USFL Football is back for its 15th Season. The league that brought you Herschel Walker, Joe Cribbs, Eric Truvillion, Jim Kelly, Doug Flutie, Brian Bosworth, Brett Favre, and Mike Rozier is back in action with 24 teams playing in its opening weekend. In what feels like a new era in the league, the Houston Gamblers defend their title without the star that got them three Summer Bowl Championships, while new stars hope to make a name for themselves in the USFL. Rookie QB Jake Plummer gets his first start in a familiar venue, Sun Devil Stadium, former Husky HB Corey Dillon is in action in Seattle, and Colorado Buffalo star QB Kordell Stewart takes over the mantle in Washington after 2 years of tutelage under All-USFL QB Don Majkowski. It is a season of opportunity, of promise, and of potential, and it all starts this weekend when the stadiums of the USFL were filled once again with fans of spring football.
GAME OF THE WEEK: ST. LOUIS KNIGHTS @ PORTLAND THUNDER
A good opening day battle between two potential contenders in the Western Conference as St. Louis traveled to Portland to open the season. A light rain fell during most of the game but did not seem to impact play as the two teams combined for 817 yards of offense. Both Robert Drummond and Darrell Thompson started the season well, with the two-time league rushing leader gaining 116 to kick off a new year while the Knights’ Thompson gained 93 and scored on his first action of the year.
A 14-13 game at the half in favor of the visitors, thanks to TDs’ from TE Alex Higdon and Thompson on a 7-yard run. St. Louis boosted their lead on the first drive of the second half when fullback Ironhead Hayward rumbled in from 8 yards out, but Portland would find a way back. Down 24-16 after 3 quarters, the Thunder got TD’s from Drummond and a Webster Slaughter TD catch to take the lead 29-24 with only minutes left. But, on the TD toss, QB Todd Collins was dinged up and former Buffalo Bill Frank Reich would have to finish the game.
NJ 15 BAL 17
Defense was definitely ahead of offense as both the Generals and Blitz had trouble moving the ball. Both defenses keyed on the run game, with neither team able to garner 100 yards. Chris Miller hit Bill Brooks and Lamar Thomas with scoring tosses, but when Tommy Maddox found Malcolm Floyd with a score as the clock wound down, New Jersey was within a 2-point PAT of tying the game. The Stars D came up big on the conversion, as Maddox was unable to hit TE Mark Chmura over the middle on a desperation throw.
WSH 20 PIT 27
Another good Atlantic Division battle as Pittsburgh got a late TD from Bosco to Shaw to break open a 20-20 tie in the final minutes of play. Mike Rozier just keeps rolling along, garnering 112 yards on 20 carries and a 7-yard TD to boot for the Maulers. Washington’s Kordell Stewart looked sharp, completing 28 of 39 passes for 354 yards against a Mauler D that simply could not keep him in the pocket.
OHI 21 PHI 34
The Glory had the Stars on the ropes through three quarters before a 13 point outburst in the 4th helped Philadelphia secure the home win. Newcomer Troy Brown made a big impression for the Stars, catching 5 balls for 74 yards and 2 TDs. Ohio’s Eddie George was completely bottled up by the Stars defense, rushing for only 7 yards on 12 carries before Ohio moved to a pass-first strategy.
ATL 24 BIR 27
Both the current and the former Stallion QBs had strong games as Birmingham’s Brett Favre just edged Atlanta’s Cliff Stoudt for the win. Favre found Ernest Givens 6 times for 139 yards, and connected with Shannon Sharpe for two scores on the day while Stoudt made it an auspicious USFL debut for Lake Dawson, who caught 7 balls for 126.
JAX 30 MEM 13
The Bulls ruined the home opener for Memphis by picking off Heath Shuler twice and running off 23 unanswered points in the 2nd half. Both Brian Blades and Terrell Owens had over 100 yards for the Bulls as they came out of the gate hot.
ORL 22 TBY 28
A season-opening Battle of Florida saw QB Troy Aikman of the Bandits start strong, completing 67% of his passes for 360 yards and 3 scores, the final one a 21 yard swing pass to Errict Rhett for the game-clinching score in the 4th. Newly acquired WR Keenan McCardell had a big day for Orlando, catching 6 balls for 94 yards, but it was not enough as the Renegades fell in Tampa Stadium to last year’s Conference Champion.
CHI 20 ARZ 17
Chicago struggled to put away Arizona in Tempe as rookie QB Jake Plummer went 27 of 44 for 190 yards and a score. Chicago relied on 3 scoring tosses from Dan McGwire, including a Wesley Walls TD to go up by 10 late, but Plummer found his TE, Terry Orr with a late score to pull within 3. Chicago secured the win with an onside recovery and a key 3rd and 3 pickup to allow them to kill the clock and take the win.
HOU 20 DEN 35
A new age in Denver began with Chuck Hartlieb going 12 of 27 for 250 yards and 2 scores, but it was not enough as Mark Brunell threw for 2 scores and Rashaan Salaam rushed for 1 on the way to a Denver victory at Mile High. Houston would go only 4 of 13 on third down, and Thurman Thomas averaged only 2.6 yards per carry as Denver’s defense played well in the home opener.
MGN 20 LA 17
Michigan was not yet in synch on offense as the Express stuck around the entire game. Rookie Antowain Smith averaged 5.1 yards per carry, but was outgained by Tyrone Wheatley on the day as Michigan had just enough to secure the win, getting a late TD plunge from Rodney Culver to take the lead away from LA for good in the 4th.
NOR 23 OAK 13
The Breakers got 76 yards on 17 carries from Terrell Davis, and held Bobby Hebert in check most of the game to secure a road victory. Oakland’s run game never materialized as Siran Stacy averaged only 1.3 yards per carry, but the new LB corps for the Invaders played well, with Chris Spielman and Ricky Shaw both earning 7 tackles.
TEX 16 SEA 9
A gloomy, rainy day in the Emerald City produced a sloppy game with 11 combined penalties and 4 fumbles (2 recovered by the opposition). Corry Dillon struggled in his first USFL start, gaining only 10 yards on 7 carries, while Reggie Cobb muscled out 53 yards on the ground. Texas got TDs from Rodney Thomas and Lawyer Tillman and a sack of Rosenbach in the endzone gave them their 16 points, enough to pull this one out in the rain.
NEW FACES ON OPENING DAY
A big day for debuts around the league as we saw several new starting quarterbacks, quite a few NFL transfers, and a decent number of rookies getting into the action. Kordell Stewart began his run as the new QB of the Washington Federals with a strong outing, throwing for 354 yards in a tough loss to Pittsburgh. Rookie superstar Jake Plummer showed some flashes for Arizona, almost guiding them back to a home victory against Chicago, while Chuck Hartlieb assumed the mantle in Houston and had some struggles. Of the NFL transfers, WR Lake Dawson had the splashiest showing, with 126 yards receiving as the newest member of the Atlanta Fire. But it was a tough day overall for rookie running backs as Corey Dillon, Troy Davis, and Tiki Barber all struggled with the speed and ferocity of the pro game. Antowain Smith was the leading rusher among rookies with only 56 yards as the new kids in town got a taste of how fast the spring game is.
CONCERN IN COLLUMBUS
Despite a steady drumbeat of optimism out of the Ohio Glory, there has to be concern about Eddie George as he simply failed to provide any spark for the Glory offense. George rushed the ball 12 times, but gained only 7 yards against an admittedly stacked Philadelphia Stars defense. The Glory had been pushing the idea that this would be a breakout season for the Ohio State back, but once again the line and the play calling did George no favors. While his former Buckeye teammate, Joey Galloway, has seen major success in his short USFL career, George has simply been unable to match the performances we saw from him on fall Saturdays with his spring Sunday outings. For Coach Saban, who had hoped to move Ohio out of “expansion” status and into “contender” status, the maturation and success of George as a back is key to Ohio’s future. If he cannot figure out a way to free George up and if George cannot start turning 1-yard losses into 4 yard gains, this could be a long year of disappointment for fans in the Buckeye State.
GLAD YOU’RE BACK
How much did QB Brett Favre miss Ernest Givens last year? Well, if this week’s opener is any indication, the loss was a huge one. After a very rough season which saw Favre throw for a lot of yards but very few wins without Givens on the field, the combo was back to their old hijinx again this week against Atlanta. Yes, we realize that Atlanta is not exactly known as the league’s best pass defense, but Favre and Givens were able to connect early and often on the way to a 139 yard day for the veteran receiver. Clearly the two have chemistry, and while there are other quality receivers on the Stallion roster, there is nothing like having your favorite target at 100% and ready to go deep.
A rough first week of USFL play as over 30 players now find themselves on the injury report for Week 2. Of these, a few are potentially a major impact for their clubs. Newly acquired center John Burch could be out of the Pittsburgh lineup for up to 3 months with a hip injury that occurred on a nasty pileup. Seattle will be without their starting strong safety, Alton Montgomery, for at least 2 months due to an ACL partial tear, and Chicago guard Leo Goeas could miss a month or more after a bad knee sprain with minor ligament damage. That, fortunately, is the extent of the long-term injuries, but other players who could miss a game or two include Arizona LB Winfred Tubbs (hand), Philadelphia safety Marcus Quinn (hamstring) and wideout Cris Carter (questionable with a broken finger), Bulls’ CB Ron Pitts (shoulder), Michigan HB Rodney Culver (hamstring). Listed as probable but likely game time decisions include Knights QB Todd Collins, Atlanta QB Cliff Stoudt (knee), and both New Orleans starting wideouts, Herman Fontenot and Qadry Ismail.
Opening weekend saw a healthy USFL with strong attendance across the board. Even some cities which tend to lag had a good turnout, including over 33,000 in Los Angeles (always a tough market) and 35,400 who came out to Sun Devil Stadium to welcome Jake Plummer to the Wranglers. The highlights from a turnout standpoint were in Denver, where over 51,300 came out to see the Gold defeat the Gamblers, and in Tampa Bay, where an early rivalry game against Orlando brought out nearly 63,000 on a sunny March Sunday afternoon.
The highest TV ratings were for the Saturday night clash between Washington and Pittsburgh and Sunday’s late afternoon game between the Gamblers and Gold, but ratings were also strong for a wide range of games on the three networks (ABC, ESPN and FOX). With the league set to debate an altered schedule and alignment at the upcoming owner’s meetings, attendance and TV ratings will be a big piece of the puzzle to be sure, as will potential clashes with the USFLPA regarding any potential change to the schedule, particularly the potential to shrink to a 14-game regular season, a move which would require considerable alteration to the CBA as well as to individual contracts across the league.
While Week 1 saw an interesting mix of divisional and inter-divisional games, Week 2 brings us full inter-conference play. Among the more anticipated games we have Birmingham at Denver, Baltimore at Michigan, Philly in Chicago, and Pittsburgh at Houston in a battle of the past two league champions. We will also see the Federals take on the Machine in Chicago, Ohio head to St. Louis, New Jersey in a rare game against Texas, and Jacksonville head out to the desert to face the Wranglers. Tampa Bay is in LA in a homecoming of sorts for former UCLA QB Troy Aikman, while Orlando flies west to face Oakland, Memphis is up in Portland, and a cross-country battle of 1995 expansion clubs as Seattle hosts Atlanta.