The 1-1 New Jersey Generals head to Detroit in week three to face the 2-0 Michigan Panthers in their home opener. In arguably the game of the week, it’ll be a battle for first place in the North Division of the USFL. Both teams are coming off two-score wins in week two, with the Generals defeating the Pittsburgh Maulers 20-3 and the Panthers handling the Philadelphia Stars 24-10. It’s also a clash of the two leading rushers of the league in Darius Victor for New Jersey and Reggie Corbin for Michigan. We should expect a tightly contested game of two playoff hopeful squads.
Generals Offense vs. Panthers Defense
The Generals had a bounce-back win against the Maulers in week two where they doubled their point total from week one. Despite a better day scoring, the offense still didn’t look as good as they did last season, but it was a step up. They improved in the red zone from week one and also ran the ball well again, going over the century mark for the second straight week. They lead the league in rushing yards so it’s clear what their plan of attack is. Still, Mike Riley continues to play both quarterbacks De’Andre Johnson and Dakota Prukop. We should expect the same this week, but with an added boost to the offense as running back Trey Williams returns after a two-week absence to start the year. His presence should help take some pressure off the Generals signal callers. New Jersey will have a tough task ahead though going up against a Michigan defense that has eight takeaways through two weeks. Priority number one for the quarterbacks should be not giving the ball away and let the run game set up play-action.
Darius Victor (@yungvitov) scores his first TD of the year down by the goal line following the takeaway by the defense. The @USFLGenerals pulling away in the 4th quarter, scoring on back-to-back offensive plays. 20-3 with less than 10 mins remaining.#USFLpic.twitter.com/j78ko8ZtjM
— Jared Shuster (@JShusterUSFL)