1984: Fred Besana Sets Mark as Invaders Defeat Bulls

QB Fred Besana had been a major find by the Oakland Invaders in the inaugural United States Football League season. After failing to catch on in the NFL and playing in the semi-pro California Football League with the Twin City Cougars from 1980-82, the University of California product joined the USFL at age 29. Besana had an outstanding year in ’83 as he placed second in the league passing standings and led in completions (345), completion percentage (62.7), and yards (3980). The Invaders won the Pacific Division, albeit with a 9-9 record.

1984 had proven to be a more difficult year for Besana and the Invaders. The club lost its first nine games and had problems putting points on the board – the Invaders were shut out three times during the streak, and scored fewer than 10 points in five contests. Besana suffered from nagging injuries – not helped by a lack of mobility and an offensive line that allowed a league-leading 69 sacks during the year. He also was missing two favorite receivers from 1983 in TE Raymond Chester, who retired, and WR Wyatt Henderson, who was lost in the expansion draft.

However, after finally breaking into the win column, Oakland proceeded to win five straight games to creep back into the postseason picture in a weak division. Besana was part of the turnaround, as he demonstrated to good effect on June 2 as the Invaders hosted the expansion Jacksonville Bulls at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (the Bulls, one of six expansion teams in ’84, were the club that had claimed Henderson).

Besana, who had completed his last two passes in the previous week’s win over Oklahoma, proceeded to complete his first 17 passes against the Bulls for a USFL-record 19 straight. However, it didn’t translate into many points as Oakland scored just one TD on a five-yard pass from Besana to TE Brian Williams. Sandwiched between field goals of 21 and 32 yards by Jacksonville’s Brian Franco, it was good enough for a 7-6 halftime lead.

The Invaders finally pulled out the win with a 10-point fourth quarter that included a 37-yard field goal by Kevin Shea and three-yard touchdown run by FB Tom Newton. The Bulls scored a late TD on a two-yard pass by QB Robbie Mahfouz to WR Alton Alexis (followed by a failed two-point conversion attempt). It was too little, too late as Oakland eked out a sixth straight win by a 17-12 margin.

Thanks to the passing streak to start the game, Besana ended up with an 82.8 completion percentage (24 of 29 passes) for 214 yards with a TD and no interceptions. Brian Williams was the club’s top receiver with 8 catches for 88 yards and the one score. The Invaders outrushed the Bulls, 119 yards to 75, with Tom Newton the leading ground gainer at 72 yards on 10 carries.

As was usual during the year, the Bulls split the quarterback duties between veteran Matt Robinson (14 of 24 for 112 yards with two interceptions and no TDs) and Mahfouz (9 of 14 for 89 yards with a TD and none picked off). RB Larry Mason was the leading rusher with 45 yards on 8 attempts. Both WR Aubrey Matthews and TE Robert Young caught 6 passes, with Matthews gaining the most yards (65). In his Oakland homecoming, Wyatt Henderson had two catches for 22 yards.

While the Invaders outgained the Bulls and benefited from Besana’s accuracy, they also handicapped themselves by committing 11 penalties (for a total of 85 yards) as opposed to just two by the visitors. However, while Besana was sacked three times, the Oakland defense managed to sack the Jacksonville quarterbacks a total of seven times (DE Monte Bennett led with two).

The Invaders ultimately won seven straight games before losing the final two contests and finishing at the bottom of the Pacific Division with a 7-11 record. Jacksonville ended up last in the Southern Division with a 6-12 tally.

Fred Besana ranked far lower in the USFL’s passing standings for the ’84 season, coming in at 11th. His yards-per-attempt (6.3) were nearly a yard below his ’83 figure (7.2), but he still completed a healthy 57.6 percent of his passes and threw for more touchdowns (14) than interceptions (12).

1983: Stallions Defeat Invaders in 1st USFL Overtime Game

On March 13, 1983 the Oakland Invaders hosted the Birmingham Stallions at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in the second week of the young USFL’s season. It was the home opener for the Invaders, who had won at Arizona the previous week, while Birmingham lost a close contest at home to the Michigan Panthers.

With a crowd of 47,344 in attendance, the Invaders recorded the only score of the first half on a one-yard run by FB Ted Torosian. However, the Stallions took a 14-7 lead with two third quarter touchdowns, a 46-yard pass play from QB Reggie Collier to WR Ron Frederick and a one-yard run by RB Ken Talton.

Oakland QB Fred Besana (pictured above) threw a 26-yard TD pass to WR Wyatt Henderson to tie the score. Invader PK Kevin Shea missed a field goal that could have won the game in regulation, and for the first time in the USFL’s young history, the game went into overtime.

Birmingham QB Bob Lane, who relieved Collier, led a 48-yard scoring drive in the “sudden death” period, plunging over from a yard out for the winning touchdown and a final score of 20-14. The key play had been a pass from Lane to RB Earl Gant that surprised the Invaders defense on third-and-one at the Oakland 28 yard line and covered 25 yards for a first-and-goal at the three.

The placekicker, Shea, was the goat for Oakland as he missed all four of his field goal attempts, including the one that would have won the game in the fourth quarter plus another in overtime. Wasted was a 19-of-30, 270-yard passing performance by Besana, the surprising star who had played behind Steve Bartkowski in college at California but, after failing to latch on in the NFL, had lately been playing semi-pro football for the Twin Cities Cougars of the California Football League.

Oakland won the statistical battle, with 127 rushing and 222 net passing yards to 92 and 188 yards, respectively, for the Stallions. Torosian was the leading rusher for the Invaders, with 48 yards on 12 carries, with HB Arthur Whittington, an ex-Raider, right behind at 41 yards on 13 attempts. Wyatt Henderson had the most receptions, with 5 (for 73 yards), while 34-year-old TE Raymond Chester, another ex-Raider, accumulated the most receiving yards with 78 on four catches.


Between them, quarterbacks Collier and Lane completed 11 of 24 passes for 197 yards with Collier’s TD pass and two interceptions tossed by Lane. Ken Talton led the Stallions in rushing with 44 yards on 18 carries. Ron Frederick, Earl Gant (pictured at left), and WR Greg Anderson all caught three passes apiece, with Frederick’s 80 yards leading the club.

Both teams went on to compile 9-9 records, which was good enough to win the weak Pacific Division title for the Invaders while the Stallions finished at the bottom of the Central Division.

Fred Besana was one of the league’s top passers, leading the USFL in completions (345), completion percentage (62.7), and yards (3980). Not a mobile quarterback, he was also sacked the most times (71) – in the game against Birmingham, he was hauled down six times, with a resulting loss of 46 yards. He wasn’t helped by the generally poor play by the offensive line.

The two ex-Oakland Raiders, Arthur Whittington and Raymond Chester, had solid years. Whittington led the club with 1043 rushing yards and caught 66 passes. Chester was the top receiver with 68 catches in his final pro season.

Despite the dreadful placekicking performance against the Stallions, Kevin Shea completed the season and put up respectable numbers with 19 field goals out of 32 attempts that included 12 of 17 from inside the 40.

Birmingham’s two rookie quarterbacks went through their share of growing pains. Reggie Collier, the more heralded of the two coming out of Southern Mississippi, suffered through an injury-plagued season. Lane, from Northeast Louisiana, saw the most action. As he did in this game, Ken Talton led the Stallions in rushing with 907 yards; Earl Gant was second with 530.

For the Stallions, the overtime win was the first of two during the ’83 season – they would not play in any more during the remaining two years of the franchise’s existence. Oakland would appear in two more – one of which, in 1985, ended up being the only tie game in USFL history.