Event Description: Championship Preview
Source: UPI
U.S.F.L. Championship at Tampa, Florida
(14-6) Houston Gamblers vs (16-4) Birmingham Stallions
8:05 p.m. (ABC-National-Keith Jackson and Lynn Swann)
Spread: Stallions -2
Rollie Dotsch and Jack Pardee are taking a similar approach to Sunday's second annual U.S. Football League championship game.
Dotsch and Pardee both said Thursday they are approaching Sunday's USFL finale like it was just another game.
“I'm trying to stay on the same schedule we had during the regular season,” said Dotsch.
“We're going to practice under the lights to get ready for the game, but other than that, I think we’re going to pretty much run our standard week of practice.”
“We're going to practice under the lights to get ready for the game, but other than that, I think we’re going to pretty much run our standard week of practice.”
“I suppose it would have been nice to have had an extra week to prepare (like the NFL teams have for their Super Bowl), but I don't know that it really matters,” said Pardee. “The way it has turned out, our (practice) schedule is the same as it was for all our Sunday games.”
The Stallions, who advanced to the championship with playoff victories over Tampa Bay and Philadelphia after a 14-4 regular season, and the Gamblers, winners over Los Angeles and Houston after going 12-6, both arrived in Tampa Tuesday evening and got in their first workouts here Wednesday.
“I think it was a plus to have all that southern heat because the last half of the season we've been very strong,” said Dotsch.
“With a veteran club, we out-conditioned some of the younger squads. We won a couple of games in the fourth quarter because of our conditioning.”
“We match up well against Houston,” said Dotsch. “They play wide open football, offensively and defensively. They don't seem overly concerned with making mistakes on offense and defensively they try to capitalize on other people's mistakes.”
Sunday's contest will feature the passing of Houston rookie quarterback Jim Kelly against Birmingham's Cliff Stoudt and the running of Todd Fowler against Joe Cribbs and Leon Perry of Birmingham.
Kelly was the USFL’s most exciting quarterback throwing for 4,758 yards and 44 touchdowns during the 18-game regular season. Stoudt, a five-year pro veteran, threw for 2,785 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Fowler rushed for 1,280 yards during the regular season and 247 in two playoff games. Cribbs and Perry led the Stallions with 1,450 and 1,123 yards respectively.
Source: (UPI Modified)
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