The participants in the World Football League game on July
31, 1974 in Ypsilanti , Michigan
The Detroit Wheels were coached by former Eastern Michigan
Head Coach Dan Boisture, and the team played its home games at that college
some 35 miles from the Motor City (the NFL Lions were able to block them from
Tiger Stadium). The team suffered from financial difficulties right from the
start and signed only three draft picks. They did draw heavily on young
veterans with CFL experience, and one of them, Bubba Wyche, was the starting
quarterback. After being blown out in the opening game at Memphis ,
they lost a close contest to Florida
and then failed to hold a lead against The Hawaiians. At 0-3, Coach Boisture made
clear that he considered the Week 4 contest to be a must-win for his team.
The visiting Birmingham Americans, coached by Jack Gotta,
were 3-0, having won two close games to start the season and then most recently
coming off a high-scoring 58-33 win at Memphis .
However, veteran QB George Mira had a sprained ankle and would be sitting out
the game against the Wheels. So, too, would ex-Redskins FB Charley Harraway,
who had gotten off to a slow start and was now sidelined with a leg injury.
Taking Mira’s place was first-year QB Matthew Reed (pictured above). The
22-year-old Reed, an imposing 6’4” and 225 pounds, had been an outstanding
college quarterback at Grambling but had failed to make it with the NFL Bills,
who drafted him in the tenth round in 1973, and Saints.
There were just 14,614 fans present at Rynearson Stadium for
the Wednesday night game. The hard-throwing Reed came out passing early, going
for long bombs that fell incomplete while being blitzed heavily by the Detroit defense, hoping
to take advantage of his inexperience.
Detroit got on the board when Bubba Wyche threw to
newly-acquired TE Bruce Cullen for a 20-yard TD, although a running attempt for
the “action point” failed (in the WFL, touchdowns counted for seven points and
were followed by an “action point” that could not be kicked).
Late in the first half, and five minutes after the Wheels
scored, Reed finally connected on a long pass play, hitting WR Dennis Homan for
a 59-yard gain that set up an Earl Sark field goal of 27 yards with 14 seconds
left on the clock. The score was 7-3 in favor of the Wheels at the half.
In the third quarter, Birmingham
went 72 yards in five plays to score again. Homan made another big catch,
diving to pull in the ball for a 29-yard gain, and RB Carl Bartles plunged in
for a one-yard touchdown to finish the drive. Reed successfully passed for the
“action point” and the Americans were ahead by 11-7.
At 4:42 into the fourth quarter, Sark booted a 36-yard field
goal to extend Birmingham ’s
lead to 14-7. However, Detroit
came back in stunning fashion when RB Jessie Mims took a pitchout and ran down
the left sideline for a 55-yard touchdown. Wyche successfully converted the
“action point” with a pass to RB Bill Sadler to put the Wheels in front at
15-14.
Following a short Birmingham
possession that ended with a punt, it was Mims making another big play for the
Wheels as he broke two tackles on the way to a 64-yard gain. That set up a
29-yard field goal by Eric Guthrie with 3:49 left in the game, and it appeared
that Detroit
might finally break into the win column.
Reed had the hot hand on the ensuing Birmingham
drive, however, throwing to WR Alfred Jenkins for 14 yards, to TE Ted Powell
for 32, and Homan for 12 yards to get the ball to the Detroit 9. Rolling out on an option play, the
quarterback kept the ball and covered the nine yards, plowing over two
defenders at the goal line for the winning touchdown with 2:12 left on the
clock. The “action point” attempt failed, but Birmingham still came away the winner by a
score of 21-18.
The Americans gained more yards (340 to 326) while Detroit led in first
downs (18 to 13). Birmingham
lost two fumbles and the Wheels turned the ball over once on an interception. Detroit was penalized
seven times, for a loss of 50 yards, as opposed to two flags thrown on the
Americans.
Matthew Reed completed just 8 of 21 passes, but they were
good for 207 yards and he gave up no interceptions. Dennis Homan accounted for
4 catches for 110 yards. RB Paul Robinson led the rushing attack with 48 yards
on 16 carries.
“We were flat early,” said Jack Gotta of his team’s offense.
“I think it was rather obvious Matthew Reed was a little tight when he started.
He had some problems early, but he stuck in there like they (the rest of the
team) all did.”
For the Wheels, Jessie Mims rushed for 128 yards on just 9
carries. Bubba Wyche was successful on 19 of 32 throws for 190 yards and had
one intercepted – he also ran for 30 yards on four carries. WR Jon Henderson
pulled in 6 catches for 84 yards.
Typical of the Wheels, they played hard but came up short.
They would go on to lose another close contest to the Americans at Birmingham the following
week and a total of 10 straight before finally winning. With meager fan support
and a lack of financial resources, the club failed to complete the season and folded
with a 1-13 record.
