Birmingham 27 at Tampa Bay 9

1984 Week 5 - Monday, March 26, 1984
Birmingham Stallions(3-1) at Tampa Bay Bandits(3-1)(-1.5)
Attendance: 37,899, TV: ESPN

TAMPA. Fla. ( U P I ) - Tampa Bay coach Steve Spurrier had no excuses after his Bandits were thrashed 27-9 by the Birmingham Stallions in U.S. Football League play Monday night.

"We were soundly whipped" Spurrier said. "That was the most lopsided time of possession game I've ever seen."

The Stallions had the ball for almost 23 minutes in the first half to just over seven for Tampa Bay, but the Bandits somehow managed to stay within 13-3 at halftime.

For the game. Birmingham held the ball for over 41 minutes.

The Stallions, extending their winning streak to four games, used ball control and the experience of NFL veterans Cliff Stoudt and Joe Cribbs to improve to 4-1, one game back of New Orleans in the Southern Division. The Bandits are 3-2.

Stoudt, who left the Pittsburgh Steelers for the Stallions, ran for one touchdown and set up another TD and a field goal with his passing. Cribbs the former Buffalo Bills running back, carried 30 times for 93 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown, and caught three passes for 14 yards.

Stoudt finished with 13 completions in 26 attempts for 180 yards and no interceptions. He was sacked once for 10 yards.

Tackle Jackie Cline gave Birmingham its first points when he sacked rookie quarterback Wayne Peace for a safety in the first period

Tampa scored on a 43-yard field goal in the first period by Xenon Andrusyshyn and a 12-yard pass from Peace lo tight end Marvin Harvey in the third.

On the final touchdown drive in the fourth period, the Stallions had the ball for 11 minutes and 10 seconds in the 18-play series, with Cribbs carrying 11 times.

Stoudt credited the offensive line for the Stallions' showing.

"If there is a better line in the league. I haven't seen it." he said.

"They have good running backs and a hard-working offensive line that came off the ball and stuffed it down our throats." said Tampa linebacker Kelly Kirchbaum. "Maybe we weren't ready physically to play this game."

1st Q

Complete Game

Highlights

	1	2	3	4	F
BIR	2      11	7	7   -   27
TB	3	0	6	0   -    9

Scoring

BIR:Safety, Peace tackled in end zone - BIR 2, TB 0

TB: Andrusyshyn 43 yd field goal - TB 3, BIR 2

BIR:Stoudt 7 yd run (Jones pass from Stoudt) - BIR 10, TB 3

BIR:Miller 22 yd field goal - BIR 13, TB 3

TB: Harvey 12 yd pass from Peace (run failed) - BIR 13, TB 9

BIR:Perry 1 yd run (Miller kick) - BIR 20, TB 9

BIR:Cribbs 2 yd run (Miller kick) - BIR 27, TB 9

Box Score

                             BIR             TB
First Downs                   19             17
Rushes-Yards              49-162          17-75
Passing (A-C-Y-I)    26-13-180-0    31-16-191-2
Sacked-Yards Lost           1-10           4-37
Total Plays-Yards         76-332         52-229
Fumbles-Lost                 1-0            1-1
Penalties-Yards             8-60           5-40
Turnovers                      0              3
Time of Possession         41:36          18:24

Attendance = 37,899

BIRMINGHAM				     TAMPA BAY
Passing     Att Cmp Yds In Td  Rate          Passing     Att Cmp Yds In Td  Rate
Stoudt       26  13 180  0  0  72.6          Peace        26  13 166  2  1  51.1
                                             Reaves        5   3  25  0  0  72.9

Rushing     Att Yds  Ave TD                  Rushing     Att Yds  Ave TD
Cribbs       30  93  3.1  1                  Anderson G    9  38  4.2  0
Perry        13  35  2.7  1                  Peace         6  35  5.8  0
Stoudt        5  34  6.8  1                  Boone         2   2  1.0  0
Gant          1   0  0.0  0                  

Receiving   Rec Yds  Ave TD                  Receiving   Rec Yds  Ave TD
Smith         5  70 14.0  0                  Truvillion    4  72 18.0  0
Jones         2  53 26.5  0                  Harvey        7  70 10.0  1
Mason         2  23 11.5  0                  Gillespie     3  35 11.7  0
Toler         1  20 20.0  0                  Anderson G    1  10 10.0  0
Cribbs        3  14  4.7  0                  Boone         1   4  4.0  0

Kick Returns   No Yds  Ave TD                Kick Returns   No Yds  Ave TD
Johnson         2  30 15.0  0                Fitzpatrick     2  46 23.0  0
Gant            1  23 23.0  0                Williams R      2  35 17.5  0

Punt Returns   No Yds  Ave TD                Punt Returns   No Yds  Ave TD
Frederick       2   7  3.5  0                Anderson G      1   9  9.0  0

Kicking          Fg  Lg   Xp  Pts            Kicking          Fg  Lg   Xp  Pts
Miller          1-2  22  2-2    5            Andrusyshyn     1-2  43  0-0    3
                miss: 37                                     miss: 42

Punting        No Yds  Ave                   Punting        No Yds  Ave
Johnston        5 191 38.2                   Andrusyshyn     3 118 39.3

Sacks          Sk Yds                        Sacks          Sk Yds
Pureifory       2  17                        Harrell         1  10
Spencer         1  14                        
Cline           1   6                        

Interceptions  No Yds  Ave TD                Interceptions  No Yds  Ave TD
Clanton         1  22 22.0  0                None
Woodberry       1   2  2.0  0

Archived news report
Archived news report

Supplemental information courtesy of Chris Blackburn

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