USFL Roundup : Gamblers Win on Kick Returns and Kelly Passes

Jim Kelly threw for 261 yards and 4 touchdowns Sunday, but Houston Coach Jack Pardee gave his special teams much of the credit for the Gamblers’ 50-28 United States Football League rout of the Tampa Bay Bandits before 42,291 at Tampa, Fla.

“Our kick-return team gave us life when we needed it,” Pardee said after watching Clarence Verdin and Gerald McNeil return first-quarter kicks for touchdowns to get the Gamblers rolling.

Verdin, who returned a kickoff 94 yards, and McNeil, who scored on a 79-yard punt return, also caught touchdown passes from Kelly, who’s thrown for 835 yards and nine touchdowns in only two games this season.

Kelly, the USFL’s most valuable player in 1984 when he threw for 5,219 yards and 44 touchdowns, teamed with McNeil on a 58-yard bomb for a 38-21 lead with 9:08 left in the third quarter. He threw a 20-yard scoring pass to Verdin less than three minutes later.

Kelly also threw touchdown passes of four and 13 yards to Richard Johnson and Vince Courville. “I didn’t set any records,” said Kelly, who was coming off a 574-yard passing performance against the Express, “but as long as we win that’s all that counts with me.”

Kelly and Tampa Bay quarterbacks John Reaves and Jimmy Jordan attempted a total of 103 passes. Reaves completed 18 of 31 passes for 225 yards, but was intercepted twice.

Both teams took advantage of the new USFL rule allowing teams to request a videotape review of controversial calls by officials. Late in the second quarter, Tampa Bay Coach Steve Spurrier protested a non-fumble call on an incomplete pass from Kelly to wide receiver Scott McGhee. Cal Lepore, director of USFL officials, viewed the videotape from the press box and ruled the play had been called correctly. Houston Coach Jack Pardee appealed a similar call in the second half. His appeal was also denied.

San Antonio 16, Arizona 14--Defensive lineman Jeff Chaffin sacked Outlaw quarterback Doug Williams in the end zone for a safety with 1:08 to play to give the Gunslingers the win before 11,151 at San Antonio.

San Antonio twice rallied from seven-point deficits to tie the score and never led until Chaffin’s sack of Williams. Arizona was deep in its own end of the field after Gunslinger quarterback Rick Neuheisel threw an incomplete after getting a bad snap on an 18-yard field-goal attempt.

Denver 40, Birmingham 23--Vince Evans passed for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Gold won in front of 27,400 at Birmingham, Ala.

Evans completed 14 of 27 passes for 284 yards, including touchdown tosses of 48 yards to Vincent White and 39 yards to Leonard Harris. And his 55-yard screen pass to Bill Johnson on Denver’s first play set up the first of two touchdowns by Johnson.

The Gold gained 564 total yards, with 280 coming on ground.

Baltimore 17, Oakland 17--Baltimore linebacker George Cooper recovered a fumble and blocked a 48-yard field-goal attempt to help the Stars preserve a 17-17 overtime tie before 20,495 at Oakland. The teams entered the extra period after Oakland scored on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Bobby Hebert to wide receiver Anthony Carter with one second remaining in regulation.