Around the USFL

by Fran Stuchbury
May 17, 2023 - United States Football League (USFL)

At the halfway point of the USFL season the word "parity" is hard to avoid. Last week teams in both the North and South Divisions had a chance to separate themselves from the pack but instead saw the standings jumbled by upsets.

Starting in the North Division Saturday, the Pittsburgh Maulers doubled their win total from last year by defeating the Michigan Panthers 23-7.

"There's a lot of bright spots," said Maulers head coach Ray Horton. "We outscored them 23-0 after the opening score. The offense played outstanding, and the defense has been marvelous for us. I think we are starting to come together as a team, understanding they can trust one another."

The elusive Troy Williams completed 15 of 19 passes for 184 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, while adding 59 rushing yards and another score. His play continues to improve each week.

The Pittsburgh defense dominated with four sacks and four turnovers.

After starting the season 2-0, the Panthers have lost three straight games thanks to a struggling offense. They managed only 162 passing yards behind Carson Strong and Josh Love, while the running game totaled just 18 yards.

"I thought it was a sloppy game by us," said Panthers head coach Mike Nolan. "That's why we lost. I thought our opponent was a good match, but I thought we played a careless game with the ball. That goes for a few weeks in a row We had some turnovers on defense; we had some stops, that was a positive. As a football team we are not playing well. Some of the selfish behavior that's going on after the play, extracurricular, is going stop or they won't see the field."

"There is still a quarterback competition," Nolan added. "We will talk about it this week, and we will let you know who will start by the end of the week. I don't believe any performance was convincing that this guy was the guy."

In the other North Division matchup, the Philadelphia Stars scored a 24-21 victory thanks to an eight-field goal performance by kicker Luis Aguilar, the most made in a USFL game and tying the record (by Tennessee Titans kicker Rob Bironas) for the most made in any professional football game in America.

All eight field goals for Aguilar including the game winner:

"You want to get yourself ready for a game-winning kick so it doesn't come as a shock," Aguilar explained. "It goes back to treating every kick the same. When I was going out there it was just like a PAT; just go out there and follow through and knock it through. I am here to score some points."

"I want to congratulate the New Jersey Generals on playing a great game," said Stars head coach Bart Andrus. "Every game we have played with them, that was number four, has come down to the last play of the game. Because of Luis we were able to keep everything close. We would like to convert some of those into touchdowns, but at the same time points and clock were important to us. We really were a football team in need of a win and we got it. The guys practiced really well all week, very proud of them."

The Generals finished with more than twice as much yardage as the Stars, 354 yards to 166, but turnovers proved to be the difference as New Jersey did not take the ball away while Philadelphia generated four takeaways, three on fumbles by Darius Victor.

The turnovers combined with poor kickoff coverage gave the Stars great field position all game, including a kick return to the Generals 47-yard line with 20 seconds left to set up the game-winning drive.

"The kickoff from the 20-yard line is a unique rule, it really changes the game," Generals Coach Mike Riley said. "It's how big the kickoff and kickoff coverage is. It's truly a major weapon for the return team. As a kickoff team, you have to hold them to anything better than the fifty. Today, maybe we did once or twice.

"We were obviously very disappointed to lose the game. I think the difference in the game was the turnovers. They took care of the football, and we had four turnovers. A couple of them took the opportunity for points off the board. In such a tight game, you can plainly see how this plays out."

Kyle Lauletta sparked the Generals offense coming off the bench for an injured DeAndre Johnson completing 10 of 12 passes for 111 yards with one interception.

"It started with an injury and I have been wanting to play Kyle for some time," added Riley. "we had him for a year and a half. When DeAndre went down for a minute, Kyle stepped in and then I just wanted to leave him in. I thought he had some juice and was making some plays. I wanted to see what he could do."

All four teams in the North sit at 2-3, setting up a five-week sprint to see who captures the two playoff spots.

In the South Division the Houston Gamblers are the hottest team in the USFL following a three-game winning streak after a 27-20 victory over the Birmingham Stallions. Mark Thompson ran the ball 16 times for 78 yards and three touchdowns.

The Gamblers finished the game without a penalty while the Stallions suffered 10 penalties for 106 yards.

"The biggest difference for us is that we didn't have the penalties and turnovers," said Gamblers Head Coach Curtis Johnson. "I think our guys were ready to play them. Mark Thomson was the man. In the third and fourth quarter he was outstanding."

Stallions quarterback Alex McGough passed for 209 yards and two touchdowns and added 76 rushing yards.

"Overall, very frustrating day," said Stallions Coach Skip Holtz. "I will give Coach Johnson and Houston a lot of credit; they did the things they had to do to win the football game. It stinks to lose, nobody likes to lose, but certainly we had opportunities today if we capitalized on them. As I told the team, hopefully we can look at some of these things, we can clean some things up, we can correct some mistakes, we can be a little more efficient as a football team. Our team never gave up, and I am proud of them for that."

The Gamblers and Stallions are now tied for second place in the South at 3-2, one game behind the 4-1 New Orleans Breakers.

Speaking of the Breakers, they had the opportunity to create more separation in the division but lost to the Memphis Showboats, 17-10.

A Breakers offense that scored 65 points their last two games was held to only 10 points as three turnover hampered their efforts.

"Give a lot of credit to the Memphis Showboats," said Breakers Head Coach John DeFilippo. "They showed up ready to play today, and I don't think we did as an organization, both players and coaches. Offensively it was not a really good day. We did not take advantage of the turnovers and the field position that our defense allowed us. I thought we were sloppy on special teams at times. We jumped offside on fourth down and two with 39 seconds left giving the Showboats a first down. I am looking forward to our team bouncing back."

"We can't turn over the ball three times with two of them being in the red zone," said Breakers quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson. "That's how you lose football games. We have to protect the football better."

The Showboats were reeling just two short weeks ago after starting 0-3 but have turned their season around by winning the last two games. Showboats quarterback Cole Kelley passed for 224 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

"We know our margin of error is small," said Memphis Coach Todd Haley. "We had very little wiggle room. I know we were going up against a very well-coached team by John DeFilippo and a team that was undefeated. We had to go on the road and get the job done. I am really proud of the guys. We played really great complimentary football today: the defense creating turnovers. picking up the offense when we needed it. The offense, when we needed it the most, had a great drive, finished it and put the game in our possession."

Saturday's Pittsburgh Maulers - Michigan Panthers broadcast on USA drew 256,000 viewers followed by the Houston Gamblers - Birmingham Stallions game on FOX which topped the weekend with 914,000 viewers. Sunday's New Jersey Generals - Philadelphia Stars showing on FOX notched 757,000 viewers, and the Memphis Showboats - Birmingham Stallions matchup later on the same network dropped to 563,000 viewers.

Every touchdown in Week 5:

USFL's Top 10 Plays From Week 5:

This week the Pittsburgh Maulers travel to Memphis Saturday to take on the Showboats at 12:30 pm est. on USA. Then the Birmingham Stallions play at Detroit against the Michigan Panthers at 4 pm est. on FOX. On Sunday at Detroit, the New Orleans Breakers battle the Philadelphia Stars at 12 pm est. on FS1. Finishing the weekend in Memphis, the New Jersey Generals look to bounce back against the Houston Gamblers who are looking for their fourth consecutive win at 4 pm est. on FOX.

United States Football League Stories from May 17, 2023

• Around the USFL - OSC Original by Fran Stuchbury
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