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Chicago 18 at Michigan 20
1984 Week 1 - Monday, February 27, 1984
Chicago Blitz(0-0) at Michigan Panthers(0-0)(-7)
Attendance: 22,428, TV: ESPN
Pontiac, MI (AP) - The Michigan Panthers looked rusty, but in the end they did the things that champions have to do and Coach Jim Stanley likes that.
"Overall, this early in the year, you've got to think the offense did a great job," Stanley said after watching Novo Bojovic's 20-yard field goal sail between the uprights as time ran out Monday night, giving the Panthers a 20-18 United States Football League victory over the Chicago Blitz. "A lot fo good things happened."
The defeat - in the season-opener for both teams - was hard for the Blitz to swallow.
"I'm disappointed and so are the players," Chicago Coach Marv Levy said. "But I think we are definitely stronger this year. I believe we are headed in a positive direction."
In fact, the Blitz led the Panthers four times, but each time Michigan quarterback Bobby Hebert managed to rally his troops.
Hebert looked rusty after missing most of camp in a contract dispute, but his numbers were bright and shiny as he completed 20 of 34 passes for 296 yards and two touchdowns without any interceptions.
"Sometimes I didn't feel right out there, and sometimes I felt 100 percent as good as I did last year," Hebert said. "My lack of practice time hurt. My timing wasn't always right and I threw some bad passes."
Hebert's favorite target was Anthony Carter, who caught seven passes for 107 yards and one TD.
The Blitz opened the scoring 3:11 into the game with a 41-yard field goal by Kevin Seibel. The Panthers answered three plays later with Hebert and Derek Holloway hooking up on a 49-yard TD pass play. But Chicago went ahead 10-7 on its next possession as quarterback Vince Evans plunged over from 1 yard out.
Hebert flipped a 16-yard strike to Carter five seconds into the second quarter but the Blitz regained the lead on a 2-yard run by Larry Canada. Bojovic licked a 39-yard field goal as time ran out in the first half to send the Panthers off with a 17-16 lead.
The third quarter was scoreless, but Chicago took an 18-17 lead when Jim Stone blocked David Greenwood's punt out of the end zone at 6:42 of the fourth quarter. The Panthers started their winning drive from their own 33 with 2:32 remaining and were on the Chicago 2-yard line with only five seconds left when the ball was snapped for Bojovic's climactic field goal.
"I feel like I'm a pressure kicker. I think I proved last year in the championship games," said Bojovic, who missed from 33 yards early in the third quarter. "Because we are the defending USFL champions, people are expecting more from me than when I was a rookie. I want to show them that I am a good kicker under pressure."
Evans, playing his first USFL game after spending seven years with the Chicago Bears of the National Football League, completed 16 of 32 for 134 yards with one interception.
"It took me a while to get untracked tonight," Evans said. "But, we have a real positive attitude after this game. We feel we had opportunities to win this game.
"I am optimistic about our chances for the rest of the season. I thought we played well against the defending champions and we are going to get better as the season goes on."
Stanley had to agree with the opposing quarterback.
"I thought we were fortunate to win," Stanley said. "I feel like we dodged a bullet tonight."
1 2 3 4 F
CHI 10 6 0 2 - 18
MIC 7 10 0 3 - 20
Scoring
CHI:Seibel 41 yd field goal - CHI 3, MCH 0
MIC:Holloway 49 yd pass from Hebert (Bojovic kick) - MCH 7, CHI 3
CHI:Evans 1 yd run (Seibel kick) - CHI 10, MCH 7
MIC:Carter 16 yd pass from Hebert (Bojovic kick) - MCH 14, CHI 10
CHI:Canada 2 yd run (kick failed) - CHI 16, MCH 14
MIC:Bojovic 39 yd field goal - MCH 17, CHI 16
CHI:Safety, punt blocked out of end zone - CHI 18, MCH 17
MIC:Bojovic 20 yd field goal - MCH 20, CHI 18
Box Score
CHI MCH
First Downs 17 22
Rushes-Yards 26-144 25-124
Passing (A-C-Y-I) 32-16-134-1 34-20-296-0
Sacked-Yards Lost 1-3 3-23
Total Plays-Yards 59-275 62-397
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-Yards 7-46 12-79
Turnovers 2 0
Time of Possession 29:22 30:38
Attendance = 22,428
CHICAGO MICHIGAN
Passing Att Cmp Yds In Td Rate Passing Att Cmp Yds In Td Rate
Evans 32 16 134 1 0 48.2 Hebert 34 20 296 0 2 107.0
Rushing Att Yds Ave TD Rushing Att Yds Ave TD
Canada 12 84 7.0 1 Lacy 16 98 6.1 0
Ford 8 41 5.1 0 Williams 4 11 3.7 0
Evans 5 17 3.4 1 Miller C 2 9 4.5 0
Ferguson 1 2 2.0 0 Miller T 3 6 2.0 0
Receiving Rec Yds Ave TD Receiving Rec Yds Ave TD
Keel 5 61 12.2 0 Carter 7 108 15.4 1
Anderson 5 40 8.0 0 Lacy 4 58 14.5 0
MaGee 2 24 12.0 0 Holloway 2 55 27.5 1
Ford 1 7 7.0 0 Williams 3 28 9.3 0
Flowers 2 4 2.0 0 Cobb 2 19 9.5 0
Canada 1 -2 -2.0 0 Echols 1 16 16.0 0
Miller C 1 12 12.0 0
Kick Returns No Yds Ave TD Kick Returns No Yds Ave TD
Daniel 3 62 20.7 0 Broughton 3 44 14.7 0
Stone 1 19 19.0 0 Williams 1 9 9.0 0
Punt Returns No Yds Ave TD Punt Returns No Yds Ave TD
Daniel 3 15 5.0 0 Carter 2 18 9.0 0
Broughton 2 9 4.5 0
Kicking Fg Lg Xp Pts Kicking Fg Lg Xp Pts
Seibel 1-1 41 1-2 4 Bojovic 2-3 39 2-2 8
miss: -- miss: 34
Punting No Yds Ave Punting No Yds Ave
Gossett 6 293 48.8 Greenwood 6 253 42.2
Sacks Sk Yds Sacks Sk Yds
Taylor 1.5 12 Bethea 1 3
Wilcox 1 7
Morgan 0.5 4
Interceptions No Yds Ave TD Interceptions No Yds Ave TD
None Davis 1 23 23.0 0Archived news report
Archived news report
Supplemental information courtesy of Chris Blackburn
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