UFL Preview: New York Sentinels vs. California Redwoods

The second week of the inaugural UFL 2009 season will close out with a match-up between the New York Sentinels and the California Redwoods. Both teams lost their first game of the season and are looking to bounce back when they meet on the field on October 17, 2009.

The New York Sentinels have several key areas where they will need to improve on the offensive side when they take the field this Saturday. Quarterback Quinn Gray completed 41% of his passes for 161 yards with one touchdown and 1 interception.

The team's leading receiver was Craphonso Thorpe who hauled in 4 receptions for 77 yards and the lone touchdown. The Sentinels running game was practically non-existent as they gained 102 yards on 22 carries, with the leading rusher Labrandon Toefield had 34 yards on 10 carries.

The biggest area where the Sentinels need to correct going into this game centers on their defensive unit. They allowed the Florida Tuskers to rack up 393 total yards of offense and allowed former NFL quarterback Brooks Bollinger to slice up their secondary with a 75% completion rate for 222 yards and four touchdowns.

Like the Sentinels, the California Redwoods spent their downtime to improve their production on both sides of the ball. The Redwoods offense was only able to record 167 total yards of offense. Their quarterback Shane Boyd completed 9 of 22 passes for 92 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.

While the running game did score two touchdowns for them in Week 1, their leading rusher Cory Ross gained 47 yards on 16 carries, which translate to 2.9 yards every time he touched the ball. The Redwoods leading receiver was running back Joe West who hauled in 3 receptions for 37 yards.

The Redwoods defense put up little resistance to the Las Vegas Locomotives offense that was led by another former NFL quarterback JP Losman. Losman completed 21 of 31 passes for 226 yards with two touchdowns. Even more concerning for the Redwoods was that their run defense was not much better, allowing the Locomotives to rack up 138 yards on 38 carries.

When these two winless teams meet on the field on Saturday, the teams will be on a more even playing field than they were in game one.

The Redwoods have the edge when it comes to creating turnovers on the defense and will be looking for to force Quinn into making bad decision. They also have the advantage when it comes to the running but will find it difficult against the front seven of the Sentinels.

The Sentinels have a solid defensive unit and will apply pressure on Boyd with the hopes of forcing a turnover. Nathan Williams was a playmaker during the first game and will need to continue to do so against the Redwoods.

In the end the game will be decided by 3 points or less, meaning the Sentinels kicker Piotr Czech, who is 2 for 2 for field goals this season, and the Redwoods kicker Parker Douglass, who is 1 for 1 for field goals as well. You have to like the Redwoods in this game and look for them to come out with their first victory.

This game between the New York Sentinels and the California Redwoods will take place in AT&T Park in San Francisco at 6:00pm. You can either purchase tickets through www.tickets.com or catch it on HDNet at www.hd.net.

Resources: http://www.ufl-football.com/home