Nighthawks Defeat Hartford Colonials 27-26 On Last Play Of Game
Published on September 25, 2010 under United Football League (UFL 1)
Omaha Nighthawks News Release
OMAHA, NE - Friday, September 24, 2010 - The largest crowd in UFL history turned out in Omaha Friday night to celebrate the city's first professional football team.
It left having been witnesses to one of the young league's most spectacular games.
Omaha quarterback Jeff Garcia threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Robert Ferguson on fourth down with six seconds to play to give the Nighthawks a 24-23 win over the Hartford Colonials in the franchise's pulse-pounding debut. It was the slimmest margin of victory in UFL history.
A partisan UFL-record crowd of 23,067 watched the Nighthawks fall behind 23-10 before outscoring Hartford 17-3 in the fourth quarter behind the clutch play of Garcia, Omaha's 40-year-old quarterback who was seeing his first live action in nearly two years.
Garcia finished 23-of-39 passing for 226 yards and three touchdowns, including a pair of fourth quarter scores to rally the Nighthawks.
Hartford kicker Taylor Mehlhaff, who earlier missed what would become a crucial extra point in the first half, hit a 25-yard field goal to give the Colonials a 26-20 lead with 2:43 to go before Garcia led the game-winning drive.
He connected with Ferguson for 12 yards and Roy Hall for 11 yards on either side of a 14-yard scramble to set up first down at the Hartford 18 with 38 seconds remaining. Garcia narrowly avoided disaster two plays later when Hartford linebacker Frantz Joseph dropped what would have been the game-clinching interception.
Garcia made them pay on the next play. After scrambling to his left he fired a perfect strike to Ferguson in the back corner of the end zone to tie the game 26-26 before Jeff Wolfert's PAT made Omaha a winner.
The Nighthawks comeback started early in the fourth. Garcia led a 14-play drive but Omaha settled for Wolfert's 24-yard field goal to make it 23-13 with 6:40 remaining.
After Hartford went three-and-out on its next possession, Garcia's 2-yard touchdown pass to Devard Darling brought the Nighthawks to within 23-20 on a drive extended by a pair of costly Hartford penalties.
Danny Lansanah was flagged for a personal foul after the Colonials broke up Garcia's third-down pass. Five plays later, Garcia threw up a desperation pass under pressure from the Hartford 7-yard-line that was intercepted by defensive tackle Adrian Grady. But Maurice Fountain was flagged for roughing the passer, giving Omaha first-and-goal at the 3.
"I thought our team lost their poise a time or two that resulted in penalties," Hartford coach Chris Palmer said. "When you do that against a good team like Omaha, they're going to hurt you."
The comeback spoiled a sterling night from Colonials' quarterback Josh McCown, who finished 22-of-25 passing for 264 yards and two touchdowns. McCown, the reigning UFL Offensive Player of the Week was again unflappable, not throwing his second incompletion until midway through the third quarter.
McCown had the Hartford offense sharp from the start. He cooly took the Colonials 82 yards in 10 plays to open the game. The reigning UFL Offensive Player of the Week connected with Tyson Devree on a 14-yard touchdown pass to put the Colonials up 7-0 with 9:51 to play in the first quarter.
But the Nighthawks answered on their first possession in franchise history. A Hartford personal foul penalty let Omaha begin its drive at its own 46-yard line. The Nighthawks only needed five plays for its first-ever touchdown, coming when Garcia hit fullback Rendrick Taylor on a bootleg pass from 10 yards out to even the score 7-7.
Hartford ate up more than six minutes on an 11-play drive to take the lead after stopping Omaha running back Ahman Green short on 4th-and-1. On 3rd-and-goal, backup quarterback Ryan Perrilloux lofted a 6-yard touchdown pass to Taurus Johnson in the corner of the end zone to put the Colonials up 14-7.
Wolfert added a 26-yard field goal to draw Omaha to within 14-10, but the wind quickly left the sails of the sellout crowd as McCown had enough time to showcase Hartford's hurry-up offense.
McCown hit three straight passes to move the Colonials to the Omaha 35 with 13 seconds left before lifting a perfect strike down the sideline to Patrick Carter for a 35-yard touchdown on the final play of the half to put Hartford up 20-10. But Mehlhaff missed the extra point wide right - the first missed PAT in UFL history.
The touchdown capped a spectacular start for McCown, who was 12-of-13 passing with 150 yards in the first half.
Hartford (1-1) held a 359-303 advantage in total yards but lost three fumbles and was penalized seven times for 63 yards.
Colonials running back Andre Dixon rushed for a game-high 59 yards on 21 carries. Green rushed 12 times for 49 yards for Omaha.
United Football League Stories from September 25, 2010
- Nighthawks Defeat Hartford Colonials 27-26 On Last Play Of Game - Omaha Nighthawks
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