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Tampa Bay 17 at Birmingham 29
1983 Week 18 - Saturday, July 2, 1983
Tampa Bay Bandits(11-6)(-3.5) at Birmingham Stallions(8-9)
Attendance: 20,300, TV: ESPN
BIRMINGHAM(UPI) - The Birmingham Stallions eked out a .500 season by defeating Tampa Bay 29-17 Saturday night and crushed the Bandits' hopes of being in the first-ever USFL championship playoffs.
The Bandits, 11-7, were tied with Chicago and Michigan for first place in the Central Division before the game.
Bobby Lane threw two touchdown passes to Jim Smith in the victory that improved Bimingham's record to a break-even 9-9. The victory capped a perfect day for Birmingham, in which the Stallions signed Buffalo Bills' running back Joe Cribbs. Cribbs signed a contract on the field at halftime to play for the Stallions next season.
The Stallions scored first, with 5:34 left in the first quarter. A clipping penalty on a punt return put the Stallions on their own three, but a 38-yard pass from Lane to Smith and a 32-yard run by Lane set up Lonnie Johnson's 3-yard touchdown run.
Tampa Bay came right back on its next possession. Jimmy Jordan hit Eric Truvillion with a 46-yard bomb and Greg Boone ran 16 yards on a draw play. Gary Anderson scored from two yards out with 1:25 left in the quarter.
1983 USFL Regular Season
1983 Week 18
Saturday, July 2, 1983
Tampa Bay Bandits 17 @ Birmingham Stallions 29
Stadium : Legion Field, Birmingham, AL.
Attendance: 20,300
Tampa Bay Birmingham
First Downs 18 21
Rushes - Yards 15-41 43-220
Passing Yards 301 161
Return Yards 93 105
Passes 24-39-2 12-28-1
Sacks - Yards Lost 4-36 1-14
Punts - Avg. 5-43.6 5-44.2
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 15-105 13-81
Time of Possession 23:50 36:10
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
Tampa Bay 7 3 0 7 - 17
Birmingham 14 9 3 3 - 29
1st Quarter Scoring
Birmingham Stallions - Johnson 3 yd. Run ( Norwood Kick ).
Tampa Bay Bandits - Anderson 2 yd. Run ( Andrusyshyn Kick ).
Birmingham Stallions - Anderson 50 yd. Pass from Lane ( Norwood Kick ).
2nd Quarter Scoring
Birmingham Stallions - Safety, Spencer tackled Jordan in End Zone.
Birmingham Stallions - J. Smith 9 yd. Pass from Lane ( Norwood Kick ).
Tampa Bay Bandits - 39 yd. Field Goal by Andrusyshyn.
3rd Quarter Scoring
Birmingham Stallions - 50 yd. Field Goal by Norwood.
4th Quarter Scoring
Birmingham Stallions - 29 yd. Field Goal by Norwood.
Tampa Bay Bandits - Truvillion 1 yd. Pass from Jordan ( Andrusyshyn Kick ).
INDIVIDUAL Statistics
Rushing
Tampa Bay Bandits - Anderson 9-26, Boone 3-15, Platt 3-0.
Birmingham Stallions - Talton 24-95, Gant 9-56, Johnson 4-7,
Lane 3-38, J. Smith 2-19, Quarles 1-5.
Passing
Tampa Bay Bandits - Jordan 24-39-2-337.
Birmingham Stallions - Lane 12-28-1-175.
Receiving
Tampa Bay Bandits - Gillespie 7-123, Buggs 7-70, Anderson 4-77, Truvillion 2-47,
Boone 2-2, Gilbert 1-9, Cox 1-9.
Birmingham Stallions - J. Smith 5-76, Gant 2-16, Tallon 2-11, Anderson 1-50,
Frederick 1-11, Mason 1-11.
Kickoff Returns
Tampa Bay Bandits - Bailey 2-47, Anderson 2-36.
Birmingham Stallions - Kincaid 3-67, Johnson 1-20, Hickman 1-0.
Punt Returns
Tampa Bay Bandits - Bailey 2-10, Anderson 1-0.
Birmingham Stallions - Kincaid 4-16.
Punting
Tampa Bay Bandits - Andrusyshyn 5-43.6 Yd. Avg.
Birmingham Stallions - Johnston 5-44.2 Yd. Avg.
Field Goals
Tampa Bay Bandits - Andrusyshyn 1 of 1.
Birmingham Stallions - Norwood 2 of 2
Interceptions
Tampa Bay Bandits - King 1 for 0 yd.
Birmingham Stallions - Thompson 1 for 2 yd., Cesare 1 for 0 yd.
Sacks
Tampa Bay Bandits - Nordgren 1-14.
Birmingham Stallions - Walker 1/2 sack for 7 yds., Hickman 1-7, Murphy 1/2 sack for 7 yds.,
F. Smith 1-7, Spencer 1-8.
Archived news report
Archived news report
Supplemental information courtesy of Chris Blackburn
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