In front of 30,117 home fans, the XFL Memphis Maniax turned the ball over four times (3 fumbles, 1 interception) on the way to a 25-3 beating by the Las Vegas Outlaws at Memphis’ first-ever home XFL game.
In a game dominated by the Outlaws’ (2-0, 1-0) defensive line, Memphis (1-1, 0-1) could never get its offense moving with running back Rashaan Salaam rushing for only 82 yards on 17 carries and a critical fumble at the Maniax one-yard line which was scooped up in the end-zone by Outlaws’ middle linebacker Kurt Gouveia and run back 100 yards for a touchdown.
Maniax quarterback Marcus Crandell struggled as well, completing only 9-21 passes for 134 yards, before being replaced by back-up QB Craig Whelian, who promptly threw an interception to Outlaws’ free safety Chris Bayne. Whelian finished with only 5-12 completions for 46 yards.
The Outlaws offense didn’t fair much better, collecting only 92 yards rushing and 62 yards passing. But the Outlaws were able to convert the Maniax’ turnovers. Besides the 100-yard return, Outlaws’ free-safety Jason Kaiser ran back a fumbled exchange 80 yards for a touchdown. The Outlaws were also able to score a field-goal after Whelian’s interception, which Bayne ran back for 71 yards to the Memphis 8-yard line.
“The fans have every right to be mad. I’m mad. Because that’s not acceptable,” said Maniax head coach Kippy Brown after the game.
Though frustrated with Sunday’s outcome, Brown said he wasn’t totally surprised.
“Our problems started when we came back to work on Wednesday. We didn’t have a good feel by the way we were preparing. It’s embarrassing, but there’s no excuses. This wasn’t the true Maniax team.”
The Maniax’ next game is Saturday, February 17th at the Liberty Bowl against conference foe San Francisco(1-1, 0-1), who lost in Orlando, falling to the Rage 26-14 in a game Saturday.
