Michigan 34 at Chicago 19

1983 Week 17 - Sunday, June 26, 1983
Michigan Panthers(10-6) at Chicago Blitz(11-5)(-4)
Attendance: 25,041, TV: ABC

CHICAGO(AP) - "It just seemed like everything fell into place," was the way Michigan Panthers rookie quarterback Bobby Hebert summed up his record-breaking performance.

Five of his passes fell neatly into the arms of receivers Anthony Carter, Derek Holloway and Ken Lacy as Hebert set a United States Football League record for touchdown passes in one game and increased his league lead in that department to 26.

Hebert defied the heat in Soldier Field - where the temperatures reached 99 degrees in the stands and zoomed to an estimated 134 degrees on the artificial turf - and blistered the Chicago Blitz secondary with 12 completions in 21 attempts for 247 yards.

His performance before 25,042 fans - 7,100 above the Blitz's average home attendance - led the Panthers to a 34-19 triumph Sunday over their Central Division rivals and pulled them into a tie with Chicago for the division lead.

Each team is 11-6 with one week to in the regular season. But Michigan would win the division in case of a tie because they won both head-to-head confrontations this season.

"I thought it would be a dogfight to the end. But we got the big plays when we needed them," said Hebert, who opened the scoring with a 39-yard pass to Ken Lacy. His other TD passes were of 42 and 15 yards to Holloway and 35 and 32 yards to Carter, whose eight receptions for 143 yards gave him over 1,000 yards for the season.

"We lost to a better team today," said losing Coach George Allen, whose team must combine a win against Oakland next Sunday with a Michigan loss to Arizona in order to win the remaining division title.

1st Q

Complete Game

Highlights

1983 USFL Regular Season

1983 Week 17

Sunday, June 26, 1983  

Michigan Panthers 34 @ Chicago Blitz 19

Stadium : Soldier Field, Chicago, IL.

Attendance: 25,041

                    Michigan    Chicago

First Downs            16          27
Rushes - Yards       34-147      30-98
Passing Yards         257         294
Return Yards           86          91
Passes               13-20-1    22-39-1
Sacks - Yards Lost    1-8        6-51
Punts - Avg.         5-43.2      4-37.3
Fumbles-Lost          3-1         2-1
Penalties-Yards      13-102      10-85
Time of Possession   28:32       31:28


                    1st 2nd 3rd 4th  Total

Michigan             7  14   6   7   - 34
Chicago              0   3   0  16   - 19


1st Quarter Scoring

Michigan Panthers - Lacy 39 yd. Pass from Hebert ( Bojovic Kick ).


2nd Quarter Scoring


Michigan Panthers - Carter 35 yd. Pass from Hebert ( Bojovic Kick ).

Chicago Blitz - 34 yd. Field Goal by Corral.

Michigan Panthers - Holloway 42 yd. Pass from Hebert ( Bojovic Kick ).


3rd Quarter Scoring

Michigan Panthers - Holloway 15 yd. Pass from Hebert ( Kick " Failed " ).


4th Quarter Scoring

Chicago Blitz - Long 4 yd. Run ( Pass " Failed " ).

Chicago Blitz - 40 yd. Field Goal by Corral.

Chicago Blitz - Johnson 9 yd. Pass from Scott ( Corral Kick ).

Michigan Panthers - Carter 32 yd. Pass from Hebert ( Bojovic Kick ).



INDIVIDUAL Statistics

Rushing 

Michigan Panthers - Lacy 21-77, C. Miller 7-44, Williams 5-29,
Hebert 1 for minus 3 yds.

Chicago Blitz - Long 10-33, Spencer 10-29, Dennison 3-12, Scott 3-11,
Boatner 3-7, Johnson 1-6.
 

Passing

Michigan Panthers - Hebert 13-20-1-265.

Chicago Blitz - Scott 22-39-1-345.


Receiving

Michigan Panthers - Carter 8-143, Holloway 3-64, Lacy 1-39, Cobb 1-19.

Chicago Blitz - Johnson 8-138, Wrightman 6-86, Dennison 3-45, Boatner 2-41,
Anderson 1-13, Ricker 1-11, Buggs 1-11. 


Kickoff Returns

Michigan Panthers - Phea 2-31, Moriarty 1-23, C. Miller 1-21.

Chicago Blitz - Dennison 1-27, Brown 1-25, Willis 1-16, Melontree 1-6. 


Punt Returns

Michigan Panthers - None.

Chicago Blitz - Willis 2-12.


Punting

Michigan Panthers - Greenwood 5-43.2 Yd. Avg.

Chicago Blitz - Corral 4-37.3 Yd. Avg.


Field Goals

Michigan Panthers -  None.

Chicago Blitz - Corral 2 of 3.


Interceptions

Michigan Panthers - Corker 1-11.

Chicago Blitz - Smith 1-5.


Sacks

Michigan Panthers - Corker 2-18, Dokes 1-12, Hughes 1-10,
Bentley 1-9, Albright 1-2.

Chicago Blitz - Lorch 1-8.

Box Courtesy of Tom Hefner
Archived news report

Supplemental information courtesy of Chris Blackburn

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