Oakland Defeats Orlando to Bring USFL Title to California
Turnovers equal points. It is one of the most reliable clichés in professional sports. Teams that force takeaways tend to win, teams that turn the ball over tend to lose. That old axiom was proven once again as the Oakland Invaders as they won their first USFL title by turning three Orlando Renegade turnovers into 21 points, on their way to a convincing 34-17 victory. For former Offensive Player of the Year Reggie Collier, quarterback of the Renegades, the realization that three errant passes led to those much-needed points for Orlando is going to be a tough reality to face. For Oakland rookie cornerback and Summer Bowl MVP Aeneas Williams, who snagged two of those errant passes, running one back for a score, the power of the takeaway is one which will make him a star in Oakland for years to come.
The Summer Bowl matched two teams that had never reached these heights before. Coach Dick Vermeil and the Oakland Invaders had made the playoffs several times, but had never won a single playoff game until this year. Orlando had been in the postseason the past two years, had even made it as far as the Conference Title Game in 1989, but this would be their first USFL Summer Bowl. The nerves for both teams were on display early in the game, as both clubs opened the game with short drives, punctuated by errant passes or missed blocks, and so the game lurched to a start with three straight punts. On their second drive, Oakland started to pull it together, mixing Richard Williams runs and short passes from Gilbert to Duper, Ellard, and Bowers until they had reached the Orlando 7. Two short runs and a tipped ball, and it was 4th and goal at the 2, and Coach Vermeil opted to let Kevin Shea put some points on the board and calm his team down a bit.
What would happen next would do just the opposite, it would turn nerves for Oakland into energetic focus. After a touchback on the kickoff, Orlando looked to shake off their own nerves with a quick play action pass from Collier to veteran wideout John Jefferson. The initial fake to Curtis Bledsoe may have drawn in the linebackers, but rookie Aeneas Williams was not fooled, sticking to Jefferson, stepping in front of the veteran, snagging the poorly placed ball and dashing down the sideline for the touchdown. The heavily partisan crowd at the LA Coliseum burst into cheers, the sideline erupted, and the Oakland Invaders, for perhaps the first time, felt like today might actually be their day to shine.
Orlando would recover. On their next possession, one straddling the first and second quarters, they shook off the sudden change of fate and methodically drove the ball down the field. They were helped by an Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty that gave them a 1st and goal, but they also saw Reggie Collier complete several passes along the way, 3 to Jefferson almost as a response to Williams’s early interception. Bledsoe would run the ball in from the 1 yard line on 2nd and goal and Oakland too had now lost its initial nerves, putting itself right back in the game.
Oakland responded with a short drive and another Kevin Shea field goal to move the score to 13-7. The game was now well underway, and both teams were beginning to find their rhythms. Orlando responded to the field goal drive with a solid drive of their own. Collier hit Dante Whittaker, Nathan Bruce, and finally Alfred Jackson on three consecutive plays, the last being a 15 yard touchdown toss, and Collier’ costly interception seemed wiped away as the Renegades, a 5 point favorite in the game, took the lead at 14-13. Another drive and a late field goal from Fuad Reveiz would put Orlando up 17-14 and apparently set the scene for the game ahead, but the early interception would not be the last for Collier, and the impact of those missed throws would determine the outcome of the game in the second half.
The first drive of the second half would be one of Oakland’s longest, moving from their own 23 all the way down the field and into the endzone with a Fred McAfee 1 yard plunge. On the drive, Williams would rush the ball 4 times for 14 yards, but the big plays would come from the passing game. Gilbert found Sam Bowers for 17 on a first down toss. He would then hit Bowers again for 12 on a 3rd and 1. He found Ellard for 11 on a first down, then went right back to him for 10 on the very next play. Little used Fred McAfee would sub for Williams at the 1 yard line, and would get his moment of glory plunging over the right guard for the score that once again put Oakland on top, 20-17.
4 straight failed drives followed this moment, with Oakland and Orlando failing to do much with the ball. It looked like a long war of attrition would be the story of the second half, but once again a mistake would shift the game towards the Invaders. Collier, again looking for Jefferson (who was targeted 14 times on the day, more than double any other receiver), was clipped by Oakland DT Greg Meisner, causing the ball to flutter, falling short of his target and into the arms of Robert Sparkman, who had been covering Alfred Jackson on an underneath route. Getting the ball at their own 47, Oakland took advantage, with Gale Gilbert completing 4 short passes and Williams converting a key 3rd and 1, Oakland took the ball deep into Orlando territory, and on a 1st and goal, Gilbert found his favorite receiver, Henry Ellard, streaking along the back line of the endzone. Tossing the ball high and in front of Ellard, the CB could not make a play on it and suddenly Oakland had a 10 point lead, 27-17.
The sudden turn of events, and now down by 10, caused Orlando to shift to a quicker pace and try to force their way back into the game. That proved fatal as only 5 plays later, Collier, again trying to connect with Jefferson, would again put the ball into the hands of rookie Aeneas Williams. Again, Williams had open field in front of him, gaining 36 yards on the return before being pushed out of bounds at the Invader 49 yard line. Gilbert would come back onto the field, and in 3 plays put the game out of reach for the Renegades. He hit Ed McCaffrey for 7, followed by a 7 yard run for Richard Williams, and then, on a double move, Mark Duper got a step on the corner and Gilbert found him for the 36-yard touchdown that would put the game solidly into Oakland’s pocket.
With only 6:44 left in the game, and now down by 17, Orlando pressed, and Oakland’s defense, knowing that it would be all passing from now on, pinned their ears back and came after Collier, forcing early throws, and keeping Orlando from using their full arsenal. When a 4th down pass from Collier to Jackson fell short, turning the ball over to Oakland with only 1 minute left, the game was won. Gale Gilbert, who started the season on the bench, demoted to the 2nd string, took the knee twice, and held the ball aloft in celebration as the Oakland Invaders stormed the field. Coach Vermeil would be hoisted up on the shoulders of several players, Aeneas Williams would become the first rookie ever to win the USFL Championship’s MVP award, and the Oakland Invaders would receive the USFL Trophy as the league champions.
For Orlando it was another step, another achievement, but also another disappointment, to come this close, and to fall once again. For Oakland it was an unexpected moment of glory, a recognition that they were not perennial also-rans or just good enough to get into the playoffs. They were the USFL Champions. QB Jeff Kemp, who began the year as the starter, suffered a scary spinal injury, and was on the road to recovery, but perhaps never to play again, would be part of a championship team. His courage and his example were cited by Coach Vermeil in the post-game interviews. Gale Gilbert, who had long been criticized as being “not quite good enough’ would have his redemption, showered in champagne by his teammates. For Oakland, a city which had mourned the loss of their NFL franchise, and which has embraced these new “Invaders” as both a team that represented their return to football, but also a team which had taken a very different path than their darker, more rebellious predecessors, their faith had paid off. The Black and Silver was slowly being replaced by the more upbeat and California-cool colors of the Invaders sky blue and sun gold. Oakland had beaten the odds, had taken the final step, and now would be forever enshrined in USFL history as champions.