{"id":1559,"date":"2023-08-28T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-28T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/?page_id=1559"},"modified":"2025-09-09T08:30:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T12:30:31","slug":"jacksonville-bulls","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/jacksonville-bulls\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville Bulls"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-background\" style=\"color:#7b002b;background-color:#b3b3b3\">Jacksonville Bulls &#8211; No More Almost. This time We Finish<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-background\" style=\"color:#7b002b;background-color:#b3b3b3\"><strong>Vital Info<\/strong><br><br>Founded: 1984<br>Stadium: Gator Bowl<br>Head Coach: Linde Infante<br>Division: South<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-background\" style=\"color:#7b002b;background-color:#b3b3b3\"><strong>1986 Season<\/strong><br><br>Record: 8-3<br>Next Game: at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/memphis-showboats\/\">Memphis Showboats<\/a><br>Key Stat from Previous Game: Both teams combined for 8 interceptions in the game to lead to a high scoring affair.<br>Previous Game MVP: QB Ed Luther, 23-33, 331 yards, 4 TD, 4 Int<br>Trend: Jacksonville were 2-1 in the month of April and look to be headed to the playoffs again this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-background\" style=\"color:#7b002b;background-color:#b3b3b3\"><strong>Franchise History<\/strong><br><br><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Jacksonville Bulls Team History: From Expansion Struggles to Playoff Contenders<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-background\" style=\"color:#7b002b;background-color:#b3b3b3\"><strong>1984 (Inaugural Season): Growing Pains (4-14, Last in USFL South)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bulls\u2019 debut season was a classic expansion-team struggle. Despite flashes of offensive firepower (<strong>397 points scored<\/strong>), their defense was historically bad (<strong>541 points allowed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key Highlights:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Offensive Bright Spots:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>WR Perry Kemp<\/strong>&nbsp;emerged as a star (<strong>74 rec, 1,294 yards, 8 TDs<\/strong>), forming a dangerous duo with&nbsp;<strong>Gary Clark (73 rec, 814 yards)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>QB Robbie Mahfouz<\/strong>&nbsp;showed promise (<strong>85.6 passer rating, 18 TDs<\/strong>) but was turnover-prone (16 INTs).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>RB Larry Mason<\/strong>&nbsp;was a workhorse (<strong>9 TDs<\/strong>), though the run game averaged just&nbsp;<strong>3.6 YPC<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Defensive Woes:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The unit allowed&nbsp;<strong>30+ points in 10 games<\/strong>, with no pass rush (just&nbsp;<strong>20 sacks<\/strong>) and a leaky secondary.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>LB Vaughan Johnson (111 tackles)<\/strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>S David Gray (123 tackles)<\/strong>&nbsp;were bright spots in a battered group.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bottom Line:<\/strong>&nbsp;A team with offensive weapons but no defense or depth. Coach Lindy Infante needed an overhaul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-background\" style=\"color:#7b002b;background-color:#b3b3b3\"><strong><strong>1985: The Leap (11-7, 4th in USFL South \u2013 Missed Playoffs on Tiebreaker)<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>A dramatic turnaround saw the Bulls become one of the USFL\u2019s most exciting teams, thanks to key additions and Infante\u2019s scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key Improvements:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Offensive Explosion:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>RB Shawn Jones<\/strong>&nbsp;(1,095 yards, 8 TDs) transformed the run game, while&nbsp;<strong>Mason<\/strong>&nbsp;remained a dual threat (582 rush yards, 61 catches).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kemp (1,445 yards) and Mark Keel (9 TDs)<\/strong>&nbsp;gave Jacksonville elite WR play.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>QB Ed Luther<\/strong>&nbsp;aired it out (<strong>3,843 yards, 24 TDs<\/strong>) but crippled the team with&nbsp;<strong>24 INTs<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Defensive Progress:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>DE Keith Millard<\/strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>LB Vaughan Johnson<\/strong>&nbsp;anchored a fiercer front seven.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Turnovers improved (<strong>+5 INTs<\/strong>), but the secondary still allowed too many big plays.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Heartbreak:<\/strong>&nbsp;The Bulls finished&nbsp;<strong>tied for 3rd<\/strong>&nbsp;but lost the playoff tiebreaker to Memphis. Their&nbsp;<strong>turnover margin<\/strong>&nbsp;in close games sealed their fate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jacksonville Bulls &#8211; No More Almost. This time We Finish Vital Info Founded: 1984Stadium: Gator BowlHead Coach: Linde InfanteDivision: South 1986 Season Record: 8-3Next Game: at Memphis ShowboatsKey Stat from Previous Game: Both teams combined for 8 interceptions in the game to lead to a high scoring affair.Previous Game MVP: QB Ed Luther, 23-33, 331 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/jacksonville-bulls\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Jacksonville Bulls<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1560,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1559","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}