Baltimore 27 at Houston 14

1985 Week 6 - Sunday, March 31, 1985
Baltimore Stars(1-3-1) at Houston Gamblers(5-0)(-7)
Attendance: 24,166, TV: ABC

HOUSTON (AP) - Quarteback Chuck Fusina passed for 310 yards and the Baltimore Stars converted two second half Jim Kelly turnovers into touchdowns to hand the previously undefeated Houston Gamblers a 27-14 loss in United States Football League action Sunday.

Kelly, the USFL's leading passer, threw for two third-quarter interceptions and lost a fumble and an interception in the fourth period as the Baltimore defense applied pressure to Houston's pass-oriented run and shoot offense.

Mike Lush intercepted two Kelly passes, returning one 56 yards for a touchdown that gave Baltimore the lead, 17-14, with4:07 left in the third quarter.

Early in the fourth period the Gamblers drove to the Stars' 10, before Kelly was hit while attempting to pass and fumbled the ball away to Baltimore's William Fuller at the Baltimore 21. The Stars then drove to the Houston 36 in six plays, where Fusina lofted a 36-yard touchdown pass to Willie Collier, giving Baltimore a 24-14 lead with 10:35 left to play.

David Trout added a 38-yard field goal for the Stars at 2:26in the fourth quarter before a crowd of 24,166 at the Astrodome.

Fusina completed 18 of 31 and was three yards short of the Baltimore team record for total passing yardage. Kelly completed 33 of 51 for 393 yards.

Houston is 5-1, while the defending USFL champion Stars are 2-3-1.

The Gamblers drove 80 yards in nine plays to take a 7-0 lead on their first possession of the game. After missing his first two passes, Kelly completed six straight including a five-yard touchdown toss to Sam Harrell at 8:57in the first period.

Fusina then passed 39 yards to Ken Dunek on the first play of Baltimore's next possession. The Stars drove to the Houston 10 where Trout kicked a 27-yard field goal at 4:42 in the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter Fusina passed 37 yards to Scott Fitzkee to set up the Stars' first touchdown. Seven plays later, Allen Harvin ran three yards for the touchdown and Trout converted. Baltimore led at halftime 10-7.

Kelly passed 50 yards to Gerald McNeil for a touchdown on the second play of the second half to give Houston a 14-10 lead.

Complete Game

Highlights

	1	2	3	4	F
BAL	3	7	7      10   -   27
HOU	7       0       7       0   -   14

Scoring

HOU:Harrell 5 pass from Kelly(Fritsch kick) - HOU 7, BAL 0

BAL:Trout 27 FG - HOU 7, BAL 3

BAL:Harvin 3 run(Trout kick) - BAL 10, HOU 7

HOU:McNeill 50 pass from Kelly(Fritsch kick) - HOU 14, BAL 10

BAL:Lush 58 interception return(Trout kick) - BAL 17, HOU 14

BAL:Collier 36 pass from Fusina(Trout kick) - BAL 24, HOU 14

BAL:Trout 38 FG - BAL 27, HOU 14

Box Score

                             BAL            HOU
First Downs                   24	     24      
Rushes-Yards              35-131           8-37
Passing (A-C-Y-I)    32-18-307-1    51-33-362-3
Sacked-Yards Lost           4-31            1-3
Total Plays-Yards         67-438         59-399
Fumbles-Lost                 0-0            2-2
Penalties-Yards             6-58           3-23
Turnovers                      1              5
Time of Possession         35:04          24:56

Attendance = 24,166 

BALTIMORE				     HOUSTON
Passing     Att Cmp Yds In Td  Rate          Passing     Att Cmp Yds In Td  Rate
Fusina       31  18 310  1  1  89.45         Kelly	  51  33 393  3  2  76.67

Rushing     Att Yds  Ave TD                  Rushing     Att Yds  Ave TD
Harvin       28 113  4.1  1                  Fowler        7  23  3.3 0
Thomas        4  13  3.3  0		     Kelly         1  14 14.0 0
Riley         3   5  1.7  0		     

Receiving   Rec Yds  Ave TD                  Receiving   Rec Yds  Ave TD
Fitzkee       4  80 20.0  0		     McNeil        9 152 16.9  1
Collier       3  69 23.0  1                  Verdin        9 106 11.8  0
Dunek         2  68 34.0  0		     Harrell       5  56 11.2  1
Riley         5  51 10.2  0		     Barrousse     3  37 12.3  0
Harvin        4  42 10.5  0                  Fowler        2  17  8.5  0
					     Courville     2  14  7.0  0
					     McGhee        2  11  6.5  0
					     Rosado        1   0  0.0  0                 

Kick Returns   No Yds  Ave TD                Kick Returns   No Yds  Ave TD
McCants		3  65 21.7  0		     Verdin          2  49 24.5  0
					     McGhee          2  37 18.5  0
					     Courville       1  22 22.0  0
					     Eason           1  13 13.0  0                 

Punt Returns   No Yds  Ave TD                Punt Returns   No Yds  Ave TD
None            -  --   --  -                None            -  --   --  -                

Kicking          Fg  Lg   Xp  Pts            Kicking          Fg  Lg   Xp  Pts
Trout           2-3  38  3-3   9             Fritsch         0-0   -  2-2   2      
                miss: 27                                     miss: --

Punting        No Yds  Ave                   Punting        No Yds  Ave
Landeta         1  47  47.0                  Walters         2  67  33.5

Sacks          Sk Yds                        Sacks          Sk Yds
Walker          2  14			     L.Lewis         1  13
Fuller          1  11
Moor            1   6                    

Interceptions  No Yds  Ave TD                Interceptions  No Yds  Ave TD
Lush            2  83 41.5  1                Bradley         1   0  0.0  0
Sutton          1  20 20.0  0

Archived news report
Archived news report

Supplemental information courtesy of Chris Blackburn

Back to 1985 season results

« Previous Game Baltimore Next Game »
« Previous Game Houston Next Game »