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Houston 34 at Los Angeles 33
1985 Week 1 - Sunday, February 24, 1985
Houston Gamblers(0-0) at Los Angeles Express(0-0)(-2)
Attendance: 18,828
LOS ANGELES(AP) - All the pre-game hype and hoopla was directed at the rookie quarterback with the million-dollar contract, a Heisman Trophy winner with virtually no preparation. While Doug Flutie was struggling in his professional debut, the United States Football League's resident star passer was picking up where he left off last season.
Jim Kelly, the USFL's Most Valuable Player in 1984 when he threw for 44 touchdowns, began the '85 campaign in style yesterday with five scoring tosses and an American professional record 574 yards passing in leading the Houston Gamblers to a stunning 34-33 comeback victory over the Los Angeles Express before a crowd of 18,828. The Gamblers trailed 33-13 in the final quarter.
"I've been in comebacks before but never anything like that," said Kelly. "Pulling out that was the best feeling I ever had in my life."
Kelly completed 35 of 54 passes and threw for three touchdowns in the last 10 minutes. He hit Ricky Sanders with a 39-yard TD pass with 1:18 remaining and Toni Fritsch's conversion was decisive.
Kelly's 574 yards passing surpassed Norm Van Brocklin's 554 set with the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League in 1951. Kelly was 12 yards shy of the pro record of 586 by Sam Etchverry of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League in 1954.
1 2 3 4 F
HOU 13 0 0 21 - 34
LA 0 6 17 10 - 33
Scoring
HOU:Sanders 1 pass from Kelly(Fritsch kick) - HOU 7, LA 0
HOU:Sanders 1 pass from Kelly(kick failed) - HOU 13, LA 0
LA: Zendejas 26 FG - HOU 13, LA 3
LA: Zendejas 48 FG - HOU 13, LA 6
LA: Zendejas 37 FG - HOU 13, LA 9
LA: Townsell 64 pass from Young(Zendejas kick) - LA 16, HOU 13
LA: Nelson 2 run(Zendejas kick) - LA 23, HOU 13
LA: Zendejas 46 FG - LA 26, HOU 13
LA: West 42 interception return(Zendejas kick) - LA 33, HOU 13
HOU:R.Johnson 52 pass from Kelly(Fritsch kick) - LA 33, HOU 20
HOU:Courville 40 pass from Kelly(Fritsch kick) - LA 33, HOU 27
HOU:Sanders 39 pass from Kelly(Fritsch kick) - HOU 34, LA 33
Box Score
HOU LA
First Downs 26 12
Rushes-Yards 8-25 20-49
Passing (A-C-Y-I) 54-35-560-2 27-13-218-1
Sacked-Yards Lost 2-14 4-37
Total Plays-Yards 62-585 47-267
Fumbles-Lost 5-3 2-0
Penalties-Yards 5-30 7-64
Turnovers 5 1
Time of Possession 29:39 30:21
Attendance = 18,828
HOUSTON LOS ANGELES
Passing Att Cmp Yds In Td Rate Passing Att Cmp Yds In Td Rate
Kelly 54 35 574 2 5 115.82 Young 27 13 255 1 1 78.47
Rushing Att Yds Ave TD Rushing Att Yds Ave TD
Harrell 4 16 4.0 0 Young 5 27 5.4 0
Kelly 4 9 2.3 0 Nelson 8 19 2.4 1
Gray 6 4 0.7 0
Boddie 1 -1 -1.0 0
Receiving Rec Yds Ave TD Receiving Rec Yds Ave TD
R.Johnson 11 174 15.8 1 Townsell 2 104 52.0 1
Sanders 9 108 12.0 3 Campbell 1 46 46.0 0
Harrell 6 105 17.5 0 Gunn 4 42 10.5 0
Courville 3 76 25.3 1 Hudson 2 28 14.0 0
McGhee 3 53 17.7 0 Hershey 2 25 12.5 0
Verdin 2 42 21.0 0 Nelson 1 7 7.0 0
McNeil 1 16 16.0 0 Boddie 1 3 3.0 0
Kick Returns No Yds Ave TD Kick Returns No Yds Ave TD
Verdin 6 77 12.8 0 Alexander 4 70 17.5 0
McGhee 1 9 9.0 0 Boddie 1 19 19.0 0
Punt Returns No Yds Ave TD Punt Returns No Yds Ave TD
McNeil 4 14 3.5 0 Gunn 1 0 0.0 0
Kicking Fg Lg Xp Pts Kicking Fg Lg Xp Pts
Fritsch 0-0 -- 4-5 4 Zendejas 4-4 48 3-3 15
miss: -- miss: --
Punting No Yds Ave Punting No Yds Ave
Walters 3 95 31.7 Partridge 6 219 36.5
Sacks Sk Yds Sacks Sk Yds
Catan 1.5 10 Rudolph 2 14
Crosby 1 10
Taylor 1 10
Hughes 1 4
A.Hawkins 0.5 3
Interceptions No Yds Ave TD Interceptions No Yds Ave TD
DeAyala 1 0 0.0 0 West 2 81 40.5 1
M.Hawkins 1 0 0.0 0
Archived news report
Archived news report
Supplemental information courtesy of Chris Blackburn
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