Week 17 - 1983: Michigan Panthers vs Chicago Blitz

Gridiron America USFL Radio

1983 Week 17 - Sunday, June 26, 1983. Attendance: 25,041, TV: ABC.

Five of Bobby Hebert's passes fell neatly into the arms of receivers Anthony Carter, Derek Holloway and Ken Lacy as Hebert set a United States Football League record for touchdown passes in one game and increased his league lead in that department to 26. Hebert defied the heat in Soldier Field -- where the temperatures reached 99 degrees in the stands and zoomed to an estimated 134 degrees on the artificial turf -- and blistered the Chicago Blitz secondary with 12 completions in 21 attempts for 247 yards. His performance before 25,042 fans -- 7,100 above the Blitz's average home attendance -- led the Panthers to a 34-19 triumph over their Central Division rivals and pulled them into a tie with Chicago for the division lead. Each team was 11-6 with one week to go in the regular season, but Michigan would win the division in case of a tie because they won both head-to-head confrontations this season. Hebert, who opened the scoring with a 39-yard pass to Ken Lacy. His other TD passes were of 42 and 15 yards to Holloway and 35 and 32 yards to Carter, whose eight receptions for 143 yards gave him over 1,000 yards for the season.