“We struggled as an offense, not just at the quarterback position”, Tuskers head coach Jay Gruden said.

The Tuskers offense, for the entire game, moved the ball for 179 yards and only held time of possession for 21:50.

The struggles started early with a first quarter interception by Tusker quarterback Brooks Bollinger.

The Tuskers were driving down the field when Bollinger floated a pass over the middle and threw the interception at the Sacramento 1-yardline.

The turnover didn’t lead to a Sacramento score, but killed the drive and momentum the offense could have used to get rolling in the 1^st quarter.

At the end of the first half, the score was 10-7, but the Lions surely took the momentum into the locker room.

The 3^rd quarter saw little scoring action, but the Lions were able to force a safety to keep that first half momentum rolling.

In the 4^th quarter, Bollinger was benched in favor of backup signal caller, Chris Greisen.

Even after giving up 12 points in the 4^th quarter, the Tuskers were still in position to win the game with their final possession.

Greisen who is considered by many as the best arena quarterback, struggled while taking over the Tuskers offense.

While completing 2 passes in his 5 attempts the offensive line didn’t make things easy.  Dealing with pressure from the defense and pressure from the lack of time remaining on the clock, Greisen was forced to make a throw he normally wouldn’t make and turned the ball over.

The final score was 21-17 Sacramento.

Culpepper played with high energy as he led his Mountain Lions to victory.

“All week I had a lot of flashbacks, a lot of memories of playing here” Culpepper said. “If you don’t pay attention to it, distractions can get the best of you, but being with coach [Dennis] Green and coach [Mike] Kruczek, they are on me double hard, and double time, so you can keep your emotions at bay, so you can go out and be the best player you can be.”

With the tough loss, and a record of 2-3, coach Gruden said, “it is important to get better as a team and win out the next 3 games.”

First off, tonight is the return of Daunte Culpeper. The greatest quarterback in UCF history is returning to the field where he wrote the UCF record books. Look for Culpeper to shine in his return to Orlando. The Ocala native isn’t playing just for fun, he is playing to prove he still has game. In the previous match up against the Tuskers this season, Culpeper threw for 374 yards, 3 touchdowns and a lone interception. The former NFL MVP has won much bigger games then the one he will be playing in tonight. With Randy Moss’s return to Minnesota, and Brett Favre’s lingering elbow tendonitis, I’m sure Culpeper couldn’t dream up a better scenario for a return to the NFL.

On the Tuskers side of the offense, once again we ask the question, who is going to step up at running back? It seems like Dominic Rhodes has solidified him self as the go to back, but can he stay consistent? In week 4, Rhodes broke the 100-yard mark for the first time this season. Another 100-yard game this week, in the pass happy league the UFL has become, is something you should not expect, but do look for the majority of the carries to come from the former Super Bowl champion Dominic Rhodes.

The third and final thing to look out for tonight, and the one that will most likely be the Tuskers key to victory, is will their veteran quarterback Brooks Bollinger have a bounce back performance after the bye week last week? In week 4, Bollinger struggled completing just 45.5% of his passes. Along with his season low completion percentage he also threw for a season low, 155 yards. Keep an eye on his performance tonight. The quarterback is hard to miss.

But tomorrow night, the Central Florida area will be doing something it is not used to, cheering against their beloved quarterback of the 90s. The Florida Tuskers (2-2) come into the game at a crossroads in the middle of their season, trying to find same type of stability they had last year that won them all of their regular season games. The Mountain Lions (1-3) are clinging to life, coming off a game where Culpepper committed five turnovers in a 26-3 loss against the resurgent Las Vegas Locomotives. If Florida wins, they will be above .500, in the thick of the playoff hunt, and poised to make a run for “The Championship”. If they lose, they will fall to 2-3 and worse be tied with the Mountain Lions, with Sacramento holding the tiebreaker advantage due to Florida already losing the first matchup between the two just a couple of weeks ago.

A big thing besides the game that is still very important to the team’s success is the attendance numbers. How much will Culpepper’s return impact the ticket sales of tomorrow night’s game? After a dismal outing (tickets distributed was around 9,000 the first home game), how many people will the former UCF star attract? Tomorrow night will give us a good glimpse of how the Tuskers organization is gaining or failing to gain the attention of the central Florida market.

Kickoff is set at 7:30 at the Citrus Bowl in downtown Orlando.

The announced attendance was 9,050 (give or take a few hundred). The average attendance at the Citrus Bowl last year for Tuskers games was 11,586, including a game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. After all the hype of a bigger, better, and more experienced version of the UFL in Orlando, it seemed to fall a little flat. There was just something missing, something that could have easily been made up if there were more fans in the seats.

It’s not like fans have anything to complain about. On the field, the Tuskers have arguably the best run football operations in the league. With the highest rated quarterback in the UFL, an inventive head coach, a solid defense, and championship aspirations, on-field performance is not a problem for Florida. It seems the team is suffering from a sophomore slump in terms of getting new fans to the stadium. I went around the stadium to find out different people’s opinions about the Tuskers and their experience at the game.  Here are the opinions I found:

Greg Reid, Fan, on the atmosphere of Tusker football: “I Love the atmosphere here, it’s certainly nice to get my family out to a professional- style game in Orlando. I’m trying to take advantage of having a UFL team here, it’s a nice price point and it’s something I can bring my kids to.”

In terms of enjoyment and success of the organization based on the in-game opinions and operations, it was a success. They have brought a team and a game to Orlando that has a family-friendly feel to it to which people have reacted positively to. Going through the stands you saw a diverse crown, from dads bringing their sons to enjoy NFL-style football to the loud college students to couples on a date. Now it’s just getting more people in the stands.

Tusker salesman, on the sales of merchandise:”We feel like we did well on our first day, obviously it’s the first game so there we be a bump, but we still have a lot of product to move.”

The big question is, can a market like Orlando sustain a UFL team? It’s hard to base off of three home game played at the Citrus Bowl , but other teams in the league like Omaha and Sacramento got 20,000 fans at each of their first home games. Averaging around 10,000 a game won’t cut it. 20,000 fans is something the Tuskers should aim for, and try to accomplish soon. The organization has a long way to go if it hopes to create a niche in Orlando, but it has a good start.

Q: In a tough game like this, getting sacked quite a few times has to be rough, what went wrong between you and your offensive line tonight?

A: It was a combination of things, some of them were on me, some of them were on guys getting beat, some the defense just got us. I give their defense credit they gave us a couple tough looks early, took a few sacks and a couple of them I have to just find a way to get rid of.

Q: Do you feel you might be holding the ball too long?

A: No, I mean they all [sacks] happened pretty quick.  You could put a stop watch on most of them, they happened pretty quick.  But before tonight, through two games we might have had three sacks, so no need to panic, they got us a few times and we just need to fix it.

Q: You and Cortez Hankton seem to have some good chemistry being the league leaders in passer to receiver, talk about the bond you guys are forming?

A: We were both in Minnesota together a few years ago in training camp, and he is a good football player. He makes my job easy, makes a lot of plays. I like throwing to him.

Q: Do you find it difficult having two different running backs in the backfield who split carries?

A: No, I think that’s the norm, you see it through the NFL now, that’s what people are doing to keep guys fresh. Its alright, they are pretty similar and can do the same things well I think they are both good players.

Q: Coming up in practice next week, what kind of things do you think you will be working on to better your self and your offense?

A: We just got to find a way to be more consistent, we got to stay on the field on third downs and find ways to make plays on third down. To me we just got to look at the tape and see what we need to do better, and go work on it.

No, that’s not deja vu.  Like last year’s championship game, the Locos bested the Tuskers with a late field goal. Truth be told, the Locos dominated the entire game from start to finish.  Still, going into halftime, the Tuskers were very much alive.

“We were lucky…to end the half at 10-10,” said Tuskers Head Coach Jay Gruden. “We could have just as easily been down 21-0, 21-3.”

Gruden was spot-on in his analysis.  The Tuskers came out flat.  The team has struggled with slow starts this season.  Against a good team like the Locos, that can be a death sentence.

For more on the first half, see the halftime report.

The second half was more of the first until late in the fourth quarter.  Brooks Bollinger found Cortez Hankton for a 13-yard score with just over six minutes left.  Las Vegas responded immediately with a long drive to tie the game.  The drive seemed to deflate the Tuskers, leading to a three-and-out.  Las Vegas drove down the field again, eating up clock before kicking the final field goal.

The first quarter was not kind to the Tuskers.  Their offensive line can’t seem to protect Bollinger at all.  He was forced to scramble once and sacked on the only drive.  The running game also struggled to generate momentum, killing the drive.

Things did not go much better for the defense.  After the Tuskers forced a missed field goal on the first drive, the Locos took control of the game.  Tim Rattay threw all over the field, completing 8 of 8 attempts for 143 yards.  The big play came when Sammie Parker slipped behind the coverage for a 68-yard score.

The second quarter started off as more of the same, with Las Vegas controlling the game. DeDe Dorsey took a screen pass 59 yards, deep into Tusker territory.  The Tuskers were able to hold the Locos to a field goal, but the 10-0 deficit signaled trouble for the Tuskers.

After another stalled drive, the Tuskers looked lost.  Everything changed when Simeon Castille leaped in front of a Tim Rattay pass for a big interception, giving the Tuskers the ball at the Locos 43.  The Tuskers only managed a field goal, but the momentum shift was clear.  A huge 47-yard punt return by Aveion Cason set the table for 15-yard touchdown run.  The Locos were unable to put anything together before the close of the half.

1.  The Rivalry Continues:

This is going to be the 5th time these two teams are meeting with in the past 12 months. With the Tuskers 3-1 all time against the Loco’s, these two teams know each other better then any other teams do in the league.  Last seasons championship game featured these two teams. The Loco’s came away with the win in the championship, but are 0-3 against the Tuskers in the regular season.

2. Brooks Bollinger:

Last seasons UFL MVP is currently the leader for most 300 yard passing games with five. Four of his five 300 yard passing games have come against the Loco’s.  Bollinger’s favorite receiver so far has been Cortez Hankton, who leads the league in receiving. Look out to see if both of their success continues tonight.

3. Running Back Situation:

Which one of the two featured backs will emerge?  Dominic Rhodes and Aveion Cason have been splitting carries so far this season.  In the opener, Cason rushed 13 times for 55 yards as the lead rusher, and in week 2 Rhodes had 13 carries for 51 yards and a touchdown as the lead rusher.  Neither back has been able to establish them self as the primary ball carrier yet. Look to see who will be the leading rusher this week.