1988 USFL Wild Card Round
Blurbs taken from articles written by Linda Castillo, Southern Correspondent, Ryan “Scoop” Harrison, West Coast Insider, David Williams, Mideast Correspondant and Mark Thompson, Eastern Bureau
Boston 10, Memphis 13
The Story: A defensive slog where the only offense Memphis needed was Brent Fullwood. The MVP candidate carried the ball 32 times for 217 yards and a touchdown. Boston’s Buford Jordan was completely stonewalled (28 carries for 48 yards), and Cavanaugh threw for just 200 yards. Memphis advances in a gritty, old-school playoff rock fight.
Denver 35, Las Vegas 20
The Story: The Cinderella season for the Ace comes to an end. Reggie Collier threw three brutal interceptions, and Denver’s Bob Gagliano played the perfect game manager—225 yards, 3 TDs, and no picks. Bill Johnson pounded the rock 37 times for 146 yards and 2 TDs. The Denver defense completely shut down the Vegas run game (23 carries for 61 yards).
Oklahoma 10, Michigan 24
The Story: The Michigan defense is legit. They held the Oklahoma rushing attack in check and picked off Rick Johnson twice. Meanwhile, Keith Henderson had an insane efficiency day on the ground (15 carries for 150 yards). Harbaugh didn’t need to do much, and the Panthers move on comfortably.
Washington 22, Jacksonville 41
The Story: The Washington Cinderella run is over. Don McPherson threw three interceptions, but the real killer was Jacksonville’s John Little, who took two interceptions to the house (39 yards and 56 yards) and was named MVP. Ed Luther was surgical (99.1 rating, 318 yards, 2 TDs), completely carving up the Federals’ secondary.
Look Ahead
By: Jack Elliot
USFL Insider since 1983
This sets up some exciting matchups in the second round of the playoffs. Memphis travels to New Jersey to take on Herschel Walker and the Generals juggernaut while familiar foes Jacksonville and Birmingham play one more time to settle the true champion of the south. Meanwhile, Denver is in LA to try to unseat the #1 seed in the playoffs and Michigan is off to Houston to take on Jim Kelly and the Gamblers. Come back over the next few weeks for our coverage of those games and the rest of the playoffs leading to the USFL Championship in Vegas.