The second game of the United Football League Premiere Season featured the New York Sentinels taking on the Florida Tuskers in their home opener. The Tuskers were viewed as the dominant team in the league in the preseason but the Sentinels jumped out to a 10 to 0 lead, which looked like it was going to become a 17 to 0 lead until suddenly all of the momentum left the Sentinels. Since that time the Tuskers have moved to 4-0, looking unstoppable minus their second game against the Locos, while the Sentinels have remained winless.

Thursday night is the first ever UFL game in Hartford and the Sentinels will be looking for their first win.

The Tuskers

Brooks Bollinger leads the league in passing and he leads the MVP discussion. It helps that he has weapons such as Taye Biddle, Tatum Bell, and Jermaine Wiggins surrounding him. Keary Colbert will be looking to make his first true UFL impact against the Sentinels as the team seeks to replace Chas Gessner.

The Tuskers will likely avoid showcasing too many unique plays during the game against the Sentinels as the competition should not prove too tough and the team should be focused on the Championship Game now that they have secured a bid. I look for the Tuskers to play it safe and keep their playbook conservative – in other words, look for conservative passes and a lot of running – in an effort to limit game tape.

Dexter Jackson will likely miss another game – but the secondary won’t miss a beat. Fakhir Brown, Ricky Manning, Jr, and the others have effectively limited the passing game of opposing teams. Considering the struggles of the Sentinels passing game that trend should continue.

The Sentinels

Ingle Martin doesn’t look to be a long term answer for the Sentinels and one has to wonder why he started in the first place. Quinn Gray was benched coming off of his best game of the season. We assume that Martin will start again – but who knows. If I were the Sentinels I’d give rookie CJ Bacher a chance over Martin, he brings an element of gunslinging and scrambling to the field. Gray, however, is the third leading passer in the league and probably deserves to play.

The Sentinels continue to show an inability to run consistently – but the Locos and DeDe Dorsey showed that the Tuskers can give up yards on the ground. LaBrandon Toefield will need to have a big game for the Sents to have a chance. I would encourage Coach Ted Cottrell to stick with the running game for longer this week than he has in previous weeks.

Darien Williams has had a quietly superb season for the Sentinels and is tied for second in the league for tackles. He will need to have a big game if the Sents hope to limit the Tuskers offense. Another surprise has been the play of Paul Pratt, who had the first pick in UFL history. Pratt has been a solid member of the Sentinels secondary thus far, a remarkable achievement for a player signed off of an open tryout.

The Outcome

The Tuskers will roll 35-10. I hope I am wrong and the game is competitive. Hell, I hope the Sentinels win. Coach Ted Cottrell loves football and deserves to stick around as Coach. The Tuskers have looked too dominant to pick against quite yet.

Hartford fans, buy tickets here: http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1D0042F488A31AF0