SAN FRANCISCO -- A week ago, Mark Grieb was a student in the
Master's program at Stanford. This Sunday, he was a Las Vegas
Outlaw.
|  | | San Francisco's Terrance Joseph (29) breaks up a pass intended for Las Vegas wide receiver Mike Furrey (82) as the Demons' Dwayne Harper (24) helps out. |
Grieb, who signed with the Outlaws on Monday, threw a 41-yard
touchdown pass to Mike Furrey to lead Las Vegas to a 16-9 victory
over the San Francisco Demons.
"You can't expect to be comfortable in an offense in five
days," he said. "I just wanted to do the best I could."
Grieb, who played at California-Davis before stints in NFL Europe and
the Arena League, completed 11 of 23 passes for 105 yards and a
score in his XFL debut.
"Maybe the best you can do in this situation is not make any
mistakes," he said of his short introduction to the upstart
league.
Grieb said that before he signed he went to his professors in
the education department at Stanford and asked if he could still
complete the current quarter and play for Las Vegas. They gave him
their blessing.
Down 9-6 at the half, Grieb's long pass to Furrey put the
Outlaws (3-1) up 13-9 in the third quarter. Paul McCallum added a
43-yard field goal in the fourth.
Mike Pawlawski hit Brandin Young with a 13-yard swing pass as
the Demons (2-2) took a 6-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Pawlawski completed 25 of 35 passes for 223 yards.
It was the first touchdown that the Las Vegas defense has
allowed this season. The opposing teams scuffled briefly after the
Demons failed to convert for the extra point.
Las Vegas running back Rod Smart, known for his jersey moniker
"He Hate Me," ran 3 yards for a touchdown with just less than
four minutes before the half. The Outlaws' one-point conversion
attempt also failed.
Mike Panasuk nailed a 36-year field goal just before halftime to
put the Demons up 9-6.
San Francisco coach Jim Skipper pulled Pawlawski late in the
game and replaced him with Pat Barnes. Later he insisted there was
no quarterback controversy, he was just trying to spark the
offense.
"You're always concerned when you don't score enough points,
you know?" Skipper said. "But we're not in a state where we're
going to panic."
There was a lot of pushing and shoving among the players. San
Francisco receiver Jimmy Cunningham and Las Vegas defensive back
Kevin Scott were both penalized for their clash in the first
quarter.
The second XFL game at Pacific Bell Park -- the bayside home of
baseball's San Francisco Giants -- attracted more than 34,000 fans.
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