# 1985 USFL season

The 1985 USFL season was the third and final season of the United States Football League (USFL), and the last by a league using that name until the 2022 USFL season.

## Rule changes

Adopted instant replay for the 1985 season. Under the instant-replay rule, a team may have one appeal per half in three situations:
* A fumble or no-fumble situation.
* Whether a pass is complete, incomplete or intercepted.
* Whether the ball has penetrated the goal line.
The team asking for the replay would lose a time out if they were wrong. The replay was available only in games televised by ABC.

## Franchise changes

* Pittsburgh Maulers fold.
* Chicago Blitz suspend operations.
* Michigan Panthers merge with the Oakland Invaders.
* Arizona Wranglers and the Oklahoma Outlaws merge and create the Arizona Outlaws.
* New Orleans Breakers relocate to Portland, Oregon as the Portland Breakers.
* Philadelphia Stars move games to College Park, Maryland, with plans to move to Baltimore in 1986, team is renamed the Baltimore Stars.
* Washington Federals are sold and relocate to Orlando, Florida, as the Orlando Renegades.

## General news

August 22, 1984, the owners voted to move to a fall schedule starting in 1986.
Harry Usher became the new commissioner of the USFL in January 1985.
The USFL and the United States Football League Players Association (USFLPA) agreed on a four-year agreement in March 1985.
On April 29, 1985, the league's owners voted 13–2 to reaffirm their decision to begin playing a fall season in 1986.

## Regular season

W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
y = Division Champion, x = Wild Card
Eastern Conference :
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | Stadium | 1985 Capacity | Avg. Att. | Avg. % Filled | Coach |
| y-Birmingham Stallions | 13 | 5 | 0 | .722 | 436 | 299 | Legion Field | 77,000 | 32,065 | 42% | Rollie Dotsch |
| x-New Jersey Generals | 11 | 7 | 0 | .611 | 418 | 378 | Giants Stadium | 76,891 | 41,268 | 54% | Walt Michaels |
| x-Memphis Showboats | 11 | 7 | 0 | .611 | 429 | 337 | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | 50,180 | 30,948 | 62% | Pepper Rodgers |
| x-Baltimore Stars | 10 | 7 | 1 | .583 | 368 | 260 | Byrd Stadium | 51,500 | 14,275 | 28% | Jim Mora |
| x-Tampa Bay Bandits | 10 | 8 | 0 | .556 | 405 | 422 | Tampa Stadium | 72,812 | 45,220 | 62% | Steve Spurrier |
| Jacksonville Bulls | 9 | 9 | 0 | .500 | 407 | 402 | Gator Bowl Stadium | 80,100 | 44,325 | 55% | Lindy Infante |
| Orlando Renegades | 5 | 13 | 0 | .278 | 308 | 481 | Orlando Stadium | 52,000 | 24,136 | 46% | Lee Corso |
Western Conference :
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | Stadium | 1985 Capacity | Avg. Att. | Avg. % Filled | Coach |
| y-Oakland Invaders | 13 | 4 | 1 | .750 | 473 | 359 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 54,615 | 17,509 | 32% | Charlie Sumner |
| x-Denver Gold | 11 | 7 | 0 | .611 | 433 | 389 | Mile High Stadium | 75,123 | 14,446 | 19% | Darrell "Mouse" Davis |
| x-Houston Gamblers | 10 | 8 | 0 | .556 | 544 | 388 | Houston Astrodome | 47,695 | 19,120 | 40% | Jack Pardee |
| Arizona Outlaws | 8 | 10 | 0 | .444 | 376 | 405 | Sun Devil Stadium | 70,030 | 17,881 | 26% | Frank Kush |
| Portland Breakers | 6 | 12 | 0 | .333 | 275 | 422 | Civic Stadium | 32,500 | 19,919 | 61% | Dick Coury |
| San Antonio Gunslingers | 5 | 13 | 0 | .278 | 296 | 436 | Alamo Stadium | 32,000 | 11,721 | 37% | Jim Bates/Gil Steinke |
| Los Angeles Express | 3 | 15 | 0 | .167 | 266 | 456 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 94,000 | 8,415 | 9% | John Hadl |
New Jersey finished ahead of Memphis based on a head-to-head tiebreaker advantage (2-0-0).

## Playoffs

| Away team | Score | Home team | Date |
| Quarterfinals ||||
| Houston Gamblers | 20-22 | Birmingham Stallions | June 29, 1985 |
| Denver Gold | 7-48 | Memphis Showboats | June 29, 1985 |
| Tampa Bay Bandits | 27-30 | Oakland Invaders | June 30, 1985 |
| Baltimore Stars | 20-17 | New Jersey Generals | July 1, 1985 |
| Semifinals ||||
| Baltimore Stars | 28-14 | Birmingham Stallions | July 6, 1985 |
| Oakland Invaders | 28-19 | Memphis Showboats | July 7, 1985 |
| USFL Championship Game Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey ||||
| Baltimore Stars | 28-24 | Oakland Invaders | July 14, 1985 |
| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | USFL Championship | USFL Championship | USFL Championship |
| W3 | Houston | 20 | | | | | | |
| E1 | Birmingham | 22 | | | | | | |
| E1 | Birmingham | 22 | E1 | Birmingham | 14 | | | |
| | | | E4 | Baltimore | 28 | | | |
| E4 | Baltimore | 20 | E4 | Baltimore | 28 | | | |
| E2 | New Jersey | 17 | | | | | | |
| E2 | New Jersey | 17 | | | | E4 | Baltimore | 28 |
| | | | | | | W1 | Oakland | 24 |
| E5 | Tampa Bay | 27 | | | | | | | W1 | Oakland | 24 |
| W1 | Oakland | 30 | | | | | | |
| W1 | Oakland | 30 | W1 | Oakland | 28 | | | |
| | | | E3 | Memphis | 19 | | | |
| W2 | Denver | 7 | E3 | Memphis | 19 | | | |
| E3 | Memphis | 48 | | | | | | |
* view
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## Statistics
### 1985 regular season stat leaders

1985 Passing Stats (all) :
| Name, Team | Att | Comp | % | yards | YDs/Att | TD | TD % | INT | INT % | Rating |
| Walter Lewis, MEM | 184 | 97 | 52.7 | 1593 | 8.66 | 16 | 8.7 | 5 | 2.7 | 99.8 |
| Jim Kelly, HOU | 567 | 360 | 63.5 | 4623 | 8.15 | 39 | 6.9 | 19 | 3.4 | 97.9 |
| Fred Besana, OAK | 58 | 34 | 58.6 | 494 | 8.51 | 6 | 10.3 | 4 | 6.9 | 92.2 |
| Brian Sipe, JACK | 89 | 55 | 61.8 | 685 | 7.97 | 4 | 4.5 | 2 | 2.2 | 91.3 |
| Cliff Stoudt, BIRM | 444 | 266 | 59.9 | 3358 | 7.56 | 34 | 7.7 | 19 | 4.3 | 91.2 |
| Tim Riordan, BAL | 36 | 21 | 58.3 | 260 | 7.22 | 1 | 2.8 | 0 | 0.0 | 90.0 |
| Bobby Hebert, OAK | 456 | 244 | 53.5 | 3811 | 8.36 | 30 | 6.6 | 19 | 4.2 | 86.1 |
| Chuck Fusina, BAL | 496 | 303 | 61.1 | 3496 | 7.05 | 20 | 4.0 | 14 | 2.8 | 84.0 |
| Mike Kelley, MEM | 260 | 165 | 63.5 | 2186 | 8.41 | 9 | 3.5 | 14 | 5.4 | 79.1 |
| Bob Lane, BIRM | 33 | 18 | 54.5 | 255 | 7.73 | 1 | 3.0 | 1 | 3.0 | 77.2 |
| Doug Williams, ARZ | 509 | 271 | 53.2 | 3673 | 7.22 | 21 | 4.1 | 17 | 3.3 | 76.4 |
| Bob Gagliano, DENV | 358 | 205 | 57.3 | 2695 | 7.53 | 13 | 3.6 | 17 | 4.7 | 73.5 |
| John Reaves, TB | 561 | 314 | 56.0 | 4193 | 7.47 | 25 | 4.5 | 29 | 5.2 | 73.2 |
| Ed Luther, JACK | 400 | 240 | 60.0 | 2792 | 6.98 | 15 | 3.8 | 21 | 5.3 | 71.8 |
| Todd Dillon, HOU | 225 | 121 | 53.8 | 1495 | 6.65 | 9 | 4.0 | 9 | 4.0 | 71.3 |
| Rick Neuheisel, SA | 421 | 239 | 56.8 | 3068 | 7.29 | 18 | 4.3 | 25 | 5.9 | 69.3 |
| Doug Flutie, NJ | 281 | 134 | 47.7 | 2109 | 7.51 | 13 | 4.6 | 14 | 5.0 | 67.8 |
| Rick Johnson, ARZ | 43 | 21 | 48.8 | 318 | 7.40 | 3 | 7.0 | 3 | 7.0 | 67.8 |
| Reggie Collier, ORL | 427 | 229 | 53.6 | 2578 | 6.04 | 13 | 3.0 | 16 | 3.7 | 66.5 |
| Vince Evans, DENV | 325 | 157 | 48.3 | 2259 | 6.95 | 12 | 3.7 | 16 | 4.9 | 63.1 |
| Steve Young, LA | 250 | 137 | 54.8 | 1741 | 6.97 | 6 | 2.4 | 13 | 5.2 | 63.1 |
| Matt Robinson, POR | 310 | 156 | 50.3 | 2182 | 7.04 | 15 | 4.8 | 20 | 6.5 | 62.6 |
| Buck Belue, JACK | 68 | 37 | 54.4 | 299 | 4.40 | 3 | 4.4 | 3 | 4.4 | 62.1 |
| Jerry Golsteyn, ORL | 135 | 65 | 48.1 | 647 | 4.79 | 4 | 3.0 | 7 | 5.2 | 50.4 |
| Jimmy Jordan, TB | 93 | 54 | 58.1 | 601 | 6.46 | 3 | 3.2 | 11 | 11.8 | 48.6 |
| Doug Woodward, POR | 155 | 62 | 40.0 | 831 | 5.36 | 3 | 1.9 | 6 | 3.9 | 48.1 |
| Frank Seurer, LA | 242 | 120 | 49.6 | 1479 | 6.11 | 7 | 2.9 | 18 | 7.4 | 47.5 |
| Fred Mortensen, SA | 57 | 20 | 35.1 | 204 | 3.58 | 1 | 1.8 | 4 | 7.0 | 22.8 |
1985 Rushing leaders :
| Name, Team | Att | Yds | Ave. | TDs |
| Herschel Walker, NJ | 438 | 2411 | 5.5 | 21 |
| Mike Rozier, JACK | 320 | 1361 | 4.3 | 12 |
| Bill Johnson, DENV | 212 | 1261 | 5.9 | 15 |
| Kelvin Bryant, BAL | 238 | 1207 | 5.1 | 12 |
| Gary Anderson, TB | 276 | 1207 | 4.4 | 16 |
| Joe Cribbs, BIRM | 267 | 1047 | 3.9 | 7 |
| Otis Brown, AZ | 229 | 1031 | 4.5 | 12 |
| Albert Bentley, OAK | 191 | 1020 | 5.3 | 4 |
| John Williams, OAK | 186 | 857 | 4.6 | 9 |
| Buford Jordan, PORT | 165 | 817 | 5.0 | 5 |
| Tim Spencer, MEM | 198 | 789 | 4.0 | 3 |
| Curtis Bledsoe, ORL | 207 | 781 | 3.8 | 3 |
| Maurice Carthon, NJ | 175 | 726 | 4.1 | 6 |
| Reggie Collier, ORL | 92 | 606 | 6.6 | 12 |
| Walter Lewis, MEM | 65 | 591 | 9.1 | 4 |
| Greg Boone, TB | 111 | 559 | 5.0 | 3 |
| Allen Harvin, BAL | 138 | 549 | 4.0 | 4 |
| George Works, SA | 93 | 542 | 5.8 | 1 |
| Mel Gray, LA | 125 | 526 | 4.2 | 1 |
1985 Receiving Leaders :
| Name, Team | Rec | Yds | Ave. | TDs |
| Richard Johnson, HOU | 103 | 1384 | 13.4 | 14 |
| Leonard Harris, DENV | 101 | 1432 | 14.2 | 8 |
| Jim Smith, BIRM | 87 | 1322 | 15.2 | 20 |
| Clarence Verdin, HOU | 84 | 1004 | 12.0 | 9 |
| Alton Alexis, JACK | 83 | 1118 | 13.5 | 5 |
| Marc Lewis, DENV | 75 | 1207 | 16.1 | 6 |
| Scott Fitzkee, BAL | 73 | 882 | 12.1 | 3 |
| Gary Anderson, TB | 72 | 678 | 9.4 | 4 |
| Derrick Crawford, MEM | 70 | 1057 | 15.1 | 9 |
| Anthony Carter, OAK | 70 | 1323 | 18.9 | 14 |
| Larry Brodsky, TB | 69 | 1071 | 15.5 | 7 |
| Gordon Banks, OAK | 62 | 1115 | 18.0 | 5 |
| Perry Kemp, JACK | 59 | 915 | 15.5 | 4 |
| Marvin Harvey, TB | 59 | 723 | 12.3 | 3 |
| Gerald McNeil, HOU | 58 | 1017 | 17.5 | 6 |
| Joey Walters, ORL | 58 | 784 | 13.5 | 5 |
| Greg Moser, MEM | 57 | 1145 | 20.1 | 6 |
| Vincent White, DENV | 55 | 666 | 12.1 | 5 |
| Alphonso Williams, AZ | 55 | 1020 | 18.5 | 8 |
| Mark Keel, JACK | 53 | 585 | 11.0 | 0 |
| Don Roberts, SA | 53 | 653 | 12.3 | 4 |
| Sam Harrell, HOU | 51 | 491 | 9.6 | 2 |
| Greg Anderson, AZ | 51 | 915 | 17.9 | 5 |
| Mike Rozier, JACK | 50 | 366 | 7.3 | 3 |
| JoJo Townsell, LA | 47 | 777 | 16.5 | 6 |
| Derek Holloway, OAK | 47 | 824 | 17.5 | 7 |
| Jerry Gordon, SA | 44 | 693 | 15.8 | 7 |
| Ken Dunek, BAL | 44 | 508 | 11.5 | 0 |
| Frank Lockett, PORT/SA | 43 | 794 | 18.5 | 3 |
| Joey Jones, BIRM | 43 | 751 | 17.5 | 7 |
| Jeff Smith, ORL | 42 | 521 | 12.4 | 1 |
| Dan Ross, PORT | 41 | 522 | 12.7 | 5 |

### 1985 USFL regular season sortable offensive team statistics

| Team | Pts. | Ave. | Rank | Total Yards | Ave. | Rank | Rush. Yards | Ave. | Rank | Pass. Yards | Ave. | Rank |
| Houston | 544 | 30.2 | 1 | 7032 | 391 | 1 | 1192 | 66 | 14 | 5840 | 324 | 1 |
| Oakland | 473 | 26.3 | 2 | 6354 | 353 | 4 | 2362 | 131 | 5 | 3992 | 222 | 4 |
| Birmingham | 436 | 24.2 | 3 | 5852 | 325 | 8 | 2463 | 137 | 3 | 3389 | 188 | 9 |
| Denver | 433 | 24.1 | 4 | 6629 | 368 | 3 | 2079 | 116 | 7 | 4550 | 253 | 3 |
| Memphis | 429 | 23.8 | 5 | 6201 | 345 | 5 | 2775 | 154 | 2 | 3426 | 190 | 8 |
| New Jersey | 418 | 23.2 | 6 | 6149 | 342 | 6 | 3763 | 209 | 1 | 2386 | 133 | 14 |
| Jacksonville | 407 | 22.6 | 7 | 5752 | 320 | 10 | 1998 | 111 | 11 | 3754 | 209 | 6 |
| Tampa Bay | 405 | 22.5 | 8 | 6709 | 373 | 2 | 2070 | 115 | 8 | 4639 | 258 | 2 |
| Arizona | 376 | 20.9 | 9 | 5804 | 322 | 9 | 2019 | 112 | 10 | 3785 | 210 | 5 |
| Baltimore | 368 | 20.4 | 10 | 5926 | 329 | 7 | 2420 | 134 | 4 | 3506 | 195 | 7 |
| Orlando | 308 | 17.1 | 11 | 4611 | 256 | 13 | 1818 | 101 | 12 | 2793 | 155 | 12 |
| San Antonio | 296 | 16.4 | 12 | 4597 | 255 | 14 | 1777 | 99 | 13 | 2820 | 157 | 11 |
| Portland | 275 | 15.3 | 13 | 5029 | 279 | 11 | 2041 | 113 | 9 | 2988 | 166 | 10 |
| Los Angeles | 266 | 14.8 | 14 | 4707 | 262 | 12 | 2087 | 116 | 6 | 2620 | 146 | 13 |

### 1985 USFL regular season sortable defensive team statistics

| Team | Pts. | Ave. | Rank | Total Yards | Ave. | Rank | Rush. Yards | Ave. | Rank | Pass. Yards | Ave. | Rank |
| Baltimore | 260 | 14.4 | 1 | 5291 | 294 | 2 | 2045 | 114 | 6 | 3246 | 180 | 3 |
| Birmingham | 299 | 16.6 | 2 | 4829 | 268 | 1 | 1807 | 100 | 1 | 3022 | 168 | 1 |
| Memphis | 337 | 18.7 | 3 | 5327 | 296 | 3 | 1897 | 105 | 3 | 3430 | 191 | 5 |
| Oakland | 359 | 19.9 | 4 | 5584 | 310 | 5 | 1832 | 102 | 2 | 3752 | 208 | 10 |
| New Jersey | 378 | 21.0 | 5 | 5685 | 316 | 7 | 1959 | 109 | 5 | 3726 | 207 | 9 |
| Houston | 388 | 21.6 | 6 | 6298 | 350 | 13 | 2168 | 120 | 8 | 4130 | 229 | 13 |
| Denver | 389 | 21.6 | 7 | 5924 | 329 | 8 | 2172 | 121 | 9 | 3752 | 208 | 11 |
| Jacksonville | 402 | 22.3 | 8 | 6121 | 340 | 10 | 2559 | 142 | 13 | 3562 | 198 | 7 |
| Arizona | 405 | 22.5 | 9 | 5518 | 307 | 4 | 2291 | 127 | 10 | 3227 | 179 | 2 |
| Tampa Bay | 422 | 23.4 | 10 | 5949 | 331 | 9 | 2390 | 133 | 12 | 3559 | 198 | 6 |
| Portland | 422 | 23.4 | 11 | 6177 | 343 | 11 | 2344 | 130 | 11 | 3833 | 213 | 12 |
| San Antonio | 436 | 24.2 | 12 | 5645 | 314 | 6 | 1949 | 108 | 4 | 3696 | 205 | 8 |
| Los Angeles | 456 | 25.3 | 13 | 6273 | 349 | 12 | 2132 | 118 | 7 | 4141 | 230 | 14 |
| Orlando | 481 | 26.7 | 14 | 6731 | 374 | 14 | 3319 | 184 | 14 | 3412 | 190 | 4 |