1985 USFL season

The 1985 USFL season was the third and final season of the United States Football League (USFL).

1985 United States Football League season
Regular season
DurationFebruary 23 – June 24, 1985
Playoffs
Start dateJune 29, 1985
Eastern Conference championsBirmingham Stallions
Western Conference championsOakland Invaders
Championship
DateJuly 14, 1985
SiteGiants Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.
ChampionsBaltimore Stars
USFL seasons

Rule changes

Adopted instant replay for the 1985 season. Under the instant-replay rule, a team may have one appeal per half in three situations:[1]

  • A fumble or no-fumble situation.
  • Whether a pass is complete, incomplete or intercepted.
  • Whether the ball has penetrated the goal line.

The team asking for the replay would lose a time out if they were wrong. The replay was available only in games televised by ABC.[2]

Franchise changes

  • Pittsburgh Maulers fold.
  • Chicago Blitz suspend operations.
  • Michigan Panthers merge with the Oakland Invaders.
  • Arizona Wranglers and the Oklahoma Outlaws merge and create the Arizona Outlaws.
  • New Orleans Breakers relocate to Portland, Oregon as the Portland Breakers.
  • Philadelphia Stars move games to College Park, Maryland with plans to move to Baltimore in 1986, team is renamed the Baltimore Stars.
  • Washington Federals are sold and relocate to Orlando, Florida as the Orlando Renegades.

General news

August 22, 1984, the owners voted to move to a fall schedule starting in 1986.

Harry Usher became the new commissioner of the USFL in January 1985.

The USFL and the United States Football League Players Association (USFLPA) agreed on a four-year agreement in March 1985. [3]

On April 29, 1985, the league's owners voted 13-2 to reaffirm their decision to begin playing a fall season in 1986. [4]

Regular season

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against

 y  = Division Champion,  x  = Wild Card

Eastern Conference
TeamWLTPCTPFPAStadium1985 CapacityAvg. Att.Avg. % FilledCoach
y-Birmingham Stallions 1350.722436299Legion Field77,00032,06542%Rollie Dotsch
x-New Jersey Generals 1170.611418378Giants Stadium76,89141,26854%Walt Michaels
x-Memphis Showboats 1170.611429337Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium50,18030,94862%Pepper Rodgers
x-Baltimore Stars 1071.583368260Byrd Stadium51,50014,27528%Jim Mora
x-Tampa Bay Bandits 1080.556405422Tampa Stadium72,81245,22062%Steve Spurrier
Jacksonville Bulls 990.500407402Gator Bowl Stadium80,10044,32555%Lindy Infante
Orlando Renegades 5130.278308481Orlando Stadium52,00024,13646%Lee Corso
Western Conference
TeamWLTPCTPFPAStadium1985 CapacityAvg. Att.Avg. % FilledCoach
y-Oakland Invaders 1341.750473359Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum54,61517,50932%Charlie Sumner
x-Denver Gold 1170.611433389Mile High Stadium75,12314,44619%Darrell "Mouse" Davis
x-Houston Gamblers 1080.556544388Houston Astrodome47,69519,12040%Jack Pardee
Arizona Outlaws 8100.444376405Sun Devil Stadium70,03017,88126%Frank Kush
Portland Breakers 6120.333275422Civic Stadium32,50019,91961%Dick Coury
San Antonio Gunslingers 5130.278296436Alamo Stadium32,00011,72137%Jim Bates/Gil Steinke
Los Angeles Express 3150.167266456Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum94,0008,4159%John Hadl

New Jersey finished ahead of Memphis based on a head-to-head tiebreaker advantage (2-0-0).

Playoffs

Home team in CAPITALS

Quarterfinals June 29–30 and July 1

  • BIRMINGHAM 22, Houston 20
  • MEMPHIS 48, Denver 7
  • OAKLAND 30, Tampa Bay 27
  • Baltimore 20, NEW JERSEY 17

Semifinals July 6–7

  • Baltimore 28, BIRMINGHAM 14
  • Oakland 28, MEMPHIS 19

USFL Championship game July 14 (at East Rutherford, New Jersey)

  • Baltimore 28, OAKLAND 24

Statistics

1985 regular season stat leaders

1985 Passing Stats (all)
Name, TeamAttComp%yardsYDs/AttTDTD %INTINT %Rating
Walter Lewis, MEM1849752.715938.66168.752.799.8
Jim Kelly, HOU56736063.546238.15396.9193.497.9
Fred Besana, OAK583458.64948.51610.346.992.2
Brian Sipe, JACK895561.86857.9744.522.291.3
Cliff Stoudt, BIRM44426659.933587.56347.7194.391.2
Tim Riordan, BAL362158.32607.2212.800.090.0
Bobby Hebert, OAK45624453.538118.36306.6194.286.1
Chuck Fusina, BAL49630361.134967.05204.0142.884.0
Mike Kelley, MEM26016563.521868.4193.5145.479.1
Bob Lane, BIRM331854.52557.7313.013.077.2
Doug Williams, ARZ50927153.236737.22214.1173.376.4
Bob Gagliano, DENV35820557.326957.53133.6174.773.5
John Reaves, TB56131456.041937.47254.5295.273.2
Ed Luther, JACK40024060.027926.98153.8215.371.8
Todd Dillon, HOU22512153.814956.6594.094.071.3
Rick Neuheisel, SA42123956.830687.29184.3255.969.3
Doug Flutie, NJ28113447.721097.51134.6145.067.8
Rick Johnson, ARZ432148.83187.4037.037.067.8
Reggie Collier, ORL42722953.625786.04133.0163.766.5
Vince Evans, DENV32515748.322596.95123.7164.963.1
Steve Young, LA25013754.817416.9762.4135.263.1
Matt Robinson, POR31015650.321827.04154.8206.562.6
Buck Belue, JACK683754.42994.4034.434.462.1
Jerry Golsteyn, ORL1356548.16474.7943.075.250.4
Jimmy Jordan, TB935458.16016.4633.21111.848.6
Doug Woodward, POR1556240.08315.3631.963.948.1
Frank Seurer, LA24212049.614796.1172.9187.447.5
Fred Mortensen, SA572035.12043.5811.847.022.8
1985 Rushing leaders
Name, TeamAttYdsAve.TDs
Herschel Walker, NJ43824115.521
Mike Rozier, JACK32013614.312
Bill Johnson, DENV21212615.915
Kelvin Bryant, BAL23812075.112
Gary Anderson, TB27612074.416
Joe Cribbs, BIRM26710473.97
Otis Brown, AZ22910314.512
Albert Bentley, OAK19110205.34
John Williams, OAK1868574.69
Buford Jordan, PORT1658175.05
Tim Spencer, MEM1987894.03
Curtis Bledsoe, ORL2077813.83
Maurice Carthon, NJ1757264.16
Reggie Collier, ORL926066.612
Walter Lewis, MEM655919.14
Greg Boone, TB1115595.03
Allen Harvin, BAL1385494.04
George Works, SA935425.81
Mel Gray, LA1255264.21
1985 Receiving Leaders
Name, TeamRecYdsAve.TDs
Richard Johnson, HOU103138413.414
Leonard Harris, DENV101143214.28
Jim Smith, BIRM87132215.220
Clarence Verdin, HOU84100412.09
Alton Alexis, JACK83111813.55
Marc Lewis, DENV75120716.16
Scott Fitzkee, BAL7388212.13
Gary Anderson, TB726789.44
Derrick Crawford, MEM70105715.19
Anthony Carter, OAK70132318.914
Larry Brodsky, TB69107115.57
Gordon Banks, OAK62111518.05
Perry Kemp, JACK5991515.54
Marvin Harvey, TB5972312.33
Gerald McNeil, HOU58101717.56
Joey Walters, ORL5878413.55
Greg Moser, MEM57114520.16
Vincent White, DENV5566612.15
Alphonso Williams, AZ55102018.58
Mark Keel, JACK5358511.00
Don Roberts, SA5365312.34
Sam Harrell, HOU514919.62
Greg Anderson, AZ5191517.95
Mike Rozier, JACK503667.33
JoJo Townsell, LA4777716.56
Derek Holloway, OAK4782417.57
Jerry Gordon, SA4469315.87
Ken Dunek, BAL4450811.50
Frank Lockett, PORT/SA4379418.53
Joey Jones, BIRM4375117.57
Jeff Smith, ORL4252112.41
Dan Ross, PORT4152212.75

1985 USFL regular season sortable offensive team statistics

Team Pts. Ave. Rank Total
Yards
Ave. Rank Rush.
Yards
Ave. Rank Pass.
Yards
Ave. Rank
Houston 544 30.2 1 7032 391 1 1192 66 14 5840 324 1
Oakland 473 26.3 2 6354 353 4 2362 131 5 3992 222 4
Birmingham 436 24.2 3 5852 325 8 2463 137 3 3389 188 9
Denver 433 24.1 4 6629 368 3 2079 116 7 4550 253 3
Memphis 429 23.8 5 6201 345 5 2775 154 2 3426 190 8
New Jersey 418 23.2 6 6149 342 6 3763 209 1 2386 133 14
Jacksonville 407 22.6 7 5752 320 10 1998 111 11 3754 209 6
Tampa Bay 405 22.5 8 6709 373 2 2070 115 8 4639 258 2
Arizona 376 20.9 9 5804 322 9 2019 112 10 3785 210 5
Baltimore 368 20.4 10 5926 329 7 2420 134 4 3506 195 7
Orlando 308 17.1 11 4611 256 13 1818 101 12 2793 155 12
San Antonio 296 16.4 12 4597 255 14 1777 99 13 2820 157 11
Portland 275 15.3 13 5029 279 11 2041 113 9 2988 166 10
Los Angeles 266 14.8 14 4707 262 12 2087 116 6 2620 146 13

1985 USFL regular season sortable defensive team statistics

Team Pts. Ave. Rank Total
Yards
Ave. Rank Rush.
Yards
Ave. Rank Pass.
Yards
Ave. Rank
Baltimore 260 14.4 1 5291 294 2 2045 114 6 3246 180 3
Birmingham 299 16.6 2 4829 268 1 1807 100 1 3022 168 1
Memphis 337 18.7 3 5327 296 3 1897 105 3 3430 191 5
Oakland 359 19.9 4 5584 310 5 1832 102 2 3752 208 10
New Jersey 378 21.0 5 5685 316 7 1959 109 5 3726 207 9
Houston 388 21.6 6 6298 350 13 2168 120 8 4130 229 13
Denver 389 21.6 7 5924 329 8 2172 121 9 3752 208 11
Jacksonville 402 22.3 8 6121 340 10 2559 142 13 3562 198 7
Arizona 405 22.5 9 5518 307 4 2291 127 10 3227 179 2
Tampa Bay 422 23.4 10 5949 331 9 2390 133 12 3559 198 6
Portland 422 23.4 11 6177 343 11 2344 130 11 3833 213 12
San Antonio 436 24.2 12 5645 314 6 1949 108 4 3696 205 8
Los Angeles 456 25.3 13 6273 349 12 2132 118 7 4141 230 14
Orlando 481 26.7 14 6731 374 14 3319 184 14 3412 190 4

Awards

See also

References

  1. Mizell, Hubert (April 30, 1985). "By its own hand, USFL will fall into oblivion". St. Petersburg Times. pp. 1C. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
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