Category Archives: League News/Press

USFL Midseason Report

With 9 weeks in the books, we take a look back at the first half of the inaugural USFL season. Read below for team reports and the midseason awards. Keep reading to the end for an exciting announcement about the 1984 season!

Team Reports

East Division

Boston Breakers (6-3, First Place): The Breakers come out of the first half of the season as one of the surprise teams in the league. Preseason predictions put Philadelphia as the runaway team in the East. Behind both an offense and a defense that rank in the top half of the league, Boston continues to win and push for a postseason berth.

Philadelphia Stars (5-4, Second Place): In spite of having two of the most exciting offensive players in quarterback Chuck Fusina and running back Kelvin Bryant, the Stars endured an up and down first half of the season, reflected in their record and struggle to stay in second place in the division.

New Jersey Generals (3-6, Third Place): New Jersey mortgaged their future for the now by drafting Herschel Walker. The move clearly placed a target on their heads. Teams clearly circle their games with the Generals on the schedule. They concede yardage to Herschel, but keep the rest of the team in check.

Washington Generals (2-7, Fourth Place): Little has gone right for the Generals in the first half of the season. They lost their first 5 games of the season before going 2-2 just before the halfway point. Even so, having dug themselves into such a deep hole, there’s little chance for success this year.

Central Division

Michigan Panthers (9-0, First Place): The Panthers came out firing from the first game and have not looked back since. They remain the only undefeated team and boast an offense and a defense that are tops in the league. This writer sees a potential championship for them at the end of this season.

Chicago Blitz (7-2, Second Place): Somehow, the Blitz at 7-2 have been overlooked. That’s only because they play in the same division as the undefeated Panthers. Otherwise, in either the East or the West, they’d be leading the division. Time, and their ability to beat them, will tell if they can overtake the Panthers.

Birmingham Stallions(5-4, Third Place): The Stallions looked to be going the way of the Federals. However, they righted the ship and reeled off 4 straight victories to climb above .500 and put themselves in the discussion for a postseason spot. The slow start means they are on the outside looking in, but if they can keep winning, who knows?

Tampa Bay Bandits (3-6, Fourth Place):The Bandits suffered a debilitating injury to their starting quarterback and then the back up. This luck is reflected in the standings. Tampa Bay has little recourse other than to start planning for next year.

West

Denver Gold (4-5, First Place): Denver suffered some quarterback troubles early in the year. Even though they have a losing record, it is enough for a three way tie for first place in a, thus far, weak west division. Surely, some team will rise to take hold of this division and the playoff spot promised.

Oakland Invaders (4-5, Second Place): Add the Invaders to the list of underachieving teams. A preseason pick by many to lead the division easily, an inconsistent first half puts them in a tie with Denver and Los Angeles. If any team rises, it will probably be Oakland.

Los Angeles Express (4-5, Third Place): Early in the season, Los Angeles looked to be the cream of the west division crop. But, a three game losing streak brought them back to the pack and struggling to find their form again.

Arizona Wranglers (2-7, Fourth Place): The Wranglers are currently vying with Washington as the worst team in the league. They’ve given their fans little to cheer for this year and even less to look forward to going into next year. It looks to be a grim start to the franchise.

Midseason Awards

Offensive Player Herschel Walker, RB, New Jersey Generals: Herschel came into the season as the most hyped prospect of either the NFL or USFL. New Jersey got the steal of the decade so far by drafting him. He proved everyone right. Herschel is second in the league in rushing yards and in receptions.

Defensive Player John Corker, OLB, Michigan Panthers: In addition to having double the amount of sacks of any other player in the league, Corker is on pace for over 100 tackles on the season. A ferocious defensive presence, he is a good reason the Panthers are undefeated.

Special Teams Woodrow Wilson, KR, Boston Breakers: Wilson is in the top ten in both kick return and punt return average yardage. He also has one of the only kick returns for touchdown in the league this season.

Exciting News for 1984

The USFL will announce 6 expansion teams for next year. The announcements will come once a week starting with week 13 and continuing until week 18. The demand for spring football is high and the USFL looks to cement its legacy as the standard bearer for many years to come. See you in week 13 for the first team announcement!

Scores and Leaders After Week 5

Chicago opened week 5 with a convincing win over division rival Tampa Bay. Boston closed out the Saturday games by defeating Birmingham in a close contest. Sunday brought a trio of lopsided blowout games as New Jersey, Oakland, and Philadelphia brought home wins. Philadelphia exploded for a season record 59 points in their game.

Michigan finished the week by keeping pace with the undefeated Blitz, narrowly defeating the Denver Gold. Overall, a fun weekend of football as the league looks to close out the first third of the season next week.

USFL Stats Leaders After Week 5

Week 5 Scores

Saturday

Chicago Blitz 31, Tampa Bay Bandits 8

Birmingham Stallions 20, Boston Breakers 27

Sunday

New Jersey Generals 34, Arizona Wranglers 7

Oakland Invaders 20, Los Angles Express 2

Washington Federals 37, Philadelphia Stars 59

Monday

Denver Gold 21, Michigan Panthers 23

Week 3 Wrap Up

Eastern DivisionWLTPFPA
Boston2107861
New Jersey1207078
Philadelphia1205047
Washington0304897
Central DivisionWLTPFPA
Chicago3009737
Michigan3008839
Tampa Bay2107755
Birmingham1202961
Western DivisionWLTPFPA
Los Angeles3008150
Oakland2107162
Arizona0302892
Denver0303369

A Note Regarding Week 3 Stat Leaders

You may have heard that due to a technical glitch, all stat leaders from week 3 have been lost. We worked hard at the USFL main offices to ensure that this does not happen again going forward. As a result, we are including the weeks scores and links to box scores on this page. Thank you for your understanding.

Week 3 Scores

Los Angeles Express 20, Arizona Wranglers 14

Oakland Invaders 14, Michigan Panthers 35

Denver Gold 14, Chicago Blitz 36

Tampa Bay Bandits 27, New Jersey Generals 20

Washington Federals 18, Boston Breakers 42

Philadelphia Stars 6, Birmingham Stallions 10

Players of the Week

Offense: Bobby Hebert, QB, Michigan Panthers. Hebert exploded for 341 yards passing and 4 touchdowns through the air as the Panthers defeated the Invaders 35-14. Michigan kept pace with the red hot Blitz and Hebert showed that Blitz QB Greg Landry isn’t the only one in the division with MVP potential.

Defense: Eric Scoggins, OLB, Los Angeles Express. Scoggins was a one man wrecking crew and a big part of the reason that LA leads the Western division early in the season. He recorded 6 tackles, 3 sacks, and one interception in their victory over Arizona.

Special Teams: Frank Corral, P/K, Chicago Blitz. Corral did everything in the kicking game, literally, for the victorious blitz. He we 5-6 on field goals, 3-3 on extra points, and added 3 punts with an average of 48.7 yards.

Scores and Leaders after Week 2

While too early to identify trends, Week 2 definitely left fans with some narratives to watch out for through the rest of the season. Chicago, Michigan, Los Angeles, and Oakland all won their first two games and put themselves in a good position early in the season.

New Jersey served notice to those who thought that Philadelphia might run off with the division this year by pulling off a wild win in the City of Brotherly Love. Meanwhile, on the other end, Washington, Denver, Birmingham, and Arizona are all left wondering how long they might have to wait to get their first win.

USFL Stats Leaders After Week 2

Week 2 Scores

Michigan Panthers 22, Tampa Bay Bandits 20

New Jersey Generals 31, Philadelphia Stars 24

Birmingham Stallions 13, Oakland Invaders 21

Washington Federals 17, Los Angeles Express 34

Chicago Blitz 38, Arizona Wranglers 0

Boston Breakers 23, Denver Gold 13

Sunday, March 6, 1983

Scores from Week 1

With one game left to play tomorrow, the USFL delivered on its promise of good and exciting football. The Michigan Panthers look to close out the week with no major upsets against the Birmingham Stallions tomorrow. Come back on Tuesday for week 1 analysis and a week 2 preview.

Links to Game Stats and Analysis

Boston Breakers 13, Tampa Bay Bandits 30

Chicago Blitz 23, Washington Federals 13

New Jersey Generals 19, Los Angeles Express 27

Oakland Invaders 34, Arizona Wranglers 14

Philadelphia Stars 20, Denver Gold 6

New Kids on the Block

Excerpt from the Fanzine, “Longest Yard”

Stephen James, Author

Fear not, football fans. Football does not end after the Super Bowl this year. The USFL, a spring football league, is set to have its inaugural season. Twelve teams are ready to help fulfill the dream of football all year. The NFL and some fans are expressing skepticism that the league will amount to much of anything with some suggesting that it could fold within only a few years. While I understand the NFL’s position, I can’t understand why any of my fellow fans would not embrace this league and wish for its success.

I, for one, couldn’t be happier that we are getting more football. The five months between the end of the Super Bowl and the start of training camps is the worst time of the year. Sure, there is the draft to tide us over, but who cares about the draft besides stats nerds or sports writers? I will just wait for the summary in the paper of who my beloved Steelers picked.

But, now we live in the age of real life football during that time. Sure, we still have to wait a couple of months until the USFL season begins. Yes, I too was a bit worried that the league is going to become a wasteland of “has beens” and “never weres”. However, the league has grabbed some talent from the NFL and there are rumors of Herschel Walker leaving the University of Georgia early to join the league. Can you imagine? Herschel Walker playing professional football only a few months from now?

The mind boggles with the possibility. I don’t think that I’m being too forward that whatever team he ends up playing for becomes the immediate favorite to win the title this year.