Warriors Ask, \'Where\'s the Beef?\', Omaha Asks, \'Where\'s the Fans?\'
May 19, 2004 - National Indoor Football League (NIFL)
Omaha Beef News Release
From the Stands "It was a great victory, and we are glad we were here." -Pat Kenison, representing the Meatheads, Omaha.
"The Warriors rule, but the Beef won tonight. We had a good time partying with their fans in the stands." -Josh Attstrom, Salt Lake City.
"The Beef looked really good. Their running game is just unreal, you don't see that in this league." -Ralph Lowe, Salt Lake City.
"This was my first indoor game, and it was a blast. I'm a life-long Husker fan, and I just came out here to support the former Husker players and the guys from Omaha." -Jeff Shrives, originally from Beaver Creek, NE, now living in Salt Lake City. (Note: Jeff was part of a group of fans attending the game calling themselves "Utahans for Nebraska;" stop by their official website, www.ut4ne.com, and thank them for supporting the Beef this past weekend. The site is run by club president Butch Eckoff, from Layton, Utah.)
From the Field
"I had a real good time out there, everyone played well. I'm just happy to be here, to get on the field, and get some playing time. I was happy the Beef gave me the opportunity to do so." -#60 for Omaha, OL Nick Ruud, playing his first game in a Beef uniform. Nick also celebrated his 24th birthday Saturday. Happy birthday Nick!
"I just wanted to come out and play hard. I thought I did a good job, and the team did a good job; our linemen did an extremely good job of containing them so we were able to run the ball. We just decided to go ahead and get a victory today." -#12, RB LeAndre Moore. "It is a little bit of a rivalry now, and a lot of action. It was fun, they are a great team." -#44 for Utah, LB Bart Amundsen.
"We needed some turnovers to win; we played a hard game tonight. I was in a drought forever, and it finally worked out for me. It feels good to finally get some more interceptions." -#3, DB Charles Verdone, with three INT's for Omaha on the night.
"We knew what they had defensively, and we saw the holes we needed on film, but we just made some bad decisions. 77 points last week and 17 this week; that tells you something. Omaha did a great job." -Utah Warriors Head Coach Lee Leslie.
"Our guys just clawed and scratched and we didn't let them do much. We won on the road against a very good football team. Our defense played magnificently." -Beef boss Sandy Buda.
The Omaha Beef took their show on the road last Saturday night to West Valley City, Utah, and came up with a big road win against the Utah Warriors. The Warriors, 5-3 going into the game, knew they had their backs up against the wall from a playoff perspective; lose, and they probably won't make the NIFL postseason. They didn't get a whole lot of help from their fans, either. The announced attendance for the game at the E-Center was 4,374, but if there were more than 1,300 people at the game, Damien Bauman can fit into Steve Lovell's jersey....
Omaha may have "The Riverboat Gambler," but the Warriors have a gambler of their own in Head Coach Lee Leslie. Coach Leslie opted to dress an extra defensive back to shore up his much-maligned secondary instead of dressing a backup quarterback for the game, and the mistake would end up being a factor late in the contest.
The Beef were in great shape right out of the gate as KR Steve Lovell took the opening kickoff back to the Utah 11-yard line for a 46-yard return. RB Kevin Brown punched it in three plays later to put the Beef up 7-0 less than two minutes into the game. Utah wasn't able to do much on their first drive of the game, and on fourth down with five yards to go for the first down, Utah QB Doug Smith's pass to WR Cody Weight was broken up by DB Charles Verdone. It was to be the first of what would be many great plays for Verdone on the night.
Omaha added a 37-yard Chace Long field goal on its second drive, and the Beef led 10-0. Utah kicker Pete Garces returned the favor for Utah on the next Warrior drive with an 18-yard field goal of his own, cutting the Beef lead to seven.
The Warriors finally got rolling in the second quarter when QB Doug Smith hit WR Mike Rigell for a 40-yard touchdown, making it a 10-10 score. Omaha came right back with a 6-play, 31-yard touchdown drive of its own, capped by another Kevin Brown rushing touchdown. Omaha got the ball back just one play later when Smith put up his first quacker of the night, a 30-yard floater intended for Weight again, but it was intercepted by Verdone. Omaha started at its own 5-yard line and drove the length of the field, consuming more than five minutes of game clock. QB Dusty Burk snuck it in for the 1-yard touchdown to make it a 24-10 Beef lead. The Warriors responded with a touchdown of their own when Smith scrambled nine yards and found the end zone to make it a 24-17 Beef lead. The first half ended with Omaha still up by seven.
"Coach Leslie walked past me with about a minute to go in the first half and said, âThis is the shortest game I've ever been in,'" Buda said after the game. "I told him it was going to get a lot shorter in the second half."
Shorter and more boring, unless you like defensive struggles. The Beef dominated the play clock in the second half, but the only points scored were provided courtesy of Beef kicker Chace Long. Long kicked a 36-yard field goal early in the fourth to make it 27-17, and the score remained the same at the final buzzer.
"We tried to keep the clock going and make it a short game by calling plays real late and running the ball more than we normally do," said coach Buda after the game. "We gave up some situations where I would have liked to score more points, but the big thing is we didn't make the big mistake on offense and kept the clock running."
The Beef offense held the ball for 36:40 on the night, including over 13 minutes in the second quarter alone. Omaha had seven drives of more than 3 minutes in duration, and two for over five minutes of game time. Beef QB Dusty Burk went the distance, finishing the game 15-26 for 122 yards and one interception. He didn't have a passing TD on the night, but got one on the ground. LeAndre Moore led all rushers with 57 yards on 16 carries, and Kevin Brown finished the game with 42 yards on 11 carries and 2 touchdowns. Omaha ended up with 131 yards rushing on the night, and there was never a rushing play for negative yardage in the game for the Beef. Steve Lovell led all receivers on the night with 8 receptions for 64 yards, and Doug Bargman added another 31 yards on four catches.
The Beef defense shined in the second half, and laid some pretty hard licks on the Warriors. Utah QB Doug Smith ended up leaving the game with a concussion near the end of the third quarter when he had his jock rocked by DB Justin Comstock after an 11-yard scramble. Utah DB Shawn Kojima came in at quarterback for the Warriors and promptly threw his first completion of the game to Beef DB Charles Verdone. Kojima liked throwing the ball to Verdone so much he did it again at the start of the fourth quarter, and coach Leslie decided it was time to give somebody else a shot at quarterback. WR Mike Rigell drew the short straw, and promptly made the acquaintance of DL Damien Bauman coming up the middle. Beefwriter even asked Utah kicker Pete Garces if he was going to get a shot at quarterback. It wasn't pretty for the Utah offense for the whole game; the Warriors managed just 166 yards of offense, 79 on the ground and 87 through the air.
The Beefense didn't end up with the flashy numbers it normally does, but that was due in large part to the fact that Utah was only able to run 40 offensive plays in the game. Donavon LaViness led all tacklers once again for the Beef, logging 4 solo and 5 assisted for a game total of 6.5, including two for losses of 12 yards and a sack. "Big Sexxy" Johnson, Dwayne Harris, and Damien Bauman controlled the line of scrimmage all night long for the Beef defense, and logged 4.5 tackles for losses for 20 yards combined. Charles Verdone came away the hero on the night with the three interceptions for the Beef. Dontae Jones, Justin Comstock, Mike Leach, and Bryan Eakin each came up with at least three tackles on the night, and the entire secondary held the high-powered Utah offense well below its season average in every category. Utah was held to 0 of 5 on third down attempts on the night, and 0 of 2 on fourth down. The Beef sacked the Warriors three times on the night.
The Beef make a visit to Banditland this Saturday, and that means it's time to check in with Sioux City's #1 fan, Tony. Beefwriter asked Tony what's going to be different in this game as opposed to the one at the Slaughterhouse a few weeks ago.
"The Bandits are a slightly different team than they were in the prior contest," he says. "We've had a few injuries, just like the Beef, and we've brought in some fine players to fill some spots. DB Marcus Washington played for the University of Colorado and was a 6th round draft pick by the New England Patriots. DB Jimmy Brown comes to the Bandits from the University of Northern Iowa. They have brought some real size and speed to our already quick defense." Sioux City was gunned down by the Billings Outlaws 71-39 last weekend, and the Bandits have one of the worst pass defenses in the league, allowing 184.8 yards/game through the air. This could make for a fun night for Beef quarterbacks. It doesn't get any harder against the Bandits on the ground, though, as they have the 14th ranked rushing defense in the league, allowing just over 70 yards/game. If the Beef offense can find a comfortable rhythm, things could get ugly.
"As far as the game goes, defense and turnovers are going to be the keys again," says Tony. "Both teams have the ability to score points, lots of points. Whichever defense can produce the most turnovers is going to have the advantage." The Bandits defense allows 254.8 yards/game, good for the number 20 spot in the league; Omaha has the league's 6th-best total defense, allowing just 189.1 yards/game. Sioux City comes into the game 11th in the league in turnover margin at +0.00, while the Beef come into the game 3rd overall in the league with +1.25/game.
Another difference will be the venue itself. "I think Beef fans will appreciate our new Tyson Events Center-Gateway Arena. Unlike the old Auditorium, the Gateway Arena has great seating all the way around the field; there won't be any poles to look around," Tony adds. The seating capacity is a big plus also; the Bandits can now seat 6,000 fans in their new digs. You can slap some paint on an outhouse and throw a doormat out front, Tony, but it's still going to smell like an outhouse.....
Sioux City comes into the game this week amidst some turmoil, though; Head Coach Art Haege has left the team, and offensive coordinator Ervin Bryson has been named interim head coach. Bryson's last head coaching job was with the pathetic, and now defunct, Winston-Salem Energy of the NIFL in 2002. That should make things more interesting for Beef fans going to Saturday night's game.
ROAD TRIP
Speaking of which, it's not too late to get a seat aboard the Beef fan bus bound for Sewer City this Saturday.
Go to www.themeatheads.com or paldel@cox.net for all the details about this trip and several others upcoming. Come join the Meatheads, Doc and Precious, and the Jerkys on the road as the Beef make the drive to the NIFL Championship!
BEEF FAN TRIPS: The Meatheads are putting together fan day trips to Lincoln on Friday, June 4th, Sioux City on Saturday, May 22nd and an overnight trip to Sioux Falls on Saturday, June 19th. Please call Phyllis & Duane at 402-422-0385 for more information. You may also request additional information by e-mailing paldel@cox.net.
ROAD TRIP TO SIOUX FALLS: Fans, don't forget about the upcoming bus trip to Sioux Falls on Saturday, June 19th. Call the office and let Jennifer know how many seats you want on the bus to see the Beef take on the revitalized Storm. This game could determine the Pacific North Division champion, so let's go up and cheer on the Beef! Money is not due until the week before the trip, so make a reservation now!
HOTEL ACCOMODATIONS FOR SHOW ME BELIEVERS GAME: For the Saturday, June 26 trip to the Show Me Believers the team will be staying at the Travelodge, 2781 I-70 South Service Road, St. Charles, Missouri 63303. The phone number for the hotel is 636-949-8700.
TICKETS FOR GAME IN LINCOLN - The Lincoln Capitols are offering all Omaha Beef fans an $8.00 ticket for our game at Pershing Center on Friday, June 4th. Please contact: Dawn at the Lincoln Captiols office at 402-477-8888 or e-mail her at lincolncapitols@yahoo.com. Remember â the Meatheads are putting together a day trip for this game.
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National Indoor Football League Stories from May 19, 2004
- Warriors Ask, âWhere's the Beef?', Omaha Asks, âWhere's the Fans?' - Omaha Beef
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- Bucks prepare for Bluecats - Houma Bayou Bucks
- NIFL Announces Players of the Week - NIFL
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