Rookies Batch, Fair Play Big Roles in Lions’ First Victory

It was a big night for Detroit rookies, and the Lions got their first victory.

Rookie defensive back Terry Fair returned a kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown and rookie quarterback Charlie Batch scored on a sneak as the Lions defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 27-6, on Monday night.

The game was held up for 10 minutes in the second quarter after Tampa Bay receiver Brice Hunter was injured during a helmet-to-helmet collision with Detroit’s Mark Carrier. Hunter was carried from the field on a stretcher and taken to a hospital, where he underwent a CAT scan.

The injury turned out to be minor, and Hunter was released--wearing a neck brace--less than three hours after the frightening collision, the aftermath of which silenced a sellout crowd of 74,724 at the Silverdome.

Two Lion players--offensive lineman Mike Utley and linebacker Reggie Brown--suffered career-ending injuries on the same field. Utley is still paralyzed from the waist down.

Fair’s fourth-quarter kickoff return, which came minutes after he lost a fumble on a punt return that set up a Tampa Bay field goal, was the longest touchdown in Lion history.

Batch, in his second start, completed 14 of 23 passes for 115 yards and scored on a one-yard sneak on fourth down in the third quarter. He also had 39 yards in eight carries.

“I thought Batch did a heck of a job,” said Detroit Coach Bobby Ross, whose team is 1-3. “His creativeness helped us.”

Barry Sanders, like Batch, had 154 total yards, getting 131 of them in 27 carries.

Tampa Bay (1-3) had only 133 total yards.

“That is hard to do in this league,” Ross said of the Buccaneer total. “We had constant pressure on [quarterback Trent] Dilfer the whole game. That really helped our coverage.”

Dilfer was 12 for 30 for 120 yards and had his first interception of the season returned 34 yards for a touchdown by Bryant Westbrook in the third quarter. Dilfer also had two touchdown passes nullified by penalties.

With 1:42 left in the third quarter, Dilfer connected with Karl Williams for an apparent 24-yard touchdown that would have cut the Lions’ lead to 20-10. But the play was waved off by a delay penalty. Robert Porcher sacked Dilfer on the next play, and the Buccaneers punted.

With 10:44 left in the fourth quarter, Dilfer passed to Dave Moore for another apparent touchdown, but Dilfer was flagged for being beyond the line of scrimmage when he threw the ball. Tampa Bay settled for Michael Husted’s second field goal.

Detroit kicker Jason Hanson, who had to assume punting duties when John Jett was injured in the third quarter, also had two field goals.