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Expansion

Announcing Cascadia Evergreen

Note: This image was made using generative AI. I am working to replace all AI images as soon as possible

Dateline: Friday, April 11, 1986. After a season of turmoil that saw rumors of contraction and bad actors attempting to thwart the league’s ideals, the USFL worked to renew faith in the league by showing that they’re in this for the long haul. Then, this year, they reaffirmed that commitment by putting more thought into the league. They hired new assistants to help the commisioner keep track of league business. They put together a marketing team that worked to increase brand awareness and spread the gospel of the new USFL. Those moves paid huge dividends already in the season. Attendance is up. The league is in talks to expand their television coverage beyond ESPN and ABC into local affiliates.

It is in this spirit that the team announces the final expansion team for 1987, the Cascadian Evergreen. The Pacific Northwest offers the perfect opportunity to test for further Canada expansion. The fans in the area are also some of the most loyal. They will give even the coop ownership in Boston a run for their money. They hope to hire Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Steve Moore as their coach. The Evergreen join Denver, Los Angeles, Oakland, Las Vegas, and Arizona in the Pacific. Stay tuned for more information as the 1987 season approaches.

Box Scores and Recaps, Stats

1986 USFL Championship Game

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Dateline: Sunday, July 6, 1986. Denver and Boston delivered an entertaining Championship game at the Silverdome in Michigan Sunday evening. Bston finished off an undefeated season with the victory. It looked to be a back and forth affair until Scott Thomas broke away on a kick return and scored. Matt Dunigan added two more touchdowns to super star receiver Mike Sherrard to put Boston up 38-14 at the half.

They never looked back. Denver tried to keep pace with the Boston offense. They did in every category but the score. The loss caps off another close but no cigar heartbreak of a season for the Gold. However, they promise to be back again next year to compete for their first championship.

Offensive Player of the Game: Mike Sherrard, WR, Boston Breakers. Sherrard helped Dunigan settle into the new league with a massive regular season. He continued his tear in the post season, capping it off with 6 catches for 166 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Defensive Player of the Game: Bruce Miller, CB, Boston Breakers. Miller registered 7 tackles. He also forced a fumble and picked off the ball late in the game to stifle any chance of a Denver comeback.

Special Teams Player of the Game: Scott Thomas, KR, Boston Breakers. Thomas returned 5 kicks for 201 yards with the 89 yard touchdown to kick off the run that put the game comfortably in Boston’s hands.

With the game, we complete another successful season of USFL football. With the warm relationship with the established NFL, the league promises to flourish for decades to come. Already, owners hope to buy into the success of the league. Keep an eye on our four expansion clubs next year and how the league adjusts going forward. See you in 1987!

Team Stats

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Playoff Preview

1986 USFL Championship Game Preview

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How We Got Here

East Conference Championship: 1986 USFL East Conference Championship

West Conference Championshp: 1986 USFL West Conference Championship

Denver Gold

Denver went 12-6 in the regular season, losing a tie breaker to Houston. Nevertheless, they secured the second seed and a first round bye. They went all in on Mouse Davis’ run and shoot offense, scoring almost 40 points a game. Quarterback Bob Gagliano stepped up and threw for over 6000 yards, 54 touchdowns against only 18 interceptions. Running back Bill Johnson added almost 2200 yards and 21 touchdowns on the ground and over 700 yards and 6 touchdowns receiving. They bosted three 1000 yard receivers on offense.

Their bend but don’t break defense averaged 28.8 points a game. Led by linebacker John Nevens (118 tackles, 5 sacks, and 5 interceptions) and CB Curtis Stacy (103 tackles and 3 interceptions) and S Chris White (8 interceptions), they insured that the potent offense saw the field enough to outscore opponents.

They will need all of this offensive and defensive talent if they want to take down an undefeated Boston team that only looked somewhat mortal in two games during their unbeaten run.

Boston Breakers

In an anecdote all too familiar and sure to go down in USFL history as one of the great steals for the league, Boston’s fan ownership wooed CFL quarterback Matt Dunigan to the team in the offseason. The dual threat responded by throwing for just under 5000 yards and a league leading 60 touchdowns. He added almost 600 yards rushing and 9 touchdowns on the ground. This opened the field for RB Buford Jordan, who ran for over 1600 yards and 13 touchdowns. They, too, saw three recievers gain over 1000 yards, including leader Mike Sherrard with 1938 yards and 23 touchdowns.

Their own defense gave up 27.7 points per game on the year. Linebacker Marcus Marek (111 tackles, 4 sacks, 2 int) led a defefnse joined by three defensive backs who registered 90 tackles or more. That included the two Scotts; CB Byers with 10 interceptions and Thomas with 6.

In a league defined by high flying offenses, both teams bring a balanced gameplan that means that either has a chance to come away with the victory.

Our Take

Denver comes in with a strong resume and on a tear in the playoffs that’s almost unmatched. Defeating both Michigan and Houston by double digits is impressive. However, they will need all of that firepower and more to beat a historic Boston Breakers team. Matt Dunigan and the Breakers are on a mission this year and they will win next week to cap off an undefeated season and win their first USFL Championship.

Box Scores and Recaps, Playoff Preview, Stats, Weekly Wrap Ups

1986 USFL Divisional Round Wrap Up

Games

Saturday

1986 USFL Divisional Round: Philadelphia Stars at Birmingham Stallions

1986 USFL Divisional Playoffs: Michigan Panthers at Denver Gold

Sunday

1986 USFL Divisional Round: New Jersey Generals at Boston Breakers

1986 USFL Divisional Round: Los Angeles Express at Houston Gamblers

Recap

The conference semifinal round got off to a slow start with two blowouts. Philadelphia fell to Birmingham and Denver took care of Michigan and their young quarterback Jim Harbaugh. Neither game featured any drama with the home teams rushing out to leads and holding on with a stingy defense to finish off the visitors.

The Sunday games featured closer games. New Jersey ran into the buzz saw that are the Boston Breakers this year. The Generals just didn’t have enough offense or defense to compete. They added some late touchdowns to make the score more respectable. However, Boston remains on a mission this year. Houston required some last minute Kelly magic to defeat the surprising Express and host the Gold next week for a spot in this year’s championship game.

1986 Conference Finals Weekend Preview

Birmingham Stallions at Boston Breakers: An immovable object meets the unstoppable force when Boston’s offense squares up against Birmingham’s defense. This promises to be one of the toughest tests for the high flying Breakers. However, they look poised to march into the USFL Championship with their flawless record intact. Our Take: It may be a close game, but the Breakers firepower will bring them home.

Denver Gold at Houston Gamblers: The Gold figured out how to, not only match, but in some ways surpass the prolific Houston offense. Their own version of the run and shoot with Bob Gagliano and Bill Johnson have them again on the verge of a USFL Championship. With rumors of Jim Kelly possibly leaving for the NFL in a couple of years, this represents one of the last times for him to lift another title. Our take: Close game, but never bet against Kelly in a tight spot.

Playoff Preview

1986 USFL Divisional Round Preview

Saturday

Philadelphia Stars at Birmingham Stallions

Philadelphia Stars: The Stars finished the season 10-8 and grabbed one of the wild card spots in the Atlantic. They never truly found their footing on offense, ranking in the middle or bottom in nearly every category. However, their defense kept them in games most of the year and were a primary reason that the Stars made the playoffs.

Birmingham Stallions: Birmingham put together another outstanding season, finishing at 14-4 and winning the South by a game over Jacksonville to take the number two spot in the conference. Their defense was even more impressive than Philadelphia. In addition, their offense ranked number 3 in total yards and 2 in rushing.

Quick Pick: The Stallions are just too much for the Stars. Plus they’re playing at home. Take Birmingham

Michigan Panthers at Denver Gold

Michigan Panthers: Michigan bounced back to 11-7 after two disappointing seasons. Their young and exciting quarterback Jim Harbaugh led the team to the tune of a fourth ranked scoring offense. Their defense had some bumps, ranking in the bottom quarter of the league in many categories.

Denver Gold: Denver finally found their footing under Mouse Davis and exploded on offense. They came in number two in scoring offense, number 1 in total yards, number 4 in rushing, and number two in passing. Never known for their defense, they held teams under 30 points per game to allow the explosive offense to steal some wins.

Quick Pick: Denver is just too powerful for Michigan and their young quarterback. The Panthers will be back, but take Denver this time.

Sunday

New Jersey Generals at Boston Breakers

New Jersey Generals: No surprise, but Jersey sported the number one rushing offense in the league. With Walker and Carthon, they averaged almost 200 yards rushing a game. But where they really shone was on defense, ranking in the top 5 in many categories.

Boston Breakers: By now, everyone knows the story of how the Breakers fan collective made a huge splash in the offseason by luring CFL quarterback Matt Dunigan to the team. It paid off in huge dividends with an 18-0 regular season and only one game where they sweated the outcome. Their defense can be some of an achilles heel, but the offense is just too powerful.

Quick Pick: Walker may have a big game, as he often does. But, Dunigan and the Breakers are on a mission. There’s no way they bow out this early.

Los Angeles Express at Houston Gamblers

Los Angeles Express: After last year’s disaster, they decided to go in a different direction and give their young quarterback Steve Young some time to develop. It paid off as they bounced back and made it to the playoffs, defeating the Ace in the wild card round.

Houston Gamblers: The Gamblers know nothing other than success in their time in the league. They’ve made the playoffs every year, winning the division and taking the number one seed each time. They won the Championship in their inaugural season and lost last year to Denver in the second round.

Quick Pick: Houston just wins at home. We don’t expect any less out of them this wekeend.

Be sure to return for full coverage of the games as they happen!

Weekly Wrap Ups

1986 USFL Playoffs Wild Card Round

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Games

Saturday

1986 USFL Wild Card Game, New Jersey Generals at Jacksonville Bulls

1986 USFL Wild Card Game, Oklahoma Outlaws at Michigan Panthers

Sunday

1986 USFL Wild Card Game, Philadelphia Stars at Tampa Bay Bandits

1986 USFL Wild Card Game, Las Vegas Ace at Los Angeles Express

The first round of the 1986 USFL playoffs was, indeed, wild! No major surprises, but there were a couple of road victories in Jacksonville and Tampa Bay. Herschel Walker carried the team on his back with over 200 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. Meanwhile, Chuck Fusina saw a youthful resurgence and the Philly defense intercepted the Bandits 5 times to secure that win.

Michigan took unti overtime to defeat the surprising Oklahoma Outlaws in their playoff matchup. Meanwhile, even though Randall Cunningham showed all of the brilliance that he showed during the regular season, it just wasn’t enough to overcome their defensive shortcomings. Los Angeles won in a shootout out west.

Come back in a couple of days for the second round preview.

Players of the Week

Offense: Herschel Walker, RB, New Jersey Generals. No surprises here. Walker ran for 222 yards and 3 touchdowns. Rumors are swirling that an NFL team is gearing up for a big trade for Walker. Enjoy him in the USFL while you can.

Defense: Jay Norvell, S, Philadelphia Stars. Norvell intercepted two of the five passes in the game, returning one 19 yards for a pick six that put the Stars up by 16 points late in the second half.

Special Teams: Marcus Bonner, KR, Las Vegas Ace. In addition to Cunningham’s brilliant performance, Bonner put on a show. He returned 9 kick offs for 265 yards with a 97 yard touchdown.

Weekly Wrap Ups

1986 Final Regular Season Wrap Up

We are going to approach this article a bit differently from the other weekly wrap ups. With only 4 (admittedly important) games on the schedule, we will focus on the regular season and playoffs more than the actual games.

Boston took a huge gamble and traded for former CFL quarterback Matt Dunigan. The chance paid off huge for them in the form of an undefeated regular season and first seed in the East. Birmingham also gained a bye with the second seed. In the West, both Denver and Houston finished 12-6 and Houston took the number one spot with a tiebreaker.

That leaves the first round matchups. New Jersey visits Jacksonville. Philly plays Tampa Bay. Michigan hosts Oklahoma. In the final game of the weekend, Los Angeles hosts surprise Las Vegas.

1986 USFL Regular Season Stat Leaders

Week 20 Results

San Antonio Gunslingers 21, Jacksonville Bulls 45

New Jersey Generals 3, Tampa Bay Bandits 19

Oakland Invaders 27, Michigan Panthers 21

Houston Gamblers 37, Denver Gold 33

Final Standings

Players of the Year (Regular Season)

Offense: Matt Dunigan, QB, Boston Breakers. Dunigan paid off huge dividends for the Breakers this year. He completed nearly 72% of his passes, threw for 60 yards, and most importantly, the Breakers didn’t lose a single game in the regular season.

Defense: Reggie White, DE, Memphis Showboats. White blew up opposing offenses with 106 tackles, 21 sacks, 22 hurries, 22 stuffs, 7 passes defended, and 7 forced fumbles.

Special Teams: Marcus Bonner, KR/PR, Las Vegas Ace. One of the players that helped Las Vegas to reach the playoffs in only their second season was Bonner. He returned for 2308 yards on kickoffs with 2 touchdowns. He also added a touchdown on punt return.

Weekly Wrap Ups

1986 USFL Week 19 Wrap Up

With only four games on the schedule for next week, the playoff picture is more or less settled in each conference. All that remains to be seen is who takes what spot and what the match ups will be.

Boston and Birmingham each take the 1 and 2 spot in the east and will get a wild card round bye. New Jersey, Philadelphia, Jacksonville, and Tampa Bay all vie for the remaining spots. The possibilities are myriad and three of those teams have a game in week 20, so that makes things even more exciting.

Denver takes the number one spot in the west. Houston and Michigan both have a stake at the number 2 spot. Houston faces Denver and Michigan takes on Oakland next week to determine their division winner. The other matchups are more or less settled with Los Angeles and two surprises, Oklahoma and Las Vegas joining the field this year.

Lots of important football still left to play next week. Then, after that, start the race to the Championship!

1986 Week 19 Stat Leaders

Games

Friday

Las Vegas Ace 38, Arizona Wranglers 44

Saturday

Jacksonville Bulls 31, Birmingham Bulls 28

San Antonio Gunslingers 19, Michigan Panthers 16

Sunday

New Jersey Generals 26, Pittsburgh Maulers 30

Houston Gamblers 36, Oklahoma Outlaws 6

Memphis Showboats 37, New Orleans Brass 3

Oakland Invaders 24, Denver Gold 38

Tampa Bay Bandits 42, Chicago Blitz 24

Washington Federals 27, Los Angeles Express 47

Monday

Boston Breakers 27, Philadelphia Stars 17

Standings

Players of the Week

Offense: Herschel Walker, RB, New Jersey Generals. Walker did all he could to help the Generals defeat the Maulers, running for 134 yards and two touchdowns. However, Pittsburgh came out with the win.

Defense: Larry Bethea, DL, Michigan Panthers. Bethea sacked the quarterback three times, intercepted one pass, and got 8 tackles in Michigan’s disappointing loss to San Antonio.

Special Teams: Brian Franco, K, Jacksonville Bulls. Franco went 3-4 on field goals and 2-2 on extra points for 11 points in the Bulls narrow win over Birmingham.

Weekly Wrap Ups

1986 USFL Week 18 Wrap Up

Two more teams punched their ticket to the playoffs to join Boston. Both Birmingham and Denver are not guaranteed spots after their big wins in week 18. Other teams who helped their cause were Vegas, Tampa, LA, Houston, and the surprising Outlaws who remaini in the race in spite of a losing record.

New Jersey stumbled, opening the door for Philadelphia perhaps. Through it all, Boston just keeps winning. They stand just one victory away from joining Michigan as an undefeated 18-0 in the regular season. It then remains to be seen if they can finish the job, unlike the Panthers who fell in the championship game to Chicago in 1983.

With only a full week and a light week 20 to go, we are in for some great football before the playoffs. Be sure to get your tickets and cheer for the USFL!

1986 USFL Week 18 Stat Leaders

Games

Friday

Las Vegas Ace 38, San Antonio Gunslingers 28

Saturday

Memphis Showboats 10, Tampa Bay Bandits 19

Oakland Invaders 24, Los Angeles Express 52

Sunday

New Jersey Generals 25, Washington Federals 34

Jacksonville Bulls 23, Boston Breakers 37

Birmingham Stallions 44, New Orleans Brass 27

Michigan Panthers 37, Oklahoma Outlaws 49

Houston Gamblers 28, Chicago Blitz 21

Arizona Wranglers 25, Denver Gold 42

Monday

Philadelphia Stars 31, Pittsburgh Maulers 28 – Recap coming soon

Standings

Players of the Week

Offense: Herschel Walker, RB, New Jersey Generals. Herschel ran 19 times for 182 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also added 12 receptions for 100 yards. The Generals might have lost, but Herschel did his best to help them win.

Defense: Eric Wilson, DL, Tampa Bay Bandits. In a defensive battle against Memphis, Wilson got 9 tackles, a sack, and recovered a fumble for the final touchdown in the game.

Special Teams: David Trout, K, Philadelphia Stars. Trout missed a kick early in the game, but he came back to redeem himself in overtime and kicked the game winner for the stars. He also went 4-4 on extra points.

Weekly Wrap Ups

1986 USFL Week 17 Wrap Up

The regular season continued to separate the wheat from the chaff in week 17. Only 3 games were decided by one score or less. Pittsburgh defeated Los Angeles and Michigan beat the Ace, hurting both teams playoff prospects. Meanwhile, Oklahoma kept hold of a slim playoff chance by defeating the Memphis Showboats.

Division leaders Birmingham, Boston, and Denver all won easily. Boston ran away with their division as the only undefeated team. All three other teams hold significant leads with only 3 weeks left in the season. Come back next week for more exciting action and to see if any other teams punch their tickets to the playoffs!

1986 USFL Week 17 Stat Leaders

Games

Friday

Arizona Wranglers 21, Jacksonville Bulls 35

Saturday

Chicago Blitz 14, Birmingham Stallions 51

Boston Breakers 63, New Orleans Brass 31

Sunday

Los Angeles Express 21, Pittsburgh Maulers 24

Oakland Invaders 37, Washington Federals 20

Oklahoma Outlaws 23, Memphis Showboats 17

Denver Gold 34, Philadelphia Stars 24

Las Vegas Ace 21, Michigan Panthers 24

Monday

Houston Gamblers 25, Tampa Bay Bandits 37

Standings

Players of the Week

Offense: Ken Toler, WR, Birmingham Stallions. While Breakers QB Shawn Halloran had himself a game, Ken Toler put on a display not often seen on a football field. He caught 7 passes for 137 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Defense: Chester Gee, S, Jacksonville Bulls. Gee terrorized the Wranglers on Friday night, getting an interception, a sack, a forced fumble, and 9 tackles in the game.

Special Teams: Scott Thomas, KR, Boston Breakers. Thomas returned 6 kicks for 218 yards, including an 89 yard touchdown against the Brass.