Sports stats



New Orleans VooDoo game notes

February 1, 2005 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
New Orleans VooDoo News Release


QUICK FACTS
New Orleans VooDoo (0-1) at Nashville Kats (1-0)
Site: Gaylord Entertainment Center (15,711)
Television: Cox Sports Television
Paul Crane, Ernie Conwell and Tim Fanguy
Radio: WWL (1350-AM)
Chris Kenyon
Coaches: NO: Mike Neu (2nd Season in New Orleans, 3rd season overall, 17-14, regular season; 1-3 playoffs);
Nash.: Pat Sperduto (4th season in Nashville and overall, 28-15, regular season; 5-3 playoffs)
Series Record: First meeting between teams

VooDoo LOOK TO EVEN RECORD IN TRIP TO NASHVILLE

The New Orleans VooDoo will look to even their record at 1-1 when they travel to Nashville to face the Kats in their season opener on Friday night at the Gaylord Entertainment Center, returning to the Arena Football League as an expansion franchise owned by Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams after a three-year hiatus. The VooDoo will be looking to rebound from a season-opening 46-44 loss to Southern Division rival Georgia Force, in a contest that was postponed a day due to severe weather in the Atlanta area. The game will mark a return to Nashville for several coaches and members of the VooDoo. Coach Mike Neu played quarterback for the Kats in 1997 and coached with the team from 1998-99. QB Andy Kelly, a former star quarterback for the University of Tennessee, quarterbacked the Kats from 1997-2001, and helped lead Nashville to consecutive ArenaBowl appearances in his final two years with the franchise.

THE LAST MEETING

This is the first meeting between the two teams.

NEXT WEEK

The VooDoo will host the San Jose SaberCats for their home opener on Sunday, February 13 at 2 p.m. The game can be seen live on NBC (WDSU-6 locally).

2005 SCHEDULE AND RESULTS

NEW ORLEANS VooDoo (0-1)
Date Opponent Time Result
Jan. 30 at Georgia 3 p.m. 44-46
Feb. 4 at Nashville 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 13 SAN JOSE 2 p.m.
Feb. 20 PHILADELPHIA 11 a.m.
Feb. 25 TAMPA BAY 7 p.m.
Mar. 5 at Dallas 7:30 p.m.
Mar. 13 ORLANDO 2 p.m.
Mar. 20 at Chicago 11 a.m.
Mar. 26 GEORGIA 7 p.m.
Apr. 1 at Austin 7:30 p.m.
Apr. 8-10 Bye Weekend
Apr. 16 COLUMBUS 7 p.m.
Apr. 23 at Grand Rapids 6:30 p.m.
Apr. 30 at Tampa Bay 6:30 p.m.
May 8 COLORADO 12 p.m.
May 14 AUSTIN 7 p.m.
May 20 at Orlando 6:30 p.m.

www.GoVooDoo.com

For updated news, press releases, statistics, rosters, players, coach and front office biographies, ticket information, merchandise, photo galleries and New Orleans VooDoo Dolls information, go to the official website of the New Orleans VooDoo, www.GoVooDoo.com. Updated daily, www.GoVooDoo.com has the most extensive information on the VooDoo and the Arena Football League.

THE COACHES

Mike Neu: The first head coach of the New Orleans VooDoo, Mike Neu is a six-year Arena Football coaching veteran.

Since being named coach of the VooDoo on June 17, 2003, Neu worked has worked tirelessly to make New Orleans a winning team. In his first season at the helm, he successfully molded a 24-man roster comprised of a mix of Arena Football League veterans and rookies, allowing the VooDoo to get off to a 7-1 start, one of the fastest starts for a firstyear AFL entry. Neu led the VooDoo to an 11-5 record, making them the only team in league history to win 11 games in their first season. The VooDoo's Southern Division title marked only the fourth time in AFL history that an expansion franchise has won their division in their first year of play. Following the season, Neu was named the Arena Football League Coach of the Year.

For his professional career, Neu has posted a 17-13 regular season record and has reached the playoffs every season as both a coach and a player in the Arena Football League. Neu came to New Orleans after serving as head coach of the Carolina Cobras. In 2002, Neu guided the Cobras to a 5-2 record on the road and their second-straight playoff berth. Carolina posted the first playoff victory in club history in 2002 as the club featured the AFL's fourth-ranked defense. As offensive coordinator with the Cobras in 2001, before being promoted to head coach prior to the team's first round playoff game, the Cobras averaged over 56 points a game (fifth in the league) and finished 7-7 (improving from a 3-13 record the year before).

Prior to coming to Carolina, Neu served as head coach and director of football operations for the Augusta Stallions of af2 in 2000. In his only season, Neu led Augusta to a 14-4 record, the American Conference title and was named the league's Coach of the Year. Augusta finished in the top four in every major offensive and defensive category. Neu started his AFL coaching career with Nashville in 1998, when he served as quarterbacks coach for the Kats and handled all play-calling responsibilities for the offense. The next year he was promoted to offensive coordinator and the Kats achieved their third consecutive playoff berth. The team also set franchise highs in six offensive categories, including scoring and total offense. Current New Orleans QB Andy Kelly, one of top quarterbacks in Arena Football League history, enjoyed a career-high passer rating of 116.4 under Neu's tutelage in 1999. Neu began his coaching career in 1994 as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Ball State.

Neu's professional playing career started with a stint with the Canadian Football League's Calgary Stampeders in 1995 before joining the Orlando Predators in 1996 and moving on to the Nashville Kats in 1997. The 1997 Nashville squad which Neu played on won an expansion record 10 games, a record which was broken by this VooDoo just this past season.

Neu played four seasons at Ball State, where he was named the MAC Most Valuable Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year as a senior in 1993. A four-year starter, Neu guided Ball State to the conference championship his final year and holds school career passing records in passing yardage, passing attempts, completions and touchdown passes. He was recently voted to the school's Athletic Hall of Fame. Neu and his wife, Charmin, have a daughter, Graycen and a son, Carson.

Pat Sperduto: Pat Sperduto joined the Tennessee Titans staff in 2001 to oversee the startup process of a new Arena Football League team to be placed in Nashville. He now returns to the sidelines as head coach of the new Nashville Kats.

Sperduto, who has assisted the Titans' coaching and scouting staffs, joined the NFL club after spending five seasons with the old Nashville Kats. He compiled a 32-18 record in three years as head coach of the previous Nashville Kats and led his team to back-to-back appearances in the ArenaBowl in 2000 and 20001.

Sperduto replaced Eddie Khayat as head coach in 1999 and posted the best record of seven Arena Football League coaches who took over new teams in 2000. Sperduto spent his first two years as defensive coordinator of the Kats and was elevated to assistant head coach in 1998.

He is a three-time ArenaBowl World Champion, winning twice as a player for the Tampa Bay Storm (1991 and ‘93) and once as an assistant coach with the Storm (1994). Sperduto began his professional career as a player with the Canadian Football League's British Columbia Lions before joining the Tampa Bay Storm in the Arena Football League from 1991-93.

He began his coaching career as an assistant with Murray State (Ky.) during the offseason in 1991, prior to taking over football operations for the American Sports Foundation of Maerata in Tolentino, Italy in 1992. He was an assistant with the Storm in 1994 and defensive coordinator and director of player personnel with the Connecticut Coyotes in 1995 before joining the Kats staff in 1997 as the defensive coordinator and player personnel director.

Sperduto played both fullback and linebacker for the University of Massachusetts at Boston, earning All-New England Conference honors form 1987-89. Sperduto and his wife, Laura, live in Brentwood, Tennessee, with daughter Roseann (6), son Cosmo (4) and daughter Sofia (2).

2004 AWARD WINNERS

Rita Benson LeBlanc.....Executive of the Year
Mike Neu...........Coach of the Year
B.J. Cohen........All-Bentley Team (NBC)
Dan Curran.......All-Arena (first team)
All-Ironman team
U.S. Army Ironman of the Month (February)
All-Bentley Team (NBC)
John Fitzgerald AFLWA Player of the Week (4/25)
Monty Montgomery Defensive Player of the Week (4/18)
Defensive Player of the Month (April)
Lamont Moore...Defensive Player of the Week (March 7)

STATISTICS

A quick look at how the New Orleans VooDoo and the Nashville Kats match up based on 2005 Arena Football League regular season statistics and league rankings.

Category New Orleans Nashville
Scoring Offense 44 (9) 47 (6)
Scoring Defense 46 (t9) 38 (t5)
Total Offense (Yds/G) 354.0 (3) 309.0 (5)
Total Defense (Yds/G) 289.0 (10) 243.0 (12)
Pass Offense (Yds/G) 352.0 (t2) 227.0 (t12)
Pass Defense (Yds/G) 248.0 (9) 236.0 (6)
Rushing Offense (Yds/G) 2.0 (15) 82.0 (1)
Rushing Defense (Yds/G) 41.0 (16) 7.0 (4)
Kickoff Returns 10.0 (14) 8.5 (15)
Field Goals 1-2 (t9) 0-0 (t14)
PAT Kicking 5-6 5-7
Sacks By (sks/yds) 0/0 (t12) 0/0 (t12)
Sacks Against (sks/yds) 1/4 (t7) 1/5 (t7)
First Downs 25 (1) 22 (5)
Penalties (#/yds) 6/31 8/60
Turnover Margin even(t5) +3 (1)
Time of Possession 34:00 37:34

THE VooDoo's RECORD WHEN?

0-0 at home
0-1 on the road
Scoring Allowing
0-9 points 0-0 0-0
10-19 points 0-0 0-0
20-29 points 0-0 0-0
30-39 points 0-0 0-0
40-49 points 0-1 0-1
50-59 points 0-0 0-0
60-69 points 0-0 0-0
70-79 points 0-0 0-0
80+ points 0-0 0-0
0-0 vs. Central Division
0-0 vs. Eastern Division
0-1 vs. Southern Division
0-0 vs. Western Division
0-0 on Thursdays
0-0 on Fridays
0-0 on Saturdays
0-1 on Sundays
0-1 in January
0-0 in February
0-0 in March
0-0 in April
0-0 in May
0-0 in games televised on NBC
0-1 in games televised on Cox Sports Television
0-0 in games not televised
0-1 when leading after the first quarter
0-0 when tied after the first quarter
0-0 when trailing after the first quarter
0-0 when leading at the half
0-0 when tied at the half
0-1 when trailing at the half
0-0 when leading after three quarters
0-0 when tied after three quarters
0-1 when trailing after three quarters
0-1 outcome 7 points or less
0-1 outcome 3 points or less
0-0 overtime games
0-1 when the VooDoo scores first
0-0 when the opponent scores first
0-1 when the VooDoo has more total offense
0-0 when the VooDoo's opponent has more total offense
0-1 when the VooDoo has more yards passing than opp.
0-0 when the VooDoo has less yards passing than opp.
0-0 when the VooDoo has same passing yards as opp.
0-0 when the VooDoo has more yards rushing than opp.
0-1 when the opp. has more yards rushing than VooDoo

2005 WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS

A listing of the weekly game award winners for 2005 VooDoo games

Offensive Player of the Game
Week 1: (at GEO): Troy Bergeron (GEO)

ADT Defensive Player of the Game
Week 1: (at GEO): Dialleo Burks (GEO)

U.S. Army Ironman of the Game
Week 1: (at GEO): Robert Thomas (GEO)

WHAT A SEASON

Sparked by a 11-5 start, the VooDoo became the first team in Arena Football League history to win 11 games in their first season, surpassing the 10-4 record by the 1997 Nashville Kats.

TOPS AT HOME

Another contributing factor for the VooDoo's 11-5 2004 record was their 7-1 home mark at the New Orleans Arena. New Orleans, the Colorado Crush and the San Jose SaberCats were tied for the best home record in the AFL.

WHAT A CROWD

Through their 8 regular season home games in 2004, the VooDoo attracted an average of 15,240 fans per game to the New Orleans Arena. New Orleans' average crowd ranked third in the AFL, led attendance figures for teams in the Southern division and is above the league's average of 12,019. The VooDoo enjoyed their two sellouts, their second being on May 30 when they attracted a standing room only crowd of 17,030 fans for the season finale with Austin Wranglers. Below are the top 10 season attendance figures.

Team Average Attendance
1. Philadelphia Soul 16,851
2. Columbus Destroyers 16,286
3. NEW ORLEANS VooDoo 15,240
4. Colorado Crush 15,233
5. Tampa Bay Storm 14,348
6. Chicago Rush 14,085
7. San Jose SaberCats 13,138
8. Orlando Predators 13,086
9. Arizona Rattlers 13,000
10. Los Angeles Avengers 12,590

WHAT A RUSH

One of the keys to the VooDoo's successful season in 2004 was having the fifth ranked rushing offense in the Arena Football League. Due to the loss of Dan Curran, FB/LB Leroy Thompson will be counted on to fill his role in the offense. With 913 career rushing yards, Thompson is the AFL's sixth leading all-time rusher, while his total of 54 rushing touchdowns is also sixth on the league's all-time list. Thompson is a 10-year Arena Football League veteran, who spent his first nine seasons with the Albany and Indiana Firebirds. An outstanding two-way player, Thompson was named the League's Ironman of the Year in 2002.

GETTING DEFENSIVE

An important reason for the VooDoo's 11-5 inaugural season was the team's ability to keep the opposition out of the end zone on the defensive end. Through 16 games, New Orleans surrendered an average of only 45.1 points per game, putting them in second place in the Arena Football League in scoring defense. In the 14 games the week prior to playing the VooDoo (not counting the inaugural season opener at the Philadelphia Soul), VooDoo opponents had averaged 55.0 points on offense and were held to an average of 45.8 points by the VooDoo defense, a difference of - 9.2 points per game.

IMPACT PLAYER

OS Aaron Bailey made an immediate impact for the VooDoo offense. Bailey, a four-year AFL veteran who came to New Orleans from San Jose after spending his first two seasons playing under Mike Neu in Carolina, is among the AFL's leading receivers. In 2004, Bailey had 91 receptions for 1364 yards with a career-high 32 touchdowns. Bailey finished the season tied for fifth in the AFL in scoring among nonkickers (204), receiving touchdowns, ranked 13th in receptions, tied for first in receiving average (15.0 - min. 80 catches), ranked sixth in receiving yards, third in all-purpose yards (2333), eighth in first downs (76) and tied for sixth in third down receptions (17). A five-year NFL veteran, Bailey played for the Indianapolis Colts from 1994-98 and is the Colts' career leader with 3,501 kickoff return yards and is tied for the team's all-time lead with two TD returns.

ANDY KELLY

QB Andy Kelly is considered one of the AFL's premier quarterbacks and was signed by the VooDoo in the team's stated offseason objective to improve their passing offense. Kelly is one of the league's all-time passing leaders. He currently holds the AFL career passing records for completions (2896), attempts (4722) and passing yards (32,389) and is second all-time in touchdown passes (627). Kelly helped engineer squads in Nashville, Dallas and Detroit to playoff berths in seven consecutive seasons from 1997-2003 and helped lead the Kats to consecutive ArenaBowl berths from 2000-01. Kelly has started 120 consecutive games, the alltime record for consecutive starts by a QB

B.J. COHEN

OL/DL B.J. Cohen's leadership and high level of performance played a key role both on the field and in the locker room for the New Orleans VooDoo in 2004. Starting all 16 games last season, Cohen recorded 26 tackles, was tied for 10th in the league with four sacks and finished third with a career-high four forced fumbles. One of the league's all-time leading pass-catchers at the tight end position, Cohen led VooDoo linemen with 10 receptions for 96 yards with two touchdowns.

VooDoo ON THE AIRWAVES

New Orleans VooDoo and Arena Football League fans will enjoy plenty of chances to watch the team both live and on various on radio and television programs throughout the 2005 season and the postseason.

Every VooDoo game will be heard on WWL-AM 870 or WSMB-AM 1350. Chris Kenyon will handle play-by-play. Selected media personalities and Saints players and coaches will serve as guest color analysts and Kenny Wilkerson will handle sideline duties. This week's game will be broadcast on WSMB. WWL will also broadcast a weekly coaches show with VooDoo head coach Mike Neu on Tuesdays from 7 - 8 p.m., with Wilkerson as the show's host.

Four of the VooDoo's regular season games are scheduled to be broadcast by NBC and will be seen locally on WDSU Channel 6. Cox Sports Television is scheduled to broadcast eight games regionally. This week's game will be broadcast live on Cox Sports Television. Paul Crane will handle playby- play, Saints TE Ernie Conwell will do color and Tim Fanguy will handle sideline duties. Selected media personalities and New Orleans Saints players and coaches will serve as guest color analysts throughout the season. Cox Sports Television will air "Inside VooDoo with Mike Neu" on a weekly basis, featuring a review of the last week's game, preview of the upcoming game and player and coach features. The half-hour show can bee seen on Friday, February 4 from 6:00-6:30 p.m. Kenyon will serve as host and Fanguy will do player features.

VooDoo-NASHVILLE CONNECTIONS

New Orleans Saints and New Orleans VooDoo Owner Tom Benson and Tennessee Titans and Nashville Kats owner Bud Adams are fellow NFL owners...Nashville Minority Owner Tim McGraw attended Northeast Louisiana University...Coach Mike Neu played QB for the Kats in 1997 and started his coaching career in Nashville in 1998 as quarterbacks coach. He spent his final season in Nashville in 1999 as offensive coordinator. Neu served on the same coaching staff with Kats coach Pat Sperduto in 1998 and served on his staff in 1999, when he was promoted to head coach. FB/LB Jason Bratton, OL/DL Aaron Hamilton, QB Andy Kelly and OL/DL Bruce McClure all played for Nashville, playing under both Neu and Sperduto. Bratton was Nashville's starting fullback from 1998-2001. Hamilton was named to the AFL's All-Rookie team with the Kats in 2000. Kelly, who prepped at Rhea County High School in Dayton, Tenn. and was the starting signal caller at Tennessee from 1989-91, helped lead the Kats to consecutive ArenaBowl berths from 2000-01...Line coach Junior Ili played for the Kats from 1997-98 and served as the line coach from 1999-2000, serving with Neu on Sperduto's staff. McClure and Nashville WR/LB Darryl Hammond, WR/DB Jarrick Hillery and QB Leon Murray were teammates with the Georgia Force. Ili and Hammond were teammates with the St. Louis Stampede from 1995-96...WR/DB Lamont Moore went to training camp with Nashville in 2000...VooDoo OS Aaron Bailey, OL/DL Tim Martin and Nashville OS Fred Coleman were teammates with the XFL Chicago Enforcers in 2001...WR/DB Jacques Rumph played WR at Carson Newman from 1996-99...DS Denario Smalls played at East Tennessee State from 1997- 2000...Kats offensive coordinator Tres Sullivan served as special teams coordinator/special teams coach in New Orleans in 2004 and served as defensive coordinator for the af2 Macon Knights, where he coached under VooDoo defensive coordinator Kevin Porter and worked with VooDoo WR/DB Jacques Rumph and Smalls...QB Billy Dicken played with Nashville OL/DL James Baron and FB/LB Levelle Brown in Chicago...Nashville DT Henry Taylor played for the VooDoo during part of the 2004 season. Martin and Taylor were teammates with the Dallas Desperados in 2003.

• Discuss this story on the Arena Football League (1987-2008) message board...

Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from February 1, 2005


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent New Orleans VooDoo Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central