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Houston 35 at Oakland 27


1984 Week 8 - Monday, April 16, 1984
Houston Gamblers(4-3)(-7.5) at Oakland Invaders(0-7)
Attendance: 18,320, TV: KTXH

OAKLAND(AP) - The Houston Gamblers came out throwing, as usual, and another high scoring game was underway.

But the first 20 points went on the Oakland Invaders' side of the scoreboard Monday night.

"I've never thrown four interceptions that quickly in my life. I think our offense gave them a few more points than we should have," Gamblers quarterback Jim Kelly said after his team's come-from-behind 35-27 United States Football League victory, one which gave the Gamblers a 5-3 record.

"But we kept our poise. We did what we had to do," added the rookie who went over the 300-yard mark for the fourth time as a pro, passing for 304, and threw his 15th and 16th touchdown passes, both to Richard Johnson.

The Houston comeback featured two touchdown runs by Sam Harrell, who totaled 150 yards rushing. The Gamblers, highest scoring team in the USFL, finished with 504 yards on offense and held Oakland's offense to 248.

1st Q




2nd Q




Highlights




Highlights




	1	2	3	4	F
HOU	0      14	7      14   -   35
OAK	7      13	7   	0   -   27

Scoring

OAK:Newton 1 yd run (Shea kick) - OAK 7, HOU 0

OAK:Besana 3 yd run (pass failed) - OAK 13, HOU 0

OAK:Martin 71 yd interception return (Shea kick) - OAK 20, HOU 0

HOU:R. Johnson 10 yd pass from Kelly (Fritsch kick) - OAK 20, HOU 7

HOU:Harrell 3 yd run (Fritsch kick) - OAK 20, HOU 14

OAK:H. Smith 59 yd pass from Besana (Shea kick) - OAK 27, HOU 14

HOU:R. Johnson 21 yd pass from Kelly (Fritsch kick) - OAK 27, HOU 21

HOU:Harrell 6 yd run (Fritsch kick) - HOU 28, OAK 27

HOU:Fowler 6 yd run (Fritsch kick) - HOU 35, OAK 27

Box Score

                             HOU            OAK
First Downs                   30             12
Rushes-Yards              31-227          26-76
Passing (A-C-Y-I)    40-25-304-4    29-14-177-0
Sacked-Yards Lost           4-27           2-11
Total Plays-Yards         75-504         57-242
Fumbles-Lost                 0-0            0-0
Penalties-Yards             4-29           8-62
Turnovers                      4              0
Time of Possession         32:58          27:02

Attendance = 18,320

HOUSTON					     OAKLAND
Passing     Att Cmp Yds In Td  Rate          Passing     Att Cmp Yds In Td  Rate
Kelly        40  25 304  4  2  62.9          Besana       29  14 177  0  1  79.2

Rushing     Att Yds  Ave TD                  Rushing     Att Yds  Ave TD
Harrell      20 154  7.7  2                  Whittington  12  42  3.5  0
Fowler        5  32  6.4  1                  Newton       10  26  2.6  1
Sanders       3  23  7.7  0                  Besana        3  12  4.0  1
Kelly         3  18  6.0  0                  Lewis         1  -4 -4.0  0

Receiving   Rec Yds  Ave TD                  Receiving   Rec Yds  Ave TD
Johnson R     9 118 13.1  2                  Smith H       1  59 59.0  1
Sanders      10  75  7.5  0                  Banks         6  42  7.0  0
Harrell       4  69 17.3  0                  Whittington   2  30 15.0  0
McNeil        1  25 25.0  0                  Newton        2  25 12.5  0
McGhee        1  17 17.0  0                  Williams      1  10 10.0  0
                                             Jackson       1   6  6.0  0
                                             Lewis         1   5  5.0  0

Kick Returns   No Yds  Ave TD                Kick Returns   No Yds  Ave TD
Verdin          3  79 26.3  0                Brown           2  35 17.5  0
Eason           1  38 38.0  0                Moore           2  23 11.5  0
Vonner          1  11 11.0  0                Jordan          1  19 19.0  0
                                             Shaw            1   7  7.0  0

Punt Returns   No Yds  Ave TD                Punt Returns   No Yds  Ave TD
Sanders         3  17  5.7  0                None
McNeil          3   7  2.3  0                 

Kicking          Fg  Lg   Xp  Pts            Kicking          Fg  Lg   Xp  Pts
Fritsch         0-0  --  5-5    5            Shea            0-0  --  3-3    3
                miss: --                                     miss: --    

Punting        No Yds  Ave                   Punting        No Yds  Ave
Walters         4 131 32.8                   Talley          9 335 37.2

Sacks          Sk Yds                        Sacks          Sk Yds
Hawkins         1   9                        Lucas           1   9
Taylor          1   2                        Quinn           1   7
                                             Mohr            1   6
                                             Shaw            1   5

Interceptions  No Yds  Ave TD                Interceptions  No Yds  Ave TD
None                                         Quinn           2  54 27.0  0
                                             Martin          1  71 71.0  1
                                             Drake           1  12 12.0  0

Archived news report

Supplemental information courtesy of Chris Blackburn


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