The New Jersey Generals of the United States Football
League were 0-1 as they faced the Orlando Renegades, also 0-1, on March 1, 1985.
The center of attention for New Jersey was rookie QB Doug Flutie, the
diminutive Heisman Trophy winner out of Boston College who had struggled in his
debut against the Birmingham Stallions.
Flutie signed a five-year, $7 million deal to join the
Generals, and was put even more on the spot when veteran QB Brian Sipe was
traded away to Jacksonville, thus propelling the rookie immediately into the
starting lineup. Head Coach Walt Michaels’ team had been heavily dependent on
another ex-Heisman winner, RB Herschel Walker, in its first two years and had
benefited from an influx of veteran talent that owner Donald Trump signed to
bolster the roster. Flutie was hoping to rebound from a rough performance
against the Stallions in which he misfired on his first nine passes, two of
which were intercepted.
The Renegades were the transplanted Washington Federals
of 1983 and ’84 under new ownership and a new head coach in Lee Corso. The
Federals had been a losing team, but RB Curtis Bledsoe and WR Joey Walters were
quality players. Quarterback was a question mark with mediocre veteran Jerry
Golsteyn starting, who was sacked eight times in a Week 1 loss to Tampa Bay.
There were 32,748 fans in attendance for the nationally
televised Friday night game at the Florida Citrus Bowl. They had little to
cheer about, as the Generals dominated the first half. Orlando had difficulty
generating offense with Jerry Golsteyn. Meanwhile, Doug Flutie’s mobility and
the rushing of Herschel Walker and FB Maurice Carthon allowed the visitors to
score three touchdowns in the first thirty minutes of play.
Flutie threw to WR Clarence Collins for a nine-yard
touchdown in the first quarter and connected with Collins, again from nine
yards, for another TD midway into the second quarter. Just before the half,
Flutie tossed his third touchdown pass, this time covering 25 yards to TE Sam
Bowers. Roger Ruzek added the extra point after each and the score was 21-0 at
halftime.
In addition to his scoring passes, Flutie scrambled for
48 yards in the first half and continually kept the Orlando defense off balance. Walker and Carthon combined for 139 yards on
29 carries. Meanwhile, Jerry Golsteyn was successful on only four of 15 first
half passes.
Early in the third quarter, Orlando’s offense finally
came alive and put together an impressive 10-play, 64-yard drive that stalled
at the New Jersey 12. Jeff Brockhaus kicked a 22-yard field goal to get the
Renegades on the board. However, Flutie tossed his fourth touchdown pass, once
again to Collins on a 47-yard play that put the home team 25 points behind.
Orlando finally scored again midway through the fourth
quarter. Golsteyn threw to TE Bob Niziolek for a two-yard touchdown. It
followed a Golsteyn completion to TE Don Echols that gained 18 yards to the
three, where Echols fumbled into the end zone but, although Orlando recovered,
the officials ruled the ball dead at the three. It was of no consequence to the
outcome as New Jersey came away with a convincing 28-10 win.
The Generals dominated in total yards (449 to 214), with
258 of that total coming on the ground, and had twice as many first downs (26
to 13) as Orlando. The Renegades also turned the ball over twice, to no
turnovers suffered by New Jersey.
Doug Flutie didn’t have a high-percentage passing day as
he was successful on 11 of 24 throws, but they were good for 191 yards and four
touchdowns while none were intercepted. Flutie also ran the ball 6 times for 57
yards. Herschel Walker, as was typically the case, led the ground attack with
110 yards on 25 carries and Maurice Carthon contributed another 91 yards on 20
attempts. Clarence Collins (pictured below) was the receiving star with four catches for 82
yards and three TDs.
For the Renegades, Jerry Golsteyn was successful on 12 of
27 passes for 138 yards and a TD while giving up one interception. Curtis
Bledsoe ran for 68 yards on 15 attempts and also caught four passes for 29 more
yards. WR Ricky Simmons gained a team-leading 37 yards on his two receptions
and Bob Niziolek was right behind with 36 yards on three catches that included
the club’s only TD.
“It was a load off my back,” said a relieved Doug Flutie
after a strong performance in a win for the Generals.
“I think what did us in was the speed and quickness of
Flutie…He just did us in,” said Orlando’s Coach Corso. “He did some great
things individually. I was very impressed with Flutie. I thought he played very
well.”
The Generals went on to post an 11-7 record in finishing
second in the Eastern Conference. They lost their Quarterfinal playoff game to
the Baltimore Stars. Orlando continued to struggle and ended up at the bottom
of the conference at 5-13.
Doug Flutie passed for 2109 yards with 13 touchdowns and
14 interceptions, and, as he did against the Renegades, utilized his running
ability to good effect in gaining 465 yards on 65 carries. A broken collar bone
sidelined him late in the season. Clarence Collins caught just one more scoring
pass over the course of the season, ending up with 27 catches for 566 yards
(21.0 avg.).
