Perfection. There is no other word for it. The Ohio Glory have done what no team has done since the 1973 Miami Dolphins of the NFL, they have run through an entire pro football season, the first ever in the 20 years of the USFL, without a loss. Fourteen straight wins in the regular season, two playoff games, and now a run-away victory in the Summer Bowl to cap their season and go down as one of the greatest teams in pro football history.
It was not always easy. Games were close all season long, at least some of them, and this title game was close as well for about a quarter and a half, but then something clicked. It was the kind of thing that all champions have within them, a new gear, a higher level of commitment, a dedication to victory and to each other to make it happen. Coach Luginbill said it best as he stood to receive the John Bassett Trophy: “More than anyone, this is for those guys, those guys with blood on their jerseys and football in their hearts. These guys found what they needed to win. They came together. They fought every play and gave all they had. And they deserve this!”
The MVP of the game went to none other than the league MVP, QB Kerry Collins, who capped of an amazing season with an amazing game, completing 25 of 35 passes for 410 yards and 5 touchdowns. He had help, that is for sure. Help from the usual suspects like Joey Galloway (7 receptions for 168 yards and a score), Chad Johnson (only 2 catches, but both touchdowns), and from unexpected sources like 3rd wideout Robert Ferguson (also 2 TD catches), and backup HB Lamont Warren, who took on the role of injured Eddie George and did his best impersonation of the league’s Offensive Player of the year, rushing for 68 yards, but also catching 7 balls for 107, something Memphis simply was not prepared for.
Coach Luginbill started the game somewhat conservatively, showing Memphis what we all thought they expected to see, an offensive game plan designed to get the ball to Galloway and Johnson, but he flipped a switch after sorting out the Memphis defense, started calling plays that looked at Warren and Ferguson, as well as TE’s Stephen Alexander and Derek Brown (6 combined catches). He kept pounding the ball with Warren too, forcing Memphis to respect the run, and allowing single coverage on at least one of his speedy receivers. Collins took advantage of this style, and found some big plays through play action. But he also threw some curveballs, including a flea flicker that netted 46 yards from Collins to Warren, back to Collins and then deep to Galloway.
Memphis came in with a plan, and at first it looked like it might work. They would force Ohio to dink and dunk, avoid the deep stuff, and require that they just kept drives going. The problem was Ohio was able to do just that, and started putting together drives that simply wore out he Memphis defender. Meanwhile, Ohio’s linebackers harrassed Memphis QB Heath Shuler, and while they only recorded 1 sack, Shuler was simply not able to play his best game. He finished with only 13 completions on 28 attempts, and Memphis as a whole only held the ball for 21:16 compared to Ohio’s 38:44. Those long drives ended up being worse for Memphis than the big plays.
The game started well for the Showboats. They gave up a first down on the first drive, but on a 3rd and 3 they stuffed Lamont Warren behind the line and forced a punt. They followed this with a 7-minute drive that ended with Larry Centers taking a plunge off the right guard for the score. It would be the only score of the first quarter, but just by a technicality. Ohio on their 2nd possession was forced to dink and dunk, as Memphis had hoped, but the mistakes, the penalties, the missed passes did not happen, and just as the 2nd period was opening, Collins found Chad Johnson on a fade route from the 4 yard line and the big receiver went up over the corner and brought the ball in. Game evened up.
Memphis responded quickly, themselves trying to find the big plays that they had hoped to stop Ohio form hitting. They found two on one drive. First a long ball to Tydus Wynans that forced corner Corey Raymond into an awkward position, drawing a 37-yard defensive pass interference call. Four plays later Shuler hit on his best pass of the day, a 24 yarder on a double move the faked the corner out and let Joe Horn find space behind him. Memphis was up 14-7 and it looked like we would have a game.
Ohio responded, but this time they too got some penalties, a defensive holding and an offside, and they moved a little bit faster, still working their original WR-centric plan. Collins missed on a high throw to Galloway for a deep TD, but 5 plays later was again able to find Johnson, this time on a slant move in the red zone, and Ohio was even again with the Showboats. What happened next seemed ordinary at the time, a short Memphis drive spoiled by a tipped pass on 3rd down led to a Showboats punt. But Ohio came out in their next drive doing something different. A screen to Warren, a short pass to Alexander, an out pass to Ferguson from the slot. They were skipping the contested balls to their two top receivers and taking advantage of better matchups against Ferguson, the tight ends and the backs. Soon they were closing in on the red zone and in one quick play they showed that Memphis had more receivers to deal with than they were ready for. Ferguson, who had not really been a major contributor all season for Ohio, was seeing more snaps. And on 1st and 10 from the 22 yard line, he was locked up in single coverage with the Memphis nickel, Rodney Young. Ferguson was quicker and more explosive than Young and it showed as he took Young inside, before turning it upfield on a corner route. Collins hit him in stride and Ohio had themselves their first lead of the day, 21-14 just at the 2-minute warning.
Memphis tried to even the score with a 2-minute drill, but on a 3rd and 7 from midfield, Shuler trying to avoid a blitzing Glenn Cadrez, lost grip on the ball. His guard covered the ball up, but Memphis was forced to punt and one kneel down later we were at the half.
While the fans were enjoying the music of Lenny Kravitz, with special guests Outkast (a performance that included Kravitz reprising a sample from Jimi Hendrix’s famous rendition of the national anthem), inside the locker rooms Al Luginbill was in a much better place than Jim Mora. Mora was trying to rally the troops, get them to commit to their original plan, while Luginbill was selling the new formula, the short game, spreading the ball around, and on defense continuing to put pressure through the blitz to force Heath Shuler to play on the move and cut out half the field as he rolled. Luginbill’s strategies on both sides of the ball would prove incredibly effective. Memphis would not score again, while Ohio would add another 17 points in the second half to coast to a 24 point victory.
In the second half, Galloway would get his touchdown, another short toss on another slant route. Ferguson would land his second on what was essentially a shuffle pass from the shotgun, and the Ohio defense would simply not allow Memphis to get in range, even for kicker Scott Blanton, not that the showboats would go for the kick. Two drives ended with Memphis going for 4th down and failing to convert. Two would end with turnovers, as Heath Shuler was picked by Cadrez (the Defensive POTG) and Erron Kinney, the 2nd TE for Memphis, would get the ball punched out by Cedric Harden. Memphis’s superstar TE, would have a brutal day, targeted only 4 times and ending the game with one catch for 7 yards.
As the game wore down it was all Luginbill could do to keep his players on the sideline and to not celebrate too early, but after Ferguson’s 2nd TD reception made the score 35-14, the party was on. Ohio would wrapped the game up with a kneel down and the entire squad would rush the field as confetti cannons shot out blue and white paper from both endzones (we assume they had red and white available for Memphis if needed.) The Ohio Glory had done the unthinkable. They had run the table on the entire league, stringing together 17 consecutive wins to go through the year untouched, unphased, and undefeated.
Jubilation in the streets of Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and every other hardscrabble town along the Mahoning Valley as the state of Ohio nabbed their first pro football title since the Cleveland Browns of the 1950’s. Not only was it a title, it was a historic, incredible, unbelievable unbeaten season for the Glory. A truly Glorious event if I can be a bit punny about it.
For Memphis, some consolation that they faced a team of destiny, a team no one had fully figured out. It was not Jim Mora’s first defeat on this biggest of stages, and he was magnanimous in defeat, saying “We lost to a better team today. No shame in that. Of course we wish it had gone differently, but Ohio is a great team, with a lot of great players and one heck of a coach. I am sad we lost, but we will move on. “.
For Al Luginbill, whose first years in Ohio were anything but easy, it was vindication for a 4 year journey that has seen nothing but improvement for the Glory. Before Luginbill, the 1995 expansion team had never had a winning season. In his first year they scrapped their way to 8-8, the first non-losing season in team history. Then 10-6 in 2000, winning their Wild Card game only to lose the next week to these very same Showboats. In 2001, they won 1 more game, finishing 11-5 and earning a bye as Division Champions of the Atlantic, but in their first playoff game they were upset 42-40 by Philadelphia. This season had a lot of high expectations, and with the club’s move to the new Central Division, new challenges, but they started hot, stayed hot, dealt with close calls and adversity, and now they stand atop the mountaintop as USFL Champions and the ultimate Team of Destiny.
That's 10 different Summer Bowl champions in a row, and 13 different champions in 20 years of the USFL.
Also it was the 1972 Dolphins who were perfect, not '73
And with that, we have just seen history. Congratulations to the Ohio Glory on completing the unthinkable. Now can they repeat the feat in 2003? Will Memphis get redemption? Or will someone else take it home?
Wow! The Glory is by far one of the best teams ever in pro football! Congrats!