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Florida Tuskers Remain Undefeated With 34-7 Win Over California Redwoods

October 23, 2009 - United Football League (UFL 1)
Florida Tuskers News Release


ORLANDO, Fla. (October 23, 2009) - The Florida Tuskers continued their dominance of the United Football League with a decisive 34-7 victory over the California Redwoods tonight before a crowd of 12,021 at the Florida Citrus Bowl. The Tuskers moved to 3-0 on the season, while the Redwoods fell to 1-2.

As with Florida's season opener earlier this month, the UFL's most explosive offense started slowly this Saturday night. Defense dominated early in the game as neither team scored in the first quarter. Tuskers quarterback Brooks Bollinger didn't have an answer for California's aggressive pass rush, while the Florida defense held the UFL's leading rusher Redwoods' Cory Ross in check.

The Tuskers' offense came alive in the second quarter. Bollinger connected with the UFL's leading receiver Taye Biddle for the longest pass play of the game, a 51-yard gain to the California 4-yard line. Two plays later, running back Michael Pittman scored his first rushing touchdown of the season to give the first-place Tuskers a 7-0 lead.

On California's first play of the next series, Florida defensive tackle Willie Andrews stripped Ross of the ball and Tuskers' linebacker Odell Thurman recovered at the California 19-yard line. Bollinger then connected with wide receiver Jayson Foster to give the Tuskers a 14-point lead. Attempting to spark his team, California Head Coach Dennis Green replaced starting quarterback Mike McMahon with Shane Boyd. But the move did not produce immediate points for California. After a late field goal Florida took a 17-0 lead into halftime.

Florida's offense continued to roll in the third quarter, scoring on each of their first two possession to take a commanding 27-0 lead. With 2:45 remaining in the quarter, backup quarterback Chris Greisen entered the game for Bollinger. The top passer in the UFL, Bollinger completed 17 of 29 attempts for 224 yards and two touchdowns. On the season, he has completed 61 of 87 attempts (70.1%) for 759 yards, nine touchdowns and one interception.

Two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against the Tuskers early in the fourth quarter helped California move the ball to the Florida 22-yard line. Boyd connected with wide receiver Doug Gabriel, who was previously cut by the Tuskers, at the 7-yard line. Ross finally scored California's first points of the game on the third play of the fourth quarter, carrying around left end for a 2-yard touchdown, his second in as many games. But the Tuskers would tack on another score on a Greisen touchdown pass to wide receiver Marcus Maxwell.

Neither team rushed for 100 yards in the game, but Florida's aerial attack amassed 306 yards to only 101 passing yards for California. The Tuskers defense forced five turnovers while their offense recorded almost twice as many first downs as the Redwoods.

California continues on the road as they travel to New York to face the Sentinels on October 29 at Giants Stadium. Florida, the UFL's only unbeaten team, moves to Tropicana Field to host the Las Vegas Locos on October 30.

Below are quotes from tonight's post-game press conferences:

Tuskers Head Coach Jim Haslett "We started a little sluggish and our offense really didn't get things going until midway through the second quarter. But our defense did a nice job and forced a few turnovers that kept us in the game and enabled us to score some points."

"Our special teams was outstanding...with guys like Willie Andrews and Odell Thurman, you can see why those guys were in the National Football League."

"Our goal is to win the game, but we also want to play everyone. And for the third game, we were able to play everyone."

On Taye Biddle: "Good speed and great hands and I think he's starting to prove that he has toughness and can go across the middle and make the hard catches."

On the defense: "We have a great group of solid football players on defense, both starters and back-ups. They blend well, have a lot of fun with one another and enjoy playing together."

On keeping the team motivated: "They know this is their last stop and that if they want to get back to the NFL they need to play at a high level, and have fun doing it. And they understand that so I don't need to harp on them."

Redwoods Head Coach Dennis Green: "Defensively, our guys played fairly well through about half of the ball game. I think the defense kind of couldn't handle them anymore. Offensively, we really played very poorly. And special teams, we played very poorly also. The offensive poor play, obviously was turnovers. But a dropped pass has about the same effect and we had about seven or eight of those. Because they give up a first down, they give up time of possession and they give up the ball, and they also give the other team a little bit of juice. We had five turnovers. Seven or eight dropped balls is about as poor offensively as we can get. Hopefully next week at New York, we can play a lot better."

On the Tuskers: "Florida is a good team, they have a lot of talent. They attack you in a lot of different ways and they had a lot of big plays."

On injuries: "We had some guys who were nicked and beat up, but I don't think we really lost any players. We should have the same players next Thursday, at least the starters."

On rotating quarterbacks: "Well, number three (QB-Liam O'Hagan) might play next week. I don't think we are like Las Vegas, New York, not even like Florida, we really did need preseason games. There's really no compelling reason why one guy beat out the other guy. We just had to select one, and we did. We selected Shane Boyd for the first game and he was less than ok. And we said ok, we bring in more receivers and get another quarterback, McMahon, and Mike McMahon was just ok. I don't think there is any reason to think Liam O'Hagan isn't as good as the other two guys. There wasn't any way to know. Anyone who knows me well knows I fight everyday. It's just part of my DNA. I'll change quarterbacks, change players, change anything. As long as I'm here, I'm going to fight and if I have to change people, I will change people. This is pro football, you don't have to feel sorry for anybody. You aren't going to hurt anybody's feelings."

On his defense: "Defensively in the first quarter we were very good, and in the second quarter we still weren't bad. But we needed some relief to come from the other side of the ball. Our defensive line, we batted a few balls down. We sacked (Bollinger), we forced some turnovers, it was a pretty good physical game."

Florida Tuskers Quarterback Brooks Bollinger "We have a lot of guys that play for each other and play to win the game...that's been a big key to our success."

"We know how good we can be...the record has nothing to do with it. The bar has been set high and we want to live up to that and raise it. At times tonight we didn't do that, I just feel like we can play better."

On Taye Biddle: "Taye is an explosive, fast football player. When you're surrounded by great players like Taye, it makes you a better quarterback."

Florida Tuskers Wide Receiver Taye Biddle "We still have a lot to prove...every player and every coach have goals they want to accomplish. We're not really looking at our record, we just want to continue to have fun every week and play our hardest."



United Football League Stories from October 23, 2009


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