UFL Football: Florida Tuskers vs. Las Vegas Locomotives Preview

One thing that's cool about the UFL? Two weeks into the inaugural UFL season and we are looking at a potential championship game preview. This Wednesday night, the Florida Tuskers (1-0) travel to Las Vegas to face off against the Locomotives (1-0). Kickoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. and the game can be seen live on Versus.

In the official UFL debut, the Las Vegas Locos defeated the California Redwoods 30-17. Las Vegas quarterback J.P Losman faced constant pressure in the early stages of the game, which must have taken him back to his days playing for the Buffalo Bills. Losman eventually got into a decent rhythm and finished with 226 yards and 2 TD (completing 21 of 31 attempts).

While he was second in rushing stats for the Locos, it was DeDe Dorsey who, along with Losman, carried the Locos offensively. Dorsey had 63 yards and a touchdown on nine carries, along with four receptions for 19 yards and a TD.

The Las Vegas defense only gave up three points in the second half and held California quarterback Shane (don't call me "Sam") Boyd in check. Boyd did make history, scoring the first touchdown in the history of the UFL on a five-yard QB keeper. Boyd would go on to only complete nine of 22 pass attempts for 92 yards. The Las Vegas pass rush wasn't anything special, however, as they only got to Boyd once during the UFL debut.

After one game, you can assume that the California rushing attack isn't very good or the Las Vegas Locos will be very hard to run against. In the Locos-Redwoods UFL debut, Las Vegas held the Redwoods to 2.8 yards per carry (81 total yards on 29 rushing attempts).

One thing the Locos must improve upon is holding onto the football. Both Losman and running back Marcel Shipp both lost fumbles in the UFL debut.

After a slow start, the Florida Tuskers looked to be a UFL championship caliber squad. The Tuskers went down 10-0 in the first half and then outscored the New York Sentinels 35-3 in the remainder of the football game.

The offensive MVP for the Tuskers in their 35-13 victory over the Sentinels was definitely quarterback Brooks Bollinger. Bollinger was intercepted once but he also completed 20 of 26 pass attempts for 225 yards and four touchdowns. Bollinger wasn't alone, however, as the Tuskers have a trio of running backs that, albeit don't resemble the Earth, Wind and Fire backfield of the 2008 New York Giants, are a formidable foe for any UFL defense. Tatum Bell finished with 70 yards and a touchdown on 15 rushing attempts, Michael Pittman contributed 48 yards on eight carries and Shaud Williams carried the ball eight times for 45 yards.

One thing I'd worry about if I was a Florida Tuskers fan? The 35-13 Florida win in their UFL debut was just as much due to a bad New York performance during the second half as much as it was Florida being the better football team. Las Vegas has a better offense than New York and the Tuskers will need more of a pass rush in order to disrupt Las Vegas QB J.P. Losman.

Prediction: I'll be honest. I did not see the entire Florida-New York game as I checked it out on replay. What can I say? Planning for a wedding that's coming up in 3.5 weeks is taking up more of my time that I'd like.

The Las Vegas pass defense was unimpressive for much of their first UFL game and Brooks Bollinger looked like a guy that could be starting over Tony Romo in Dallas (I said it). Florida will be just a little too much offensively for Las Vegas and the Tuskers will become the first 2-0 team in UFL history.

Florida 27, Las Vegas 16