1985 USFL season

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1985 USFL season
DurationFebruary 23 – June 24, 1985
Eastern Conference champions (regular season) championsBirmingham Stallions
Western Conference champions (regular season) championsOakland Invaders
DateJuly 14, 1985
Finals venueGiants Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.
Finals championsBaltimore Stars
Seasons
← 1984
1985 USFL season is located in the United States
Bandits
Bandits
Bulls
Bulls
Generals
Generals
Renegades
Renegades
Stallions
Stallions
Showboats
Showboats
Stars
Stars
Breakers
Breakers
Express
Express
Gamblers
Gamblers
Gold
Gold
Gunslingers
Gunslingers
Invaders
Invaders
Outlaws
Outlaws
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USFL teams: Western, Eastern

The 1985 USFL season was the third and final season of the United States Football League (USFL), and the last by a league using that name until the 2022 USFL season.

Rule changes

Adopted instant replay for the 1985 season. Under the instant-replay rule, a team may have one appeal per half in three situations:[1]

  • A fumble or no-fumble situation.
  • Whether a pass is complete, incomplete or intercepted.
  • Whether the ball has penetrated the goal line.

The team asking for the replay would lose a time out if they were wrong. The replay was available only in games televised by ABC.[2]

Franchise changes

  • Pittsburgh Maulers fold.
  • Chicago Blitz suspend operations.
  • Michigan Panthers merge with the Oakland Invaders.
  • Arizona Wranglers and the Oklahoma Outlaws merge and create the Arizona Outlaws.
  • New Orleans Breakers relocate to Portland, Oregon as the Portland Breakers.
  • Philadelphia Stars move games to College Park, Maryland, with plans to move to Baltimore in 1986, team is renamed the Baltimore Stars.
  • Washington Federals are sold and relocate to Orlando, Florida, as the Orlando Renegades.

General news

August 22, 1984, the owners voted to move to a fall schedule starting in 1986.

Harry Usher became the new commissioner of the USFL in January 1985.

The USFL and the United States Football League Players Association (USFLPA) agreed on a four-year agreement in March 1985.[3]

On April 29, 1985, the league's owners voted 13–2 to reaffirm their decision to begin playing a fall season in 1986.[4]

Regular season

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against

 y  = Division Champion,  x  = Wild Card

Eastern Conference
Team W L T PCT PF PA Stadium 1985 Capacity Avg. Att. Avg. % Filled Coach
y-Birmingham Stallions 13 5 0 .722 436 299 Legion Field 77,000 32,065 42% Rollie Dotsch
x-New Jersey Generals 11 7 0 .611 418 378 Giants Stadium 76,891 41,268 54% Walt Michaels
x-Memphis Showboats 11 7 0 .611 429 337
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
 50,180 30,948 62% Pepper Rodgers
x-Baltimore Stars
 10 7 1 .583 368 260
Byrd Stadium
 51,500 14,275 28% Jim Mora
x-Tampa Bay Bandits 10 8 0 .556 405 422 Tampa Stadium 72,812 45,220 62% Steve Spurrier
Jacksonville Bulls 9 9 0 .500 407 402 Gator Bowl Stadium 80,100 44,325 55% Lindy Infante
Orlando Renegades 5 13 0 .278 308 481
Orlando Stadium
 52,000 24,136 46% Lee Corso
Western Conference
Team W L T PCT PF PA Stadium 1985 Capacity Avg. Att. Avg. % Filled Coach
y-Oakland Invaders 13 4 1 .750 473 359
Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
 54,615 17,509 32% Charlie Sumner
x-Denver Gold 11 7 0 .611 433 389 Mile High Stadium 75,123 14,446 19% Darrell "Mouse" Davis
x-Houston Gamblers 10 8 0 .556 544 388
Houston Astrodome
 47,695 19,120 40% Jack Pardee
Arizona Outlaws 8 10 0 .444 376 405
Sun Devil Stadium
 70,030 17,881 26% Frank Kush
Portland Breakers 6 12 0 .333 275 422
Civic Stadium
 32,500 19,919 61% Dick Coury
San Antonio Gunslingers 5 13 0 .278 296 436 Alamo Stadium 32,000 11,721 37% Jim Bates/Gil Steinke
Los Angeles Express 3 15 0 .167 266 456 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 94,000 8,415 9% John Hadl

New Jersey finished ahead of Memphis based on a head-to-head tiebreaker advantage (2-0-0).

Playoffs

Away team Score Home team Date
Quarterfinals
Houston Gamblers 20-22 Birmingham Stallions June 29, 1985
Denver Gold 7-48 Memphis Showboats June 29, 1985
Tampa Bay Bandits 27-30 Oakland Invaders June 30, 1985
Baltimore Stars
 20-17 New Jersey Generals July 1, 1985
Semifinals
Baltimore Stars 28-14 Birmingham Stallions July 6, 1985
Oakland Invaders 28-19 Memphis Showboats July 7, 1985
USFL Championship Game
Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Baltimore Stars 28-24 Oakland Invaders July 14, 1985


Quarterfinals Semifinals USFL Championship
         
W3 Houston 20
E1 Birmingham 22
E1 Birmingham 14
E4
Baltimore
 		28
E4
Baltimore
 		20
E2 New Jersey 17
E4
Baltimore
 		28
W1 Oakland 24
E5 Tampa Bay 27
W1 Oakland 30
W1 Oakland 28
E3 Memphis 19
W2 Denver 7
E3 Memphis 48
This bracket:

Statistics

1985 regular season stat leaders

1985 Passing Stats (all)
Name, Team Att Comp % yards YDs/Att TD TD % INT INT % Rating
Walter Lewis
, MEM		 184 97 52.7 1593 8.66 16 8.7 5 2.7 99.8
Jim Kelly, HOU 567 360 63.5 4623 8.15 39 6.9 19 3.4 97.9
Fred Besana, OAK 58 34 58.6 494 8.51 6 10.3 4 6.9 92.2
Brian Sipe, JACK 89 55 61.8 685 7.97 4 4.5 2 2.2 91.3
Cliff Stoudt, BIRM 444 266 59.9 3358 7.56 34 7.7 19 4.3 91.2
Tim Riordan, BAL 36 21 58.3 260 7.22 1 2.8 0 0.0 90.0
Bobby Hebert, OAK 456 244 53.5 3811 8.36 30 6.6 19 4.2 86.1
Chuck Fusina, BAL 496 303 61.1 3496 7.05 20 4.0 14 2.8 84.0
Mike Kelley, MEM 260 165 63.5 2186 8.41 9 3.5 14 5.4 79.1
Bob Lane, BIRM 33 18 54.5 255 7.73 1 3.0 1 3.0 77.2
Doug Williams, ARZ 509 271 53.2 3673 7.22 21 4.1 17 3.3 76.4
Bob Gagliano, DENV 358 205 57.3 2695 7.53 13 3.6 17 4.7 73.5
John Reaves, TB 561 314 56.0 4193 7.47 25 4.5 29 5.2 73.2
Ed Luther, JACK 400 240 60.0 2792 6.98 15 3.8 21 5.3 71.8
Todd Dillon, HOU 225 121 53.8 1495 6.65 9 4.0 9 4.0 71.3
Rick Neuheisel, SA 421 239 56.8 3068 7.29 18 4.3 25 5.9 69.3
Doug Flutie, NJ 281 134 47.7 2109 7.51 13 4.6 14 5.0 67.8
Rick Johnson
, ARZ		 43 21 48.8 318 7.40 3 7.0 3 7.0 67.8
Reggie Collier, ORL 427 229 53.6 2578 6.04 13 3.0 16 3.7 66.5
Vince Evans, DENV 325 157 48.3 2259 6.95 12 3.7 16 4.9 63.1
Steve Young
, LA		 250 137 54.8 1741 6.97 6 2.4 13 5.2 63.1
Matt Robinson, POR 310 156 50.3 2182 7.04 15 4.8 20 6.5 62.6
Buck Belue, JACK 68 37 54.4 299 4.40 3 4.4 3 4.4 62.1
Jerry Golsteyn, ORL 135 65 48.1 647 4.79 4 3.0 7 5.2 50.4
Jimmy Jordan, TB 93 54 58.1 601 6.46 3 3.2 11 11.8 48.6
Doug Woodward, POR 155 62 40.0 831 5.36 3 1.9 6 3.9 48.1
Frank Seurer, LA 242 120 49.6 1479 6.11 7 2.9 18 7.4 47.5
Fred Mortensen, SA 57 20 35.1 204 3.58 1 1.8 4 7.0 22.8
1985 Rushing leaders
Name, Team Att Yds Ave. TDs
Herschel Walker, NJ 438 2411 5.5 21
Mike Rozier, JACK 320 1361 4.3 12
Bill Johnson, DENV 212 1261 5.9 15
BAL
 238 1207 5.1 12
Gary Anderson, TB 276 1207 4.4 16
Joe Cribbs, BIRM 267 1047 3.9 7
AZ
 229 1031 4.5 12
Albert Bentley, OAK 191 1020 5.3 4
John Williams, OAK 186 857 4.6 9
Buford Jordan, PORT 165 817 5.0 5
Tim Spencer, MEM 198 789 4.0 3
Curtis Bledsoe, ORL 207 781 3.8 3
Maurice Carthon, NJ 175 726 4.1 6
Reggie Collier, ORL 92 606 6.6 12
Walter Lewis, MEM
 65 591 9.1 4
Greg Boone, TB 111 559 5.0 3
BAL
 138 549 4.0 4
George Works, SA 93 542 5.8 1
Mel Gray, LA 125 526 4.2 1
1985 Receiving Leaders
Name, Team Rec Yds Ave. TDs
Richard Johnson, HOU 103 1384 13.4 14
Leonard Harris, DENV 101 1432 14.2 8
Jim Smith, BIRM 87 1322 15.2 20
Clarence Verdin, HOU 84 1004 12.0 9
Alton Alexis, JACK 83 1118 13.5 5
Marc Lewis, DENV 75 1207 16.1 6
BAL
 73 882 12.1 3
Gary Anderson, TB 72 678 9.4 4
Derrick Crawford, MEM 70 1057 15.1 9
Anthony Carter, OAK 70 1323 18.9 14
Larry Brodsky, TB 69 1071 15.5 7
Gordon Banks, OAK 62 1115 18.0 5
Perry Kemp, JACK 59 915 15.5 4
Marvin Harvey, TB 59 723 12.3 3
Gerald McNeil, HOU 58 1017 17.5 6
Joey Walters, ORL 58 784 13.5 5
Greg Moser, MEM 57 1145 20.1 6
Vincent White, DENV 55 666 12.1 5
AZ
 55 1020 18.5 8
Mark Keel, JACK 53 585 11.0 0
Don Roberts, SA 53 653 12.3 4
Sam Harrell, HOU 51 491 9.6 2
Greg Anderson, AZ 51 915 17.9 5
Mike Rozier, JACK 50 366 7.3 3
JoJo Townsell, LA
 47 777 16.5 6
Derek Holloway, OAK 47 824 17.5 7
Jerry Gordon, SA 44 693 15.8 7
BAL
 44 508 11.5 0
Frank Lockett, PORT/SA 43 794 18.5 3
Joey Jones, BIRM 43 751 17.5 7
Jeff Smith, ORL 42 521 12.4 1
Dan Ross, PORT 41 522 12.7 5

1985 USFL regular season sortable offensive team statistics

Team Pts. Ave. Rank Total
Yards 		Ave. Rank Rush.
Yards 		Ave. Rank Pass.
Yards 		Ave. Rank
Houston 544 30.2 1 7032 391 1 1192 66 14 5840 324 1
Oakland 473 26.3 2 6354 353 4 2362 131 5 3992 222 4
Birmingham 436 24.2 3 5852 325 8 2463 137 3 3389 188 9
Denver 433 24.1 4 6629 368 3 2079 116 7 4550 253 3
Memphis 429 23.8 5 6201 345 5 2775 154 2 3426 190 8
New Jersey 418 23.2 6 6149 342 6 3763 209 1 2386 133 14
Jacksonville 407 22.6 7 5752 320 10 1998 111 11 3754 209 6
Tampa Bay 405 22.5 8 6709 373 2 2070 115 8 4639 258 2
Arizona 376 20.9 9 5804 322 9 2019 112 10 3785 210 5
Baltimore 368 20.4 10 5926 329 7 2420 134 4 3506 195 7
Orlando 308 17.1 11 4611 256 13 1818 101 12 2793 155 12
San Antonio 296 16.4 12 4597 255 14 1777 99 13 2820 157 11
Portland 275 15.3 13 5029 279 11 2041 113 9 2988 166 10
Los Angeles 266 14.8 14 4707 262 12 2087 116 6 2620 146 13

1985 USFL regular season sortable defensive team statistics

Team Pts. Ave. Rank Total
Yards 		Ave. Rank Rush.
Yards 		Ave. Rank Pass.
Yards 		Ave. Rank
Baltimore 260 14.4 1 5291 294 2 2045 114 6 3246 180 3
Birmingham 299 16.6 2 4829 268 1 1807 100 1 3022 168 1
Memphis 337 18.7 3 5327 296 3 1897 105 3 3430 191 5
Oakland 359 19.9 4 5584 310 5 1832 102 2 3752 208 10
New Jersey 378 21.0 5 5685 316 7 1959 109 5 3726 207 9
Houston 388 21.6 6 6298 350 13 2168 120 8 4130 229 13
Denver 389 21.6 7 5924 329 8 2172 121 9 3752 208 11
Jacksonville 402 22.3 8 6121 340 10 2559 142 13 3562 198 7
Arizona 405 22.5 9 5518 307 4 2291 127 10 3227 179 2
Tampa Bay 422 23.4 10 5949 331 9 2390 133 12 3559 198 6
Portland 422 23.4 11 6177 343 11 2344 130 11 3833 213 12
San Antonio 436 24.2 12 5645 314 6 1949 108 4 3696 205 8
Los Angeles 456 25.3 13 6273 349 12 2132 118 7 4141 230 14
Orlando 481 26.7 14 6731 374 14 3319 184 14 3412 190 4

Awards

See also

References

  1. ^ "Archives". Los Angeles Times.
  2. ^ "Archives". Los Angeles Times.
  3. ^ "Park City Daily News - Google News Archive Search".
  4. ^ Mizell, Hubert (April 30, 1985). "By its own hand, USFL will fall into oblivion". St. Petersburg Times. pp. 1C. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
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