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Tuskers Drop UFL Championship Game, 23-20

November 27, 2010 - United Football League (UFL 1)
Florida Tuskers News Release


OMAHA, NE, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2010 - In a game that featured the league's two best defenses, the offenses piled up more than 800 yards. But in the end, it was two big plays by the Las Vegas defense-a safety and a blocked kick-- that allowed the Locomotives to defeat the Florida Tuskers, 23-20, to defend their UFL title in front of 15,310 fans at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha.

Still Florida almost pulled off a storybook ending. Trailing 21-20, the Tuskers regained possession of the ball on its own 14 with 5:41 remaining. But on the first play from scrimmage, a faulty snap got past quarterback Chris Greisen, who recovered but was sacked in his own end zone for a safety by defensive end Josh Cooper to give Las Vegas a 23-20 lead.

The Locomotives managed one first down after the free kick but the Tuskers defense held and took over on their own 10 with 1:45 remaining after Danny Baugher's 31-yard punt.

From there, Greisen worked the ball down the field, hitting Cortez Hankton on the 10th play of the drive to the Las Vegas 22. Spiking the ball with 17 seconds left, the Tuskers took one shot at the end zone with no timeouts left.

On the ensuing play, with his back to the ball, cornerback Coye Francis made contact with Hankton in the end zone, but there was no call. The Tuskers were late getting the field goal team on the field, causing a 5-yard delay of game penalty which pushed back Nick Novak's to 45 yards. Alfred Malone blocked the kick to preserve a 23-20 win.

"We had to burn a couple of timeouts early in the half and that really hurt us on the last drive," Tuskers Head Coach Jay Gruden said. "Then we thought we had a PI (pass interference) in the end zone and didn't get the call. Not sure what the definition of PI is, because usually when the defender has his back to the ball and is tugging on the receiver you get the call, but I don't know.

"Still, you have to give credit to Vegas, they played a hell of game. We knew it was going to be tight and come down to the end, unfortunately it didn't go our way."

Both teams piled up big numbers offensively. Greisen hit 24 of 42 passes for 346 yards and no interceptions and scored two rushing touchdowns. Florida also ran for 122 yards to compile 468 yards of total offense. Chase Clement was outstanding, playing his best game of the season for the Locomotives. Using a variety of rollouts to allude the Tuskers defense, he completed 16 of 25 passes for 237 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The Locomotives also rushed for more than 100 yards in the game and compiled 343 yards of total offense.

The Tuskers offense wasted little time getting on a role in the first half, taking the opening kickoff and going on a time consuming, 12-play, 84-yard drive that was capped by Gresien's 5-yard touchdown run to give Florida a 7-0 lead. The key play on in the 5:40 drive was a 29-yards pass from Greisen to John Standeford on a third and nine play.

Las Vegas would tie the score on their second play of the game. A mix-up in the Tuskers defensive backfield left Andrae Thurman wide open to catch a 75-yard bomb from Chase Clement as the Locomotives tied the score at 7-7.

The Tuskers would reclaim the lead on their next possession. Florida would take it the length of the field again, only to have the drive stall on the five-yard line, where Nick Novak would boot a 22-yard field goal to make it a 10-7 game at the 3:13 mark of the first period.

Both offenses would bog down in the second quarter, until Clement provided a spark with a 19-yard run on a third and 10 play. Clement would conclude the drive with a 30-yard touchdown pass to tight end George Wrightster as Las Vegas grabbed its first lead of the game at 14-10 at the 5:56 mark of the period.

Florida would move the ball on its next possession, only to see three penalties totaling 25 yards kill the drive.

Questionable clock management cost the Locomotives a chance to extend the lead before halftime. The Locomotives picked up a first down at the Florida 10, but a false start pushed the ball back to the 15. with six seconds left in the half, the Locomotives were trying to get off one more play but Clement was flushed out of the pocket and by the time his pass fell incomplete the half had expired.

The first half statistics were pretty even. Florida led in first downs (14-10) and time of possession (18:07-11:53), Vegas led in total yards (216-210).

The unexpected stop before half appeared to fire up the Tuskers. After holding Las Vegas to a three and out, the Florida marched 74-yards on eight plays to take a 17-14 lead. Greisen again did the honors, scoring a two-yard run.

The lead would be short-lived. After a good kickoff return to the Florida 39, Las Vegas picked up two quick first downs. Moving to his right, Hakim Hill took a pitchout, got to the outside and ran 37-yards for a touchdown and a 21-17 Las Vegas lead.

Florida failed to answer on their next possession. After driving down to the Las Vegas 35, the Tuskers would then fail to convert on a 4th and one play when Adrian Awasom batted down a screen pass to give Las Vegas the ball with 14 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The Tuskers would then come up with their own big play. With Las Vegas approaching the red zone, Keiwan Ratliff stepped in front of a Clement pass and returned it 11 yards to the Florida 30. It was the first turnover of the game for either team and came at the 13:05 mark of the 4th quarter.

From there, the Tuskers would drive the length of the field, picking up a first down on the Las Vegas four-yard line. But three plays netted a negative one-yard and the Tuskers had to settle for a 21-yard field goal to cut the Las Vegas lead to 21-20 with 7:48 remaining.

"Overall, I though Chris was outstanding. Our line did a decent job of keeping the pressure off, but we made a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes on offense and defense that we haven't been making the past couple of weeks. A few false starts, a botched snap, and having to use those timeouts early in the second half all factored in," Gruden added.

With the win, the Locomotives finished the season with a 6-3 record; while the Tuskers fell to 5-4.

TUSKERS NOTEBOOK: This was Florida's second consecutive trip to the UFL Championship game, the team lost to Las Vegas in overtime a year ago...Sarah Thomas, one of two female officials working UFL games this season, became the first female to officiate a men's professional football title game...Saturday's UFL Championship Game was the last scheduled sporting event for historic Rosenblatt Stadium...the famed stadium has served as home of the NCAA College World Series since 1950...both the College World Series and the UFL's Omaha Nighthawks will move into TD Ameritrade Park, a new 24,000-seat stadium set to open next spring...former Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier delivered the game ball and former Omaha legend Marlin Briscoe - the first African-American quarterback to start a National/American Football League game performed the coin toss...Tuskers Head Coach Jay Gruden came into the game with 99 career wins as a professional head coach...Florida is scheduled to arrive back in Central Florida tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m.



United Football League Stories from November 27, 2010


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