a big win against the Gold in Denver. In a game that saw both defenses make life tough for quarterbacks, it was Jack Trudeau’s savvy and experience that got Portland in a position for the Al Del Greco game winner with :01 on the clock.
The game that would end with an Del Greco kick began with one as well, as Portland took advantage of a good kickoff return to play the short field. Their drive stalled on the 27, but well within Del Greco’s range. The defenses largely took over after that, with neither team able to score until late in the 2nd. Mark Brunell hit the Gold’s free agent signee, TE Keith Jackson, for a score with 1:45 on the clock in the 2nd. Portland, in a vision of what was to come later, used an effective no huddle 2-minute drill, and with 25 seconds left in the half it was Trudeau to Didier for the lead. Portland up 10-7 at the half.
Denver regained the lead in the 3rd quarter, when a Trudeau interception set them up deep in Portland territory. They moved the ball on the ground, before Brunell found Natrone Means on a well-designed screen play for the score. Portland would have to wait until the 4th quarter to regain the lead for themselves. Trudeau and Drummond moved the ball down the field, but it was little-used scat-back Derick Loville who would get the score to move Portland to a 17-14 lead.
Denver would respond 2 drives later, when they maneuvered the ball into Portland territory, kicking a game-tying field goal with 2:59 left. That would prove to be too much time to leave Trudeau and the Thunder. The Thunder began the game’s last drive on their own 17, and needed pretty much all of the 2:59 to get Al Del Greco into position. With no time outs left, Trudeau hit Hart Lee Dykes for 7 yards to get the ball to the Denver 22. The Thunder raced to the line and just got the spike off with 1 second left. Del Greco came out, lined up his shot, and connected on the field goal as time expired. A tough loss for the Gold, but an elated Thunder bench raced out onto the field. Portland, now 4-2, shares first place in the division with Oakland.
NJ 22 PIT 17
New Jersey had to rely on backup Oliver Luck to get a win against a stingy Pittsburgh defense. Flutie was knocked out just after the half, and Luck, playing with a 15-3 lead, managed to lead New Jersey on a key drive, ending with a TD to Lam Jones. That score proved the game winner as Pittsburgh scored 14 in the 4th, but could not get over the hump.
BAL 29 WSH 31
Baltimore again proved to be a lot to handle, but the Federals, led late by Walter Lewis who came in for Hohensee, had just enough to hold them off. Barry Word rushed for 93 yards and 3 scores to power the Feds to a 31-19 lead after 3. Baltimore owned the 4th quarter, but simply could not get enough to overcome the deficit.
JAX 21 ORL 24
The Renegades played inspired football at home to avoid going 0-6. Reggie Collier threw for 337 yards and 2 scores, and the Orlando D snagged two Bulls turnovers to help their squad upend Jacksonville. Whlie John Jefferson had a good game with 99 yards and a score, it was the 111 yards and 7 receptions by Wamon Buggs that put Orlando over the top in this close in-state rivalry game.
BIR 44 TBY 20
Tampa Bay was feeling pretty good about their chances against the league champs, building up a 17-0 lead early in the 2nd quarter, but then Brett Favre caught fire. He would end the game with 4 scoring tosses, including 2 to Lawrence Dawsey, who returned from injury to a big day. The combo of Joseph, Fullwood, and rookie James Bostic contributed 109 yards on the ground, as Birmingham used a 44-3 run to blow past the overwhelmed Bandits.
NOR 17 HOU 34
Houston got revenge for their earlier loss to the Breakers, showcasing Thurman Thomas in the process. Thomas rushed the ball 18 times for 112 yards and 2 scores, then added another 64 yards in the air, with a 3rd score for good measure, as the Gamblers doubled up on the Breakers at home.
CHI 17 TEX 30
Blair Kiel started for Chicago, but after two early interceptions, including a pick-6 on a horrible QB decision, Coach Schottenheimer turned the ball over to Scott Zolak. Zolak was 21 of 27 for 220 yards, but it was not enough as Reggie Cobb and the Outlaws outpaced the Machine. Cobb finished with 96 yards and a score to help Texas score their 4th win and a share of first in the Central.
STL 14 ARZ 21
St. Louis’s defense played well, limiting Arizona to only 248 total yards, but the Knights offense simply could not get enough done against Arizona’s D to get the win on the road. For Arizona it was all Trumaine Johnson, as the veteran wideout caught all three TD’s in the game for the Wranglers.
MGN 20 PHI 37
The Stars thrilled the home crowd as Kelvin Bryant scored twice and the Philly secondary picked off legendary NFL QB Joe Montana 4 times on the day. Neither Montana nor Allen had an answer for the swarming Philadelphia defense as CB James Hasty picked off 2 balls and deflected another 4 to lead Philly’s defense on the day.
OAK 27 MEM 33
Bobby Hebert had a big day for Oakland (3 TDs) but was also sacked 5 times by the Showboat defense. Mike Kelley had an even bigger day, throwing for 4 scores finding Jo-Jo Townsell twice as he led the ‘Boats to the overtime victory. Tied at 27 after 4 quarters, Memphis took the first drive and ended the game on a Kelley to Townsell scoring toss.
We are going to give our POTW to Mike Kelley of the Showboats. Memphis was horrible last year, with Kelley injured, and the team went out and spent a lot of draft capital (and actual capital) to sign Tennessee QB Heath Shuler. That did not sit well with Kelley, who vowed to fight for his starting job. The result, a solid start to the season that has Memphis at 3-3, and this week, against a good Oakland defense, a 4-TD game, just to remind everyone that this is not Heath Sherman’s team yet. Fans may be buying up #5 Shuler jerseys. But #12 for Memphis is in no hurry to grab a clipboard and root for the kid.
SEATTLE—We have the third of our four USFL Expansion coaches, and the new team leader in Seattle is a familiar figure to USFL fans. After LA signed former USFL QB Rick Neuheisel to be the youngest head coach in the league, and Atlanta snagged former Denver Broncos coach Dan Reeves, it was Seattle’s turn, and they opted to go with a coach who has experience building a team from scratch in the USFL, former Oklahoma and Texas Outlaw head coach Woody Widenhofer.
Widenhofer, who spent 4 years as coach of the Outlaws, first in Tulsa and then, with a revamped roster, in the San Antonio/Austin area, has a USFL coaching record of 28-36, leading Oklahoma to a 4-12 expansion season before having 3 straight 8-8 years in Texas. Known for his defensive schemes and a blue collar work ethic, Widenhofer will help the Dragon front office to craft a roster and set up a new franchise in the Emerald City.
OHIO—The Ohio Glory now stand as the only expansion club not to name a head coach yet. They have been interviewing finalist, including former Mauler Head Coach Joe Pendry, current Cleveland DC Nick Saban, and Bowling Green Head Coach Gary Blackney. The Glory expect to make an announcement in the next week to announce their first coach. Whoever it is, he should expect to have only limited player personnel responsibilities as Ohio has already committed to a strong role for GM Ron Hughes, formerly the Director of Player Personnel in Detroit of the NFL.
USFL—Speaking of coaches, we thought it would be a good time to look at the current USFL coaching ranks and consider who may be on the hotseat and who is not. Looking first at the 4 new head coaches, it seems clear that both Mike Ditka in New Orleans and Jerry Glanville in Tampa have made strides with their teams, and will certainly have a couple of years to build what they want. Skip Holtz in Michigan and George O’Leary in Orlando are off to rougher starts, each 1-5, and in Michigan the signing of Montana and Marcus Allen seems to be putting immediate pressure on Holtz to start turning the Panthers around soon, but even if neither Holtz or O’Leary can produce immediately, we have to believe they will have at least another year to put their plans into place.
Then we have our group of coaches who, largely due to their success in recent years, are under no pressure to preserve their jobs. In this group we have the two longest-tenured coaches in the league, Washington’s Sam Rutigliano (76-58 record) and Oakland’s Dick Vermeil (85-64-1 record). Add to that “safe” group Birmingham’s darling, Ron Erhardt, Houston’s Ray Willsey, Pittsburgh’s Tom Marchibroda, and Texas’s Gene Stallings (though the Texas trend of late season swoons might be an issue for Stallings.)
Our middle group consists of coaches whose teams tend to play mid-level ball, or who have, as coaches, a .500 record. Believe it or not, after 6 weeks this season we have 6 coaches whose records are exactly .500. The list starts with Ted Tollner in Arizona (43-43), the same record as Galen Hall for the Bulls. Dennis Ericson in Portland sits at 35-35 but seems off to a good start this year. Among newer coaches we have Buddy Ryan in Memphis (19-19), Raymond Berry in Philadelphia (11-11), and Wade Phillips in Denver (also 11-11).
So who is at greatest risk, well, coaches with losing records of course. Though, even in this group there are a couple who seem to be on the right path towards fixing that. Sam Wyche (17-21) seems to have the Generals headed the right way, and Marty Schottenheimer (17-27-1) had Chicago in the playoffs last year, so we expect his job is secure for now. Not so lucky are Lindy Infante in Baltimore (12-26) who needs to show progress this year, and, our most likely candidate to be dismissed, St. Louis’s Jack Elway, whose 18-16 record is not what fans in the Gateway City or ownership want to see.
Our odds have Elway in deep trouble, and off to a 1-5 start does not help. Next up we look at Infante in Baltimore, Buddy Ryan in Memphis, and possibly either Holtz or O’Leary unless their first-year jitter turn into late season growth.
Doug Flutie was the biggest name player to leave a game this week, and he may miss next week’s game against Houston, but his shoulder did not sustain significant damage, so we expect him back on the field Week 8 against Memphis. The same cannot be said for Philly LB Robert Gooch, who will be out 4-6 weeks with a torn meniscus, or for Arizona DE Dale Rogers, expected to miss a month or more with a stress fracture. Expected back this week are Scott Schwedes (NJ-WR), Bruce Hill (POR-WR), Jim Reynosa (MGN-DE), Marcus Cotton (STL-LB), and Bennie Blades (MEM-SS).
We are edging closer to the mid-point of the year, and some more good divisional games on tap this week. Let’s start in the West, where Portland and Oakland will try to remain in 1st with home games. Portland has the Wranglers coming to town, while Oakland gets an easier task with 1-5 St. Louis coming to the Bay. In the Central the question is who will start at QB for Chicago when they face the Breakers in Soldier Field. Michigan hopes to get a home win as they host the Outlaws. In the south, it is Memphis hosting Tampa in a battle of 3-3 teams, while Birmingham hosts Orlando, fresh off the Renegades’ first win of the Year. And in the Atlantic it is 3-3 Philadelphia hosting 3-3 Washington, while Baltimore hopes home cooking can get them a win over 4-2 Pittsburgh. That leaves 4 teams out of division. New Jersey will host Houston and may be playing with Oliver Luck at QB. Denver travels to Jacksonville, and with Dave Krieg cleared to play, it will be a judgement call on who will QB the Gold in this battle of 3-3 teams.