1984 - USFL Championship Game: Arizona Wranglers vs Philadelphia Stars

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• published: 03 Dec 2013
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1984 Championship - Sunday, July 15, 1984 Attendance: 52,662, TV: ABC [NOTE: If you want to skip all the pregame analysis forward the video to the 14:57 minute mark where the kickoff starts. This is the COMPLETE version of this game NOT the ESPN Classic one] It was a night for redemption and the Philadelphia Stars, a team driven all year long by a two-point loss in the United States Football League's inaugural championship game, would not be denied. Chuck Fusina came to pass, Kelvin Bryant came to run and above all,Coach Jim Mora's club came to play defense, shutting down the Arizona Wranglers 23-3 to win the USFL's second title game before a Tampa Stadium crowd of 52,662. Philadelphia, a 24-22 loser to Michigan in the first USFL championship game in Denver the year before, dominated the Wranglers from start to finish, although a trio of turnovers threatened to spoil the club's mission. Fusina completed his first 10 passes as the Stars built a 13-3 halftime lead and Bryant, the league's most valuable player in 1983 and second leading rusher in 1984, ran for 115 yards on 29 carries to pace an offensive attack that featured a USFL playoff-record 59 rushing plays. Philadelphia controlled the ball for 43 minutes, 19 seconds to Arizona's 16:41 and the Stars outgained the Wranglers 414 yards to 119. The loss was the Wranglers' second to the Eastern Conference champions that season and fourth in two seasons, though two came as the Chicago Blitz before the franchise moved to Arizona after the 1983 campaign. The script for the first three contests saw Philadelphia rallying from large second-half deficits to win, but there would be none of it that night. Bryan Thomas' 4-yard touchdown run 7:50 into the game helped the Stars to a 7-0 lead and Fusina's 1-yard sneak seven minutes later made it 13-0. The first of Philadelphia turnovers - Ken Dunek's fumble early in the second quarter - set up Frank Corral's 37-yard field goal, but Arizona couldn't capitalize on the other two miscues. Bryant, playing with a jammed toe, fumbled at the Wranglers goal line to end an 84-yard drive just before halftime and Ed Smith intercepted a Fusina pass and returned it 37 yards to halt another march that had traveled 68 yards in the third quarter. Fusina, voted the game's most valuable player, eluded the Wranglers' vaunted pass rush all night, finishing with 12 completions in 17 attempts for 158 yards. More importantly, Arizona failed to sack him. Philadelphia's "Doghouse Defense," meanwhile, took spotlight from Allen's contingent that ranked No.1 overall during the 18-game regular season. The Stars were first against the run,though, and held Tim Spencer and Kevin Long - both 1,000-yard runners the past two years - to 33 and 29 yards, respectively. Shutout in the second and third quarters, the Stars used the Wranglers' only turnover to set up a touchdown that put them comfortably ahead 20-3 with 9:55 left in the fourth quarter. Don Fielder sacked Arizona quarterback Greg Landry at the Wranglers' 11-yard line, forcing a fumble recovered by Philadelphia's Buddy Moor. Seven plays later, Bryant crashed into the end zone from the 1. David Trout, who earlier missed a 27-yard field goal, completed Philadelphia's scoring with a 39-yarder 4:34 later. The Wranglers, losers of eight of their first 14 games, closed the season with a 12-9 record. The club won its last four regular-season games to make the playoffs and then upset Houston and Los Angeles to become Western Conference champions. Allen said his players had nothing to be ashamed of. "I'm proud of them even though we lost." the 66-year-old said. "They played hard and came back from adversity all season long." "I give the players a lot of credit . . . the coaching staff showed good leadership and we stayed together." Allen added. "If they weren't that way we wouldn't have been this far." Source: http://www.oursportscentral.com/usfl/index.php