After years of underachievement and disappointment, the New Jersey Generals and the USFL’s first superstar, Herschel Walker, reach the mountaintop, defeating the Denver Gold by a score of 23-18. In what many are seeing as the culmination of a 4-year process by coach Ray Perkins, the Generals moved from Wild Card in 1987 to Division Champion and a Conference Title Game appearance in 1988 and now League Champions in 1989. They defeated a Denver club that had also suffered through several years of playoff disappointment to reach their 2nd title game, only to fall short once again.
The Generals did it through balance on both offense and defense, holding both Denver’s passing game and halfback duo of Harry Sydney and Timmy Smith in check while winning the field position battle with Herschel Walker and an efficient play action game. Quarterback Doug Flutie was named game MVP with his efficient 25 of 31, 247-yard, 2 TD day, but in reality this was a full team effort, with all three phases of the game helping New Jersey to their first league title.
After a scoreless first quarter that saw both teams testing the opposition defense, New Jersey got off to a strong start in the second quarter with a 71-yard drive. On the drive the Generals combined short passes to TE Brent Jones and FB Keith Byars with 4 Herschel Walker runs, including the eventual scoring play, a 1-yard plunge by the former Georgia Bulldog. This would be a pattern all day as Jones, Byars and Walker proved to be among the top receivers for Flutie. Denver concentrated on taking away wideout Lam Jones (ony 2 catches, but one biggie for a TD) and using their backers to focus on the run.
Denver would be relatively successful in containing league rushing leader Walker, holding him o 82 yards on 25 carries, a 3.3 average. But in doing so and in frequently double-covering Lam Jones, they spread themselves thin and Doug Flutie, willing to dump off the ball to his backs or tight ends, showed patience and helped New Jersey maintain possession on key drives.
But it was not all General success. Following the Walker touchdown, Denver replied with their own long drive, but when they reached the red zone the Generals’ defense stiffened, holding Denver out of the endzone. Denver had obtained a 1st and 10 from the New Jersey 13, but was only able to get the ball to the 11 after a short Sydney run was followed by two endzone shots which failed to produce a score. Denver would settle for a 28-yard chip shot from Brian Speelman.
The Gold would get another shot when a failed 3rd and 5 pass to Scott Schwedes forced New Jersey to punt on a 3-and-out possession. The Gold quickly moved the ball down the field, aided by a 31-yard pass interference call on CB Cliff Hicks, trying to time a swat move on Lam Jones. Denver would once again move the ball well into the red zone, earning a first and goal on the 8. Two short passes on very similar crossing routes finished the drive with a score. The first, to Mark Carrier got the Gold to the two, and then another to Bill Brooks finished off the drive and gave Denver a 10-7 lead.
With just over 1:30 left in the game, New Jersey got the ball on their own 31 after a solid return by HB Bobby Morse. After a screen to Walker that only gained 3 yards, Denver prepared for an attempt at a first down gain, moving into a shell zone. As Doug Flutie dropped back, it looked like Denver had called it right, and DE Vince Rafferty looked like he would have a shot at Flutie, but the diminutive QB spun away from Rafferty and started to roll to his right. As he did this the Denver zone started to break down and a clear miscommunication led to Lam Jones getting behind the coverage, where a scrambling Flutie was able to find him. Brooks caught the ball in stride and 71 yards later had the play of the game, a perfect example of Doug Flutie’s ability to extend plays and make something out of nothing. New Jersey would go into the half up 14-10.
After a rousing halftime show by Lionel Ritchie, the Denver Gold received the second half kickoff and started what appeared to be a very promising drive. They paired an 11-yard run from Sydney with a 12-yard reception by Odessa Turner and a 9-yard run by Timmy Smith to move into New Jersey territory. They were poised to at least kick a field goal but were derailed when Gary Jeter stunted with DT Kit Lathrop on a 3rd and 4. After a short chase, he clipped the knee of QB Gagliano, who stumbled and then went down back at the 40. Denver was forced to punt. They went for a coffin corner, but CB Kirby Jackson snagged the ball at the 10 and weaved his way for a 32 yard return, setting New Jersey up at the 42.
The Generals would start this drive with a 14-yard run to Walker, as he bounced off LB Kurt Gouveia before being brought down by a combo tackle from Denver’s John Roper and Vencie Glenn. This was followed by a short pass to Brent Jones, the game’s leading receiver, a 6-yard swing pass to FB Keith Byars for another first down, and then short completions to Walker (one of 4 on the day) and J.J. Birden. The result was a first down on the Denver 11. Walker pushed the ball to the 5, and then on a beautifully executed play action bootleg, Flutie found Brent Jones open for the score, putting New Jersey up by 21-10 and forcing Denver to start thinking about picking up the pace.
After a failed drive for both teams, Denver got the ball back with 3 minutes gone in the 4th. They drove down the field in stops and starts, taking advantage of a defensive holding call, then getting called for false start themselves. Completing to Jay Novacek, then getting stuffed on a Sydney run. But, Denver, as they had been all year, proved resilient and tenacious, and when Odessa Turner caught a Gagliano pass at the 3-yard line, he ground his way through SS Gary Barbaro’s tackle to edge the ball over the line and into the endzone. Gagliano would hit Novacek on the 2 point try and the game was back in play at 21-18.
Things were looking up for the Gold. They had just pulled back within 3, and after a short drive in their own territory, a Flutie pass to Birden sailed high on 3rd and 6, the Generals were forced to punt. They got a boomer, a 59-yard kick from Ryan Criswell, and backup safety John Raines was able to track the ball and touch it down at the Denver 3. Denver tried to outsmart the Generals on their first play from the 3, and it backfired on them. They faked the ball to Sydney and then pitched it out to Timmy Smith. Smith tried for the sideline, but, facing 2 oncoming defenders, tried to reverse field, backtracking into the endzone, where DT Kit Lathrop was waiting. Smith was tackled for a safety, putting New Jersey back up by 5 and forcing Denver to kick the ball away to the Generals.
New Jersey would get the ball back on their own 44 with just over 3:30 left in the game. They gave the ball to Walker on 3 consecutive plays, producing a first down at the Denver 43. Two more runs, and the end of Denver’s timeouts meant that New Jersey would only need to convert a 3rd and 2 to salt the game away. All eyes were on Walker, and the defense veered to the left when Walker made his first steps in that direction, but the ball was not in his hands, but in those of FB Keith Byars, who plunged between the right guard and the tackle for an apparent first down and the game. The referees conferred, the chains came out and the 1st down was confirmed. As Doug Flutie took the victory on 3 straight downs, members of the Generals’ defense lifted Ray Perkins on their shoulders and began to bounce him as the clock wound down. The players stormed the field when the clock hit double-zero and the celebration in Jersey and around the NY-NJ area began.
Flutie would be named the MVP of the game, a clearly downhearted Bob Gagliano would congratulate Flutie on the field, Mouse Davis shook Ray Perkins hands once his feet were back on the ground, and Red, White, and Blue confetti showered from the enclosed roof of the Silver Dome. Perkins would later get a call from President George Bush, congratulating the former Alabama Head Coach and now USFL Champion on the victory.
And with New Jersey’s triumph, the 1989 USFL season would end. With the league struggling to handle recent NFL aggressiveness in signing both players and coaches, no one would be surprised if the league wanted to savor this moment, because come Monday they would have to get back to the dangerous waters of free agency and the USFL offseason.
Congratulations to Ray Perkins, Doug Flutie, Herschel Walker and all the Generals on a well-played, well-deserved victory and their first USFL Championship.
