World Bowl XXIX was played in San Antonio, the first time that city has hosted a World Bowl and 50,000 people saw Pittsburgh maul the Outlaws to capture their first USFL Championship. Oklahoma had an excellent season defensing last year's championship, finishing the regular season 14-1-1 and earning the top seed in the playoffs. The Outlaws held their own in the box score, gaining 372 yards on offense and holding the ball over 38 minutes, to go with 3 red zone trips and a better 3rd down conversion rate. Oklahoma even had 3 fewer penalties than Pittsburgh, yet they lost the game by three touchdowns. How? The short answer is turnovers, as Raymond Settles threw 3 interceptions to just 1 for World Bowl MVP Brian White. The long answer follows:
Pittsburgh Maulers 31 Oklahoma Outlaws 10
Pittsburgh got the ball first and they punted on their first two drives, while Oklahoma punted on their first drive as well. The Outlaws second drive began at their own 5 yard line but Raymond Settles got the Outlaws out of the hole with a 76 yard pass to Arthur Reina. He didn't make it to the end zone though, getting tackled at the 20 and the drive stalled after a failed 4th and 1 at the 10. The Maulers took over but Brian White was intercepted near midfield and the first quarter ended 0-0.
Oklahoma did nothing with Brian White's gift and they had to punt, which was a touchback. Taking over at their 20, White would find Agustin Fiecke for an 80 yard TD and a 7-0 Pittsburgh lead. Following an exchange of punts, Settles drove Oklahoma into scoring range and cashed in the TD with a 1 yard pass to Kenneth Porter, with the XP tying the game at 7. It took just 5 plays for Brian White to answer with the go ahead TD, finding Scott Peachey for the 38 yard score. Raymond Settles promptly threw an interception which led to a Pittsburgh FG, extending their lead to 17-7. The Maulers defense then forced a three and out and the Maulers offense got the ball at their own 23 after the punt, with 1:21 left before halftime. The Maulers might have been content to run out the clock but Larry Martinez ran for 17 yards on 1st down and a couple plays later, Brian White threw his 3rd TD of the first half. This 47 yard TD went to Frederick Sharp, who caught the ball despite being interfered with, then raced to the end zone to give Pittsburgh a 24-7 halftime lead.
The Outlaws got the ball to start the second half and a TD would get them right back in the game, but the Maulers defense had other ideas, intercepting Settles instead. Pittsburgh did nothing and punted, with Oklahoma's Ricardo Horton fumbling the punt. Luckily for the Outlaws, Horton recovered his own fumble. Not much else happened in the quarter and we headed into the 4th with the same 24-7 score.
Oklahoma was driving and had made it into the red zone when the 3rd quarter ended, but they couldn't put the ball in the end zone, instead settling for a 25 yard FG to pull within 24-10. The Outlaws defense then forced a punt, but that left the offense pinned at their own 5. A few plays later, Settles threw his 3rd INT of the game, and Quentin Blandon returned it to the Oklahoma 9. Three plays later, White threw a 7 yard TD pass to Agustin Fiecke, White's 4th of the game and 2nd to Fiecke. The XP made the score 31-10 with 5:37 to play, and the game was essentially in the bag at this point. The rest of the drives ended in a punt or with the clock hitting 0:00 and the Pittsburgh Maulers are USFL Champs.
Oklahoma was led by Raymond Settles, who threw for 251 yards and a TD (3 INTs too), completing 30/40 passes. Arthur Reina caught 6 passes for 132 yards while Paul Wicklund had 119 combined yards. Pittsburgh was led by World Bowl MVP Brian White, who completed 15/31 for 251 yards, 4 TDs and 1 INT. White's favorite target was Agustin Fiecke, who caught 4 passes for 99 yards and 2 TDs.
