Breakers return to beat the Panthers in the first USFL OT

Via RJ Young
FOX Sports Writer

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The press conference was halfway through, after receiving questions from those inside the Protective stadium, a call was made to members of the media present via Zoom to ask them questions. .

After a long awkward silence, New Orleans Breakers head coach Larry Fedora attracts the word among the players Kyle Sloter and Anthony Jones.

“It’s all in bed,” Fedora joked.

The night was complete.

After 54 points scored in regulation, one goal at 60 yards, five two-point conversion attempts – including one in the regulation – a return kick and injury time, the Breakers felt lucky. lucky to walk out of the media meeting at 11:52 p.m. CT. with a previous victory Michigan Panthers – not to mention the chance to stay and fight for one of the two playoffs at the end of the opening ceremony USFL Season.

But to get there, Sloter must first roll to the left, throw a duck, and shoot long. Jay Adamswho caught the pass just in time for the Breakers to call the timeout with the clock showing one second on the clock.

“The quarterback got hit, and when he threw it, the ball went up in the air – it wasn’t planned at all,” Fedora said.

Breakers beat Panthers, 31-27 in USFL’s first OT horror film

The Breakers defense halted the Panthers’ offense in two consecutive conversion attempts while Anthony Jones and Kyle Sloter converted to New Orleans.

That helped New Orleans striker Taylor Bertolet score a goal from 26 yards when time was up and forced to work overtime.

According to the tournament rules, Extra time included the best shootout of the three games from the 2 yard line. Each point is worth two points. If a team adds four of their first two properties, the game is over.

If the teams are still tied after the penalty shootout the most of the three, that stage will immediately go to a sudden death.

For the Panthers, who owned first, their first attempt was forgettable, ending in a clumsy snap.

The Breakers scored in their first possession when Sloter noticed Jones open in the apartment for the first points ever scored in USFL extra time.

The Panthers missed again on the second attempt, then Sloter ran into the final zone with a bad play to win 31-27 in extra time. He finished 15-v-24 for 182 yards with two TDs.

“I think, as a competitor,” said Sloter, “you look for those opportunities to help your team win a game, and we had some great games there. at the end of the game.”

Kyle Sloter overtakes Breakers through Panthers in OT

Kyle Sloter threw 182 yards and two touchdowns as the New Orleans Breakers secured a 31-29 overtime win over the Michigan Panthers.

Patterson switched sides

Not enough for Panthers coach Jeff Fisher to make the midfield decision Shea Patterson – 1st overall draft selection – at the beginning of the week. Patterson patrols the sidelines for Larry Fedora’s Demolition Team in every possible way to try to tell the New Orleans defense what the Panthers are trying to accomplish.

It does not matter.

The Panthers almost earned their second win of the season after playing Patterson’s replacement, Josh love. Love completed 18 of 36 173-yard passes.

“We had a push in midfield,” Fisher said.

Love is strengthened by an excellent dash attack featuring a run back feature Reggie Corbin across the century mark on the earth.

Corbin leads the league in average yards per dash. He hit the ball 13 times for 108 yards (8.3 yards per dash) while the Panthers’ offensive line bypassed the Breakers’ defense to allow the Panther to dive in for a better average of 5.5 yards per shot. .

In a match featuring a top pass attack (Breakers) against a top pass defense (Panthers), the Breakers decide to feature the run game to start before hitting for big profits on screen to run back Jordan Ellis. But one final serve to Adams ended with Panther’s defensive finish JaQuan Bailey include it for the game’s first sales.

Love decided not to look at the gift horse in his mouth and quickly found Devin Ross to cross from the middle of the field to put the Panthers into the first situation to score 33 yards.

However, Breaker’s defense was very organized within his 10-yard range, forcing the Panthers to hit the net to take a 3-0 lead with 6:07 remaining in the first half.

After planning to change quarterback for New Orleans, previously Tulsa midfielder Zach Smith led the Breakers in scoring in 10 plays for the first touchdown of the game with his first touchdown pass in the USFL a success. Sal Cannella.

He finished 5-for-8 for 46 yards with that pass TD.

With just a minute left, Sloter, the starter, re-entered the game and led the Breakers down the field for the game’s second TD. Sloter found Adams on a fading route on the top shelf to help give the Intruder a one-point lead over the Panthers.

School goal set a record (nother)

In the first half, the Breakers led 14-9 after defending USFL Special Teams Player of the Week Cole Murphy broke the USFL 60-yard record when the clock hit zero at halftime.

“Just a great hit,” Fisher said.

Murphy was 4-hit-5 in scoring attempts against the Breakers.

Murphy set the previous USFL record for longest on-field goal when he scored at 56 yards last week in the Panthers’ loss to Birmingham.

Cole Murphy makes a goal on the 60 YARD pitch to motivate the Panthers to head into halftime

Cole Murphy pulls in a goal from 60 yards to fuel the Panthers as they head into the break.

Late lead change

At half-time, striker Bertolet extended the lead for New Orleans to 17-9 with three points to himself before the Panthers began scoring their first goal of the second half.

The New Orleans defense bowed at their own 16-yard line and forced Michigan to tackle three more at the end of the 16-minute game. With the Breakers leading 17-12 with 1:21 remaining in the third inning, the Panthers must be content to keep Fedora’s team on a single point.

Their optimism paid off. On the next match, Taywan Taylor The ball fumbled on his return and the ball was recovered by Michigan inside the Breakers’ half.

At the end of the third inning, the Panthers held the ball over the New Orleans seven-meter line with three and seven going forward. Full back Stevie Scott III then joined TD and set up the Panthers to have a two point switch away before passing from Love to Lance Lenoir 14:20 left to play.

The Panthers took the lead for the first time since just six minutes left in the first quarter. The lead didn’t last long.

Jones took a screen shot from Michigan’s 42-yard line and found the paydirt to help the Breakers regain a 24-20 lead with the game remaining 12:12. But the Panthers wasted no time returning to the table.

Breakers, Panthers score three consecutive drives in 4th place

The New Orleans Breakers and Michigan Panthers started the fourth quarter with resounding success, scoring on three consecutive drives.

They rode Corbin into the red zone and took the second lead within five minutes as running back Cam Scarlett became the second to become the second man to dash for a TD for the Panthers in a seven-time lap that lasted two minutes 51 seconds.

Michigan is back at the top, 27-24, 9:23 left to play. Panther’s defense won’t allow another point to be scored – until the last second of regulation.

By the end of the game, Michigan had scored 11 points from games, and their total of 27 was the most the Panthers have scored in a single game all season.

The Panthers suffered yet another heartbreaking loss in a match they thought they were winning.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and podcast host.No.1 ranked show with RJ Young. “Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Youngand subscribe”The RJ Young Show“on YouTube. He’s not on StepMill.

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USFL – Breakers vs. Panthers – May 29, 2022