Sports stats



Nashville Kats game notes

April 25, 2005 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Nashville Kats News Release


THE QUICK FACTS:
Game: Nashville Kats (4-7-1) at San Jose SaberCats (8-4)
Date: Friday, April 29
Kickoff: 9:30 p.m. (CT)
Site: HP Pavilion at San Jose (14,041)
Officials: R-Perry Havener, U-Tom Laverty, HL-Kelly Saalfeld, LJ-David Meslow, BJ-Joe Duncan
Television: Fox Sports Net South
Radio: Kats Radio Network. Flagship – 104.5 The Zone. Larry Stone(Play-by-Play), Cody Allison (Analyst).
Internet: Live statistics at www.arenafootball.com.
Series Record: Nashville leads 4-2
Last Meeting: Nashville 71, San Jose 47 (8/11/01)
Series Streaks: The Kats won the last meeting.
Last Week: Nashville 37, Tampa Bay 21
San Jose 89, Colorado 41
Coaches: Pat Sperduto, NAS (4th season; 37-25-1 overall)
Darren Arbet, SJS (7th season, 72-28 overall)

OVERVIEW: The Kats are red hot and boast a league-best four-game unbeaten streak after smothering Tampa Bay, 37-21 last week. The win was the Kats' second in a row, and the 21 points allowed by Nashville's defense was the fewest given up all year. At 4-7-1, the Kats are still alive for a possible playoff berth, but must win out to have a shot. If the Kats are going to keep those hopes alive this week, they must go on the road and beat the defending AFL champion San Jose SaberCats, who routed Colorado 89-41 last week. In that game, SaberCats' quarterback Mark Grieb was a perfect 15-of-15 for 331 yards and eight touchdowns, while Rashied Davis tied a team record by scoring seven TD's in the win. San Jose, who started the season slowly, has roared to life down the stretch and is the favorite to win ArenaBowl XIX.

THE SCHEDULES:
2005 Nashville Kats (4-7-1)
Game Opponent Result Time/Score
Jan. 28 @ Columbus Won 47-38
Feb. 4 NEW ORLEANS Lost 34-59
Feb. 13 @ Philadelphia Lost 48-59
Feb. 19 @ New York Lost 49-62
Feb. 26 LAS VEGAS Lost 32-40
Mar. 6 @ Chicago Lost 38-45
Mar. 12 COLORADO Lost 35-42
Mar. 26 ARIZONA Lost 35-48
Apr. 3 @ Grand Rapids Won 40-27
Apr. 8 @ Dallas Tied 41-41
Apr. 17 LOS ANGELES Won 51-48
Apr. 24 TAMPA BAY Won 37-21
Apr. 29 @ San Jose 9:30 p.m.
May 7 GRAND RAPIDS 7:30 p.m.
May 13 @ Colorado 8:00 p.m.
May 22 CHICAGO 2:00 p.m.

2005 San Jose SaberCats (8-4)
Game Opponent Result Time/Score
Jan. 30 @ Tampa Bay Lost 33-63
Feb. 5 LAS VEGAS Won 66-31
Feb. 13 @ New Orleans Lost 61-62
Feb. 20 @ Los Angeles Lost 69-71
Mar. 6 @ Orlando Won 57-38
Mar. 11 PHILADELPHIA Won 52-26
Mar. 18 GRAND RAPIDS Won 72-48
Mar. 28 @ Las Vegas Won 81-75
Apr. 3 ARIZONA Won 48-27
Apr. 10 @ Chicago Lost 39-55
Apr. 15 DALLAS Won 83-71
Apr. 22 @ Colorado Won 89-41
Apr. 29 NASHVILLE 9:30 p.m.
May 7 LOS ANGELES 9:30 p.m.
May 14 @ Arizona 9:00 p.m.
May 21 GEORGIA 7:30 p.m.

THE SERIES: One of the most fiercely-contested rivalries in arena football in 2000 and 2001 renews this week after a three-season hiatus. Nashville and San Jose met in the AFL semifinals in back-to-back seasons in 2000 and 2001, with the Kats winning both contests and advancing to consecutive ArenaBowls. Once the Kats were sold and moved following the 2001 season, the SaberCats won two out of the next three championships. The two teams have played six times since 1997, with Nashville holding a 4-2 series edge.

Date Result
5/2/97 NASHVILLE 42, San Jose 21
5/30/98 SAN JOSE 49, Nashville 41
7/16/99 NASHVILLE 52, San Jose 46
8/12/00 Nashville 51, SAN JOSE 42*
6/16/01 SAN JOSE 58, Nashville 57 (OT)
8/11/01 NASHVILLE 71, San Jose 47*
* Playoff Game

SERIES NOTABLES: Kats WR/LB Fred Coleman played last season with the San Jose SaberCats and helped lead the team to a win in ArenaBowl XVIII as a rookie. He caught seven passes for 54 yards and two TD's in the ArenaBowl win over Arizona... Kats line coach Darrin Kenney played three seasons as a lineman with San Jose, winning an ArenaBowl title with the club in 2002. He retired following the 2003 season.

LAST MEETING:
Nashville 71, San Jose 47 (@Nashville–Aug. 11, 2001)
With a berth in ArenaBowl XV on the line, the Nashville Kats blew open a tight game with a 30-point fourth quarter and a dominating defensive performance. Kats QB Andy Kelly threw for six TD's, two each to Cory Fleming, Darryl Hammond and Tyronne Jones, who also returned a missed field goal for a TD. Nashville sacked San Jose QB Mark Grieb three times, forced a fumble that was picked up for a TD, and forced a safety.

LAST WEEK:
Nashville 37, Tampa Bay 21 (@ Nashville – Apr. 21)
The Nashville Kats defense was the main ingredient in a 37-21 upset win over the Tampa Bay. Nashville held the Storm scoreless in three of four quarters, forced two turnovers and hounded Tampa QB Shane Stafford all day, sacking him twice. Nashville roared out to a 16-0 lead in the first quarter. Fred Coleman caught a 38-yard pass from quarterback Leon Murray on the first play of the game, setting up a one-yard TD run by T.T. Toliver. Coleman recovered a Stafford fumble a few plays later, then scored on a 17-yard TD pass from Murray to help the Kats to a lead they would never relinquish. The Storm made things interesting in the second quarter, scoring all three of their touchdowns and sneaking to within two points at the intermission. Tampa was unable to continue the momentum in the second half, however, as the stingy Nashville defense shut them out in the final 30 minutes of the game. Toliver was named offensive player of the game for the third straight week. His 19-yard TD reception gave the Kats a 30-21 lead in the third period. In the fourth quarter, the Kats got another TD pass from Murray - this time to Lindsay Fleshman - and snuffed out Tampa Bay's last gasp drive with an interception by Reggie Stephens. Murray finished the game 13-for-23 with three TD's and no interceptions, while Coleman led Nashville receivers with seven catches for 96 yards and a TD.

San Jose 89, Colorado 41 (@ Denver – Apr. 22)
San Jose set a team record by scoring 89 points in a rout of Central Division-leading Colorado. The SaberCats were perfect in the passing game, completing all 17 of their pass attempts, 15 of which were thrown by starting QB Mark Grieb, who passed for 331 yards and eight TD's. Rashied Davis tied a team mark with seven TD's in the game, and San Jose forced four first half turnovers by the Crush en route to the blowout win which left the SaberCats at 8-4 and sitting atop the Western Division. Rodney Wright caught a TD pass and returned a missed field goal for a score as well, while Clevan Thomas picked off a pair of passes. The win marked the third time this year that San Jose has scored more than 80 points in a game.

THE COACHES:
San Jose – Darren Arbet, 7th Season
72-28 (.720) overall
Arbet is one of the most successful coaches in the history of the Arena Football League. He has been named AFL Coach of the Year twice and has led San Jose to wins in two of the last three ArenaBowls. Arbet has been on the SaberCats' staff since the team's inception. He played two seasons as a FB/LB in the AFL and was a four-year letterman at Cal State – Sacramento.

Nashville – Pat Sperduto, 4th season
36-25-1 (.589) overall
After a three-season absence, Pat Sperduto returns as a head coach in the Arena Football League. He has spent the last four seasons as an assistant on the staff of the Tennessee Titans. He joined the NFL club after spending five seasons with the old Nashville Kats. He compiled a 32-18 record as head coach the last three seasons and led his team to back-to-back appearances in the ArenaBowl in 2000 and 2001. Sperduto replaced Eddie Khayat as head coach in 1999 and posted the best record of seven AFL coaches who took over new teams in 2000. Sperduto spent his first two years as defensive coordinator for the Kats and was elevated to assistant head coach in 1998. He is a three-time ArenaBowl World Champion, winning twice as a player for the Tampa Bay Storm (1991 and '93) and once as an assistant coach with the Storm (1994). Sperduto began his professional career as a player with the Canadian Football League's British Columbia Lions before joining the Tampa Bay Storm in the AFL from 1991-93.

2005 TEAM STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Category SaberCats Kats
Scoring Offense (Rank) 62.5 (1st) 40.6 (17th)
Scoring Defense 50.7 (11th) 44.2 (1st)
Total Offense 321.1 (1st) 255.9 (17th)
Total Defense 285.5 (9th) 268.1 (5th)
Pass Offense 305.1 (1st) 226.0 (17th)
Pass Defense 269.8 (10th) 247.0 (4th)
Rushing Offense 16.0 (12th) 29.9 (4th)
Rushing Defense 15.7 (4th) 21.1 (9th)
Interceptions 16 (4th) 14 (t-5th)
Turnover Margin +6 (t-3rd) +5 (t-5th)
Kickoff Return Avg. 21.0 (1st) 17.5 (8th)
Kickoffs–Opp.Avg. Start 15.8 (2nd) 14.3 (5th)
Penalty Yard Avg. 39.7 (1st) 57.9 (9th)
Sacks By 9 (t-14th) 18 (1st)
Sacks Against 11 (t-8th) 12 (t-10th)

NOTES:
ON A ROLL – After going 1-7 to start the season, the Kats have started to improve dramatically in recent weeks and are now in the midst of a four-game unbeaten streak – the longest current streak in the AFL. They also have won consecutive games for the first time since 2001. The team followed its 40-27 win over Grand Rapids four weeks ago with a rare 41-41 tie at Dallas. They won again in a 51-48 victory over Los Angeles two weeks ago, then got a big 37-21 victory over Tampa Bay. The earlier seven-game skid had been the longest current losing streak in the AFL, and spanned 64 days.

ROAD WARRIORS – The Kats have always seemed to excel on the road, posting a 26-14-1 all-time record away from Nashville. This season has been no exception, as Nashville has gone 2-3-1 on the road. The Kats are unbeaten in their last two away games.

SACK ATTACK – Despite only getting two QB sacks in the first five weeks of the season, Nashville has exploded for 16 in the last seven games and they lead AFL with 18 sacks overall. The Kats are also averaging more sacks per play than any other team in the league. Five players (Henry Taylor, James Baron, Levelle Brown, Joe Minucci and Rupert Grant) rank among the league's top 18 in sacks. Taylor leads the way with 4.5, while the other four each have three. Nashville is the only team to have more than two players among the top 18.

GETTING STINGY – The Kats' defense leads the league in points allowed, giving up an average of just 44.17 points per game, and they have not allowed more than 48 points in a game since week four. In fact, from week five through last week's win over Tampa Bay, Nashville is giving up an average of only 39 points per contest. From halftime of the Grand Rapids game four weeks ago through last week's win over Tampa Bay, the Kats have given up only 13 touchdowns on their opponents' last 42 offensive possessions. In the last four games, the Kats have given up TD's on only 31% of opponents' possessions, far below the league average of 60%. Nashville's defense did not allow a single point in 55:20, spanning from halftime of the Grand Rapids game until late in the first half of the Dallas game, and they pitched a shutout in three of the four quarters from last week's game. Nashville has blanked their opponent in seven of the last 17 periods played. The 21 points Nashville gave up last week tied the team record for fewest allowed in a game.

RALLY KATS – Sunday's win over Tampa marked the first time all season the Kats have not trailed at all in the second half. In fact, Nashville did not trail at all the entire game. After finding it difficult to rally after falling behind during their seven-game losing streak, Nashville has come back from second half deficits in three of the last four games. The Kats rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to beat Grand Rapids, 40-27, four weeks ago. Three weeks ago, they were down 11 in the fourth quarter and came back to take the lead before eventually ending the contest in a tie. Two weeks ago, they were down, 48-43, to L.A. before scoring the winning TD with nine seconds to play.

STRONGER DOWN THE STRETCH – The Kats outscored the Storm 14-0 in the second half of Sunday's game. That came one week after Nashville scored a season-high 22 fourth-quarter points in the win over L.A. Those two facts are very telling of how the team has started to play much better in the second half after fizzling during the last two quarters during the seven-game losing streak. In fact, Nashville was forced to play comeback nearly the entire time during their skid. Only three times in the seven-game slide did the Kats hold a lead in the second half. In a total of 210 second-half minutes during those seven losses, Nashville only led for 17:14 of that time. Until the win at Grand Rapids, the Kats did not hold a lead past the six-minute mark of the third quarter since their week one win over Columbus. The Kats were outscored, 182-143, in the second half of their first eight games this year, and Nashville has outscored its opponents 100-59 in the second half of the last three games.

DEFLATING DRIVES – The Kats have not been impressive on their first drive of the second half this season. Nashville has received the opening kickoff of the second half nine times in 12 games and have managed to score only twice (once on a TD and once on a FG). Overall, on the team's first possession of the second half, Nashville has scored only four times, while turning the ball over either on downs, a turnover or missed field goal eight times.

MURRAY COMING AROUND – After struggling or missing time due to injury for much of the season, Nashville Kats quarterback Leon Murray has put together solid games the last three weeks. He is 71-of-120 for 895 yards, 15 TD's and four INT's in the last four weeks. He has not thrown an INt in either of the last two games. He missed all or part of four games earlier this season with a knee injury that forced him to undergo arthroscopic surgery. He has also battled sternum and shoulder injuries as well. For the year, Murray has completed 58.5 percent of his throws for 1,957 yards, 30 touchdowns and 10 INT's. He has thrown for 120 touchdowns and 7,175 yards in his third year in the league. Backup QB Tony Zimmerman, who made three starts while Murray was recovering from his injury, was released four weeks ago. Bill Whittemore, who has not taken an AFL snap, is now serving as the backup. Whittemore, who played collegiately at Kansas, has spent most of the season on the practice squad.

KAT BURGLARS – The Kats are tied for fifth in the AFL in turnover ratio with a +5 mark. Nashville forced two turnovers last week – an interception by Reggie Stephens and a fumble recovery by Fred Coleman. Defensive specialists Kahlil Carter and DeRon Jenkins have each picked off four passes on the year. Five other players – Darryl Hammond, Levelle Brown, Lindsay Fleshman, Jarrick Hillery and the now-departed Angel Estrada have recorded interceptions this season. Offensively, the Kats have only turned the ball over 16 times – the third lowest number of any team in the league.

T.T. EQUALS MVP – 2004 All-Ironman selection T.T. Toliver, who was acquired by the Kats four weeks ago in a trade with Tampa Bay, has been an excellent addition since coming to the Kats. In fact, he has been named Offensive MVP in each of the three games he has played with the team. Toliver, a WR/DB, caught two passes for 26 yards and a TD last week against his old team, and added a one-yard scoring run as well. He has scored two TD's in each of his three games with the team. In his fourth season in the AFL, Toliver has been one of the league's best all-around players in the last two seasons. He was named to the AFL's All-Ironman Team after last season, when he led the Storm with 2,095 all-purpose yards. He returned four kickoffs for scores, tied for the team lead in interceptions with three and finished second on the squad with 14 touchdown receptions. Toliver also ranked third on the team in receptions (64), receiving yards (749) and tackles (54.5) in 2004. The Bethune-Cookman product was a member of Tampa Bay's 2003 ArenaBowl championship squad, and he has spent time on NFL practice squads with the San Francisco 49ers, Tampa Bay Bucaneers and St. Louis Rams. Toliver got a late start to this season after suffering a knee injury in training camp that kept him sidelined for the first four weeks of the year. Since returning on March 6, he has caught 41 passes for 565 yards and 14 TD's. He also has returned a missed field goal for a 53 yard score and averaged 16.3 yards on 16 kickoff returns. Defensively, he has nine tackles and an interception.

THIRD AND SHORT – Nashville quarterbacks are a perfect six-for-six in running for first downs on third-down attempts. Leon Murray leads the league in that category by moving the chains all four times he has run the ball on third down, while Tony Zimmerman also picked up the first in both of his third down rushing attempts.

DOGGHEAD DANCES TO RECORDS - FB/LB Rupert "Dogghead" Grant has made a triumphant return to Nashville after being acquired in a trade from Orlando last month. He became the team's all-time leading rusher three weeks ago, surpassing Jason Bratton's old record of 328. Grant now has 347 rushing yards with the Kats. He also broke the team's all-time mark for most rushing TD's with 19 after scoring the winning TD against L.A. two weeks ago on a one-yard run with nine seconds left. Grant has been a factor on both sides of the ball for the Kats since joining the team, scoring on a one-yard run against Arizona and earning Defensive MVP honors against Grand Rapids after notching a sack and helping make a key fourth-down stop in the win. He scored a TD and made 4.5 tackles at Dallas three weeks ago and scored the winning points in the win over L.A. He is in his seventh season in the AFL and returns to Nashville, where he accumulated 318 rushing in his previous three-year tenure with the Kats. Since the Kats were sold and moved following the 2001 season, Grant has played for three different teams. He missed the entire 2002 season as a member of the Georgia Force after suffering an Achilles injury in training camp. In 2003, he played for the Detroit Fury and had a team-high five rushing TD's. Grant moved on to Orlando in 2004, where he had perhaps the best season of his career, tying a Predators record with 9.5 sacks – one of the highest sack totals for a "Mac" linebacker in AFL history. He earned second-team All-Arena honors and had 121 rushing yards and six touchdowns in addition to three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries on defense. This season, Grant has 21 tackles with three quarterback sacks in seven games for the Predators and four for the Kats. The veteran from Howard University also has six touchdowns rushing, and he has continued to add to his reputation as one of the best blocking fullbacks in all of arena football.

STATISTICALLY CHALLENGED – The Kats' offense simply can't be found on the league leaders list. Nashville ranks dead last in the league in points per game and total yards per game. They also rank last in yards per play and yards per pass play. Quarterback Leon Murray ranks 19th in the AFL in passer rating, and the Kats do not have a player among the league's top 20 in receptions, receiving yards or kickoff returns. Nashville has only gotten three 100-yard receiving games out of its players all season, with Darryl Hammond, Travis McGriff and T.T. Toliver each going over the century mark once this year. The Kats still have not had a QB throw for more than 300 yards in a game so far this season.

HAMMOND MAY RETURN – Kats WR/LB Darryl Hammond, who is in his 15th year in the AFL (the longest tenure in Arena Football League history), missed last week with a shoulder injury and is expected to return to the lineup this week. He has had an outstanding season in 2005, and he has shown no signs of slowing down. Earlier this year, he became just the second player in league history to have 8,000 receiving yards and 30 interceptions in a career a few weeks ago. San Jose WR/LB Barry Wagner is the only other player to have accomplished the feat. Hammond now has 8,282 receiving yards and 30 INT's. Earlier this season, he became the third player in AFL history to surpass 600 stops (Wagner and Grand Rapids' Damon Mason are the other two). He is fifth in AFL history with 772 career receptions and ranks ninth on the league's all-time receiving-yards gained in a career with 8,282 yards. Hammond has returned six interceptions for touchdowns in his career, tied for third-most in the AFL, and he ranks third in the league for career tackles with 620.5. He has played with five different organizations, including Austin last season. However, he posted some of the best years of his career with the old Kats, with whom he played from 1997-2001. Hammond has 47 receptions for 455 yards, six TD's and 26.5 tackles in ten games played this season.

BUMPS & BRUISES –DS Tony Scott is still out with a quadriceps injury. OL/DL Ryan Roth (foot) and OL/DL Wes Stephens (shoulder) are both eligible to come off of IR this week and will be evaluated in the next few days. Hammond is probable to return with a shoulder injury, while Tim Morabito is questionable with a concussion.

POUNDING THE ROCK – Nashville is once again starting to rely on its ground game to churn out key yards. Last week marked the third consecutive game that the Kats have run the ball 10 or more times, as they carried 12 times for 33 yards and two scores. The renewed focus on the ground attack has come after the Kats' ground game had been slowed during the team's seven-game losing streak. After running for a whopping 82 yards on 22 carries in the team's opening week win over Columbus, Nashville had averaged 46 yards per game on the ground through the season's first four weeks. After that, however, the Kats ran the ball much less. In fact, after carrying the ball 10 or more times in each of the first four games, the Kats ran more than 10 times in only one of the next five games leading up to the game at Dallas three weeks ago when they broke loose for 51 yards. Nashville's ground game is ranked fourth in the league with an average of 29.9 yards rushing per game, and their 27 rushing TD's is second only to San Jose's 35. Dan Alexander, Leon Murray, Rupert Grant and Levelle Brown are all listed among the AFL's top 30 rushers.

RETURN OF THE IRONMAN - WR/DB Jarrick Hillery is one of the Arena Football League's top Ironmen, and he has shown why the last two weeks. Hillery was named Ironman of the game two weeks ago against L.A. after taking back two kickoffs for TD's and racking up four kick returns for 169 yards in his first game back after coming off I.R. He also had a 13-yard reception and two tackles in the game. Hillery scored on an eight-yard TD run last week. He has excelled in all facets of the game in his first five years in the league, and he has shown his versatility in the five games he has played this year, catching 25 passes for 217 yards and five TD's, while also carrying the ball twice for five yards on offense. Defensively, he has intercepted one pass, broke up another and has 12 stops. He also has had 10 kickoff returns for 281 yards (a 28.1-yard average) on the year. The former Tennessee State star was selected to the All-Ironman team in 2001 and was an All-Rookie selection in 2000, while with the old Kats. He played with the Georgia Force in 2002 and 2003, and played last season with the Carolina Cobras. In his first five years in the league, Hillery made 186.5 tackles, caught 231 passes for 2,483 yards and 36 TD's, rushed for 311 yards and 24 more TD's on the ground and accumulated more than 1,900 yards and scored four times on kickoff and missed field goal returns.

RETURN OF THE BIG PLAY – The Kats have only had 11 offensive plays go for more than 30 yards all season, but six of those have come in the last four weeks. The Kats got three plays of 30+ yards in the win at Grand Rapids four weeks ago (all passes from Murray to McGriff), including a season-long 47-yard strike, and one long play from Murray to Toliver in the Dallas game two weeks ago. Toliver and Murray also connected for a 45-yard strike in the win over L.A., and Murray hooked up with Fred Coleman for a 38-yard bomb last week. Currently, the Kats still rank last in the AFL in yards per play, averaging only 5.3 yards per offensive play. They also rank last in yards per pass play, averaging only 6.3 yards per attempt.

TITANS CONNECTIONS – Five players on Nashville's roster have spent time with the Tennessee Titans organization. FB/LB Dan Alexander and DS DeRon Jenkins saw extensive playing time with the NFL club, while DS Rober' Freeman, OL/DL Aaron McConnell and WR/DB Rich Musinski were all in camp with the Titans at some point. Head coach Pat Sperduto has been on the Titans' staff the last four seasons, and FB/LB Levelle Brown is the brother of Titans' starting tailback Chris Brown.

BARON OF DEFENSE – OL/DL James Baron is widely known as one of the AFL's all-time greatest lineman, and he is showing why in his return to the Kats this season. After sitting out the first two games of the year with an ankle injury and having his streak of 131 consecutive games played come to an end, Baron has returned, registering 10 tackles, four stops for loss, three sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a safety in his nine games this season. Baron has been named the league's defensive player of the year once and lineman of the year twice. The former Virginia Tech standout earned all-Arena honors six times (1997-2002), including the first-team five times. He is a two-time member of the all-Ironman team (1999, 2001), and he has 39.5 career sacks — the fifth-highest total in league history. His 24.5 career tackles for loss is the second-highest total in AFL history, and he was named to the AFL's 15th Anniversary all-time team at the 2001 ArenaBowl. Baron, who played the last three seasons with Chicago, was one of only two players to play in all 80 games with the previous Kats franchise, including 10 postseason contests (joining quarterback Andy Kelly). He is Nashville's franchise leader in sacks (26.5), and he also holds team records for sacks in one season (7.0) and sacks in one game (2.5).

COMING THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH – The Kats are second in the league in fourth-down conversions, having converted 14-of-23 fourth down plays (61 percent). Only three teams have gone for it on fourth down more often than the Kats this season.

KICKING AND SCREAMING – The Kats' kicking game has been a roller coaster. Gary Kral started the season, and was only 3-for-17 on field goal tries in 2005. Rookie kicker Matt Hutto came on board for one week and missed three field goal attempts, including a potential game-winner from 31 yards in overtime. He also missed two extra points. Two weeks ago, the Kats added former Austin kicker Tony Dodson, who has made 6-f-10 PAT's while going two-for-three on field goals, including a team-record 56-yarder against L.A. Kats kickers are a combined 5-for-23 (21.7%) on field goal attempts this season, ranking them last in the league in that category.

IN THE RED ZONE – The Kats have been good in the red zone, scoring touchdowns on 37 of 49 trips (75.5 percent) inside the 10-yard line this season, ranking them fifth in the AFL in that category. Defensively, Nashville ranks second in keeping opponents out of the end zone, allowing TD's on only 37 of 58 trips inside the red zone this season.

SCOUTING SAN JOSE
The defending ArenaBowl champs are hitting their stride at the right time. This is a club that started off very slowly losing three of their first four, but that was mostly attributed to early season injuries. Since their first four games, the SaberCats are 7-1 with many impressive lopsided victories. Over the last six games, San Jose has scored 72 points or above in four of them, including 83 or above in the last two. San Jose ranks first in the league in scoring offense (62.5 points), total offense (321.1 yards), and pass offense (305.1). Last week versus Colorado, the SaberCats set the AFL record for most points scored by a visiting team (89) and tied the league mark for touchdowns scored (13). The SaberCats have won all five of their home games this season by an average of 23.6 points, outscoring the opposition 321-203.

QB MARK GRIEB – Grieb had a record-setting night last week in an 89-41 victory over the Colorado Crush. Grieb, the 2002 Offensive Player of the Year, completed 15-of-15 passes for 331 yards and eight touchdowns on his way to a perfect quarterback rating of 158.3. Grieb surpassed the previous perfect-completion game held by Carolina's Carlos Garay, who completed 11-of-11 against the Orlando Predators on April 27, 2000. Grieb, who has played seven of his eight years for San Jose, holds every passing record for the SaberCats. Last year, he was named Offensive MVP of ArenaBowl XVIII. Grieb holds the AFL's career leader in pass efficiency rating. Grieb leads the AFL during 2005 with a passing rating of 129.1.

WR/DB RASHIED DAVIS – Davis has picked up football fast since starting to play in college. In addition, Davis has played DS, WR/DB and OS during the 2005 season. Davis is second in the league in scoring with 192 points. He has 32 touchdowns, 22 receiving, six rushing and four on returns. Davis was named AFL Offensive Player of the Month for March by scoring 15 TD's in the month and 927 all-purpose yards. On March 18, Davis also earned AFL Offensive Player of the Week after scoring five TD's and amassing 341 all-purpose yards. Davis ranks seventh in the AFL in all-purpose yards with 1,913 yards.

DS CLEVAN THOMAS – Thomas is tied for first in the league with 6 interceptions on the season. Thomas has 25 on his career and has moved past San Jose's all-time career leader Pat McGuirk with two interceptions last week. Thomas has all six INTs in his last eight games. Thomas was limited last season because of a knee injury, but has been a force every other season. He was named the AFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 2002 and 2003. He was also named the 2002 AFL Rookie of the Year and selected to the All-Rookie Team.

• Discuss this story on the Arena Football League (1987-2008) message board...

Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from April 25, 2005


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Nashville Kats Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central