Denver 40 at Birmingham 23

1985 Week 2 - Sunday, March 3, 1985
Denver Gold(0-1) at Birmingham Stallions(1-0)(-13)
Attendance: 27,400

BIRMINGHAM(AP) - Denver's new run-and-shoot offense may also be termed lost-and-found.

It was non-existent in an opening game 31-10 loss to the Oakland Invaders but it didn't take long to surface Sunday - just one play.

"Offensively, we were given a big boost since we got down so close to scoring and scored at the beginning of the game," said quarterback Vince Evans, who flipped a 55-yard screen pass to Bill Johnson on Denver's first play that took the ball to the 1-yard line. Johnson scored on the next play and the Gold was en route to a 40-23 United States Football League drubbing of the Birmingham Stallions.

"This has to be an added punch for our offense, especially after last week," Evans added. "I knew I had confidence in our offense. We needed just a little more time to master it, and I was very encouraged by our progress."

Evans passed for two touchdowns and ran for another in directing a 564-yard Denver attack. He completed 14 of 27 passes for 284 yards, including touchdowns of 48 yards to Vincent White and 39 yards to Leonard Harris.

The Gold led 26-21 and broke the game open with drives of 78 and 56 yards, capped by scoring runs of 1 yard by Evans and 8 yards by Johnson.

"Vince obviously did a good job and I was pleased very much with this win," said Denver Coach Darrel "Mouse" Davis, who installed Houston's run-and-shoot attack last year as the Gamblers offensive coordinator.

Highlights

Sunday, March 3, 1985

Denver Gold 40 @ Birmingham Stallions 23

Stadium : Legion Field, Birmingham, AL.

Attendance: 27,400

Denver Birmingham

First Downs 24 19
Rushes - Yards 37-284 21-67
Passing Yards 247 258
Return Yards 46 43
Passes 14-28-3 17-38-1
Sacks by ?-? ?-?
Punts 2-39 7-36
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 2-0
Penalties-Yards 12-81 5-46
Time of Possession 35:02 24:58

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total

Denver 9 17 7 7 - 40
Birmingham 7 7 7 2 - 23

1st Quarter Scoring

Denver Gold - B. Johnson 1 yard run ( Speelman Kick )

Birmingham Stallions - Stoudt 7 yard run ( Miller Kick )

Denver Gold - Safety, Stoudt Fumbled out the back of End Zone

2nd Quarter Scoring

Denver Gold - White 48 yard pass from Evans ( Speelman Kick )

Denver Gold - Harris 39 yard pass from Evans ( Speelman Kick )

Denver Gold - 28 yard Field Goal by Speelman

Birmingham Stallions - Smith 9 yard pass from Stoudt ( Miller Kick )

3rd Quarter Scoring

Birmingham Stallions - Jones 53 yard pass from Stoudt ( Miller Kick )

Denver Gold - Evans 1 yard run ( Speelman Kick )

4th Quarter Scoring

Denver Gold - B. Johnson 8 yard run ( Speelman Kick )

Birmingham Stallions - Safety, Evans tackled in End Zone.

INDIVIDUAL Statistics

Rushing

Denver Gold - Gerhart 21-119, B. Johnson 9-74, Evans 5-50, K. Johnson 1-28, White 1-9.

Birmingham Stallions - Cribbs 9-36, Gant 5-10, Stoudt 5-5, Coles 1-15.

Passing

Denver Gold - Evans 14-28-3-284.

Birmingham Stallions - Stoudt 17-38-1-259.

Receiving

Denver Gold - Harris 4-74, Lewis 3-29, White 2-67, Gerhart 2-52, B. Johnson 1-55, Stegall 1-4,
K. Johnson 1-4.

Birmingham Stallions - Smith 6-83, Jones 4-96, Cribbs 2-22, Gant 2-9, Mason 2-9, Toler 1-40.

Missed Field Goals

NONE

Archived news report
Archived news report

Supplemental information courtesy of Chris Blackburn

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