Week 1, September 4th, 1988, Houston Oilers @ Indianapolis Colts

Sunday, September 4th, 1988 4:00PM
Houston Oilers (0-0) @ Indianapolis Colts (0-0)
Hoosier Dome
Weather: Dome
Line: Indianapolis -3 (indianapolis), O/U 41 (over)

Attendance:  57,251 (60,127)

Houston 14, Indianapolis 30

Indianapolis brought about the start of the 1988 season in style with a convincing win over another serious AFC competitor.

After holding the Colts to punt on the opening drive, the Oilers had a nice 12 play drive going at the Colt 33, when Warren Moon (16-33 176 Yds 1 TD, 3 Int 36.9 rating) threw the 1st of his 3 interceptions on the day to Safety Mike Prior.  The Colts never looked back.  The next play was Eric Dickerson's long run on the day of 33 yards, followed by a 14 yard run.  After two pass completions to Pat Beach and Bill Brooks, Dickerson ran the ball into the endzone from 8 yards out, capping a 5 play drive, spanning 80 yards iin only 1:57.   Dickerson was clutch all game for the Colts, breaking through the line every time he was needed and gaining 173 all-purpose yards in the process. 

The next Colts drive  had the same results, 6 plays, 80 yards (15 on penalty), capped by a 45 yard touchdown pass from Gary Hogeboom (15-23 169 Yds 2 TDs, 1 Int) to Bill Brooks (4-97, 2 TD) as time expired for the 1st quarter.  This drive took 2:07.  Despite dominating play,the Colts possessed the ball for only 23 minutes compared to the Oilers' 37.  The Colts were also out-gained by the Oiler offense 361-337.

Thanks to 2 catches for 43 yards from Ernest Givins (6-91), the Alonzo Highsmith caught a 5 yard touchdown pass from Warren Moon to bring the Oilers within a touchdown 14-7, but that was the closest the game would get.

The game would get out of hand on just a few plays late in the final 2:58 of the 2nd quarter.  Alonzo Highsmith fumbled a handoff and Linebacker Duane Bickettt jumped on the ball to give the Colts a drive start at the Oiler 13.  Albert Bentley ran the ball in on the 1st play to make the score 21-7.  Lorenzo White fumbled the kickoff following Bentley's touchdown and the Colts again recovered the Oiler miscue.to set up a 30 yard Dean Biasucci Field Goal to make the game 24-7 Colts at the half.  17 Points on 4 Oiler turnovers was the big difference in the 1st half.

Drew Hill had a decent day receiving for the Oilers with 6 receptions for 58 yards

Houston QB Warren Moon had a difficult opening day, throwing 3 Interceptions

The Oilers would get into Colts territory on their 1st 4 drives of the 2nd half, but just could not get over the hump this afternoon.  They would suffer a Warren Moon interception, a punt, and 2 failed 4th down conversions.  The 1st missed 4th down conversion gave the Colts the ball at their own 46.  They would again gain yardage quickly, again aided by a 15 yard Oiler penalty.  Bill Brooks caught his 2nd touchdown of the game, a 23 yarder from Gary Hogeboom.  Biasucci's kick was blocked keeping the score at 30-7.

The Oilers were able to make the score look better and gain some pride by scoring a touchdown, a run by Allen Pinkett to arrive at the final score of 30-14.

Player of the Game

Eric Dickerson - Colts

Eric Dickerson led the way for the Colts, gaining 141 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries and also added 5 receptions for 32 yards

1988 Houston 14, 1988 Indianapolis 30
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	OT	Total
1988 Houston	0	7	0	7	0	14
1988 Indianapolis	14	10	6	0	0	30

Scoring Plays
Qtr	Clock	Poss	Scoring Description(Extra Point)	Score
1	5:24	1988 Indianapolis	E.Dickerson 8 yd. run (D.Biasucci kick)	7-0 INA
1	0:00	1988 Indianapolis	B.Brooks 45 yd. pass from G.Hogeboom (D.Biasucci kick)	14-0 INA
2	9:38	1988 Houston	A.Highsmith 5 yd. pass from W.Moon (T.Zendejas kick)	14-7 INA
2	2:44	1988 Indianapolis	A.Bentley 18 yd. run (D.Biasucci kick)	21-7 INA
2	1:15	1988 Indianapolis	D.Biasucci 29 yd. field goal	24-7 INA
3	1:32	1988 Indianapolis	B.Brooks 23 yd. pass from G.Hogeboom (kick blocked)	30-7 INA
4	0:15	1988 Houston	A.Pinkett 1 yd. run (T.Zendejas kick)	30-14 INA

Team Statistics
	1988 Houston	1988 Indianapolis
First Downs by Rush-Pass-Pen-Total	11-9-0-20	10-5-2-17
Third Down Efficiency	7-18-39%	1-8-13%
Fourth Down Efficiency	3-5-60%	0-0-0%
Red Zone Efficiency (pts-poss-pct)	14-14-100%	17-21-81%
Total Offense-Plays-Avg Yards Per Play	361-82-4.4	337-47-7.2
Total Net Yards Rushing	205	168
Total Rushes	44	24
Average Per Rush	4.7	7.0
Passes Completed/Attempted	16/36 (44.4%)	15/23 (65.2%)
Net Yards Passing	156	169
Avg Yards Per Pass	4.9	7.3
Sacked/Yards Lost	2/20	0/0
Punts/Average	5/39.2	5/53.4
Punts Received/Return Yardage	2/26	3/9
Kickoffs/Returns	4/65	3/48
Interceptions/Returns	1/1	3/48
Penalties/Yards	7/80	4/20
Total Fumbles/Fumbles Lost	2/2	1/1
Time of Possession	37 mins 38 secs	22 mins 22 secs
Average Drive Start	HOA 25	INA 33

Passing Stats
	Att	Comp	Yds	Comp %	Yds/Att	TD	TD %	INT	INT %	Long	Sack	Rating
1988 Houston
Warren Moon	33	16	176	48.5	5.3	1	3.0	3	9.1	28	2/20	36.9
Brent Pease	3	0	0	0.0	.0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	39.6
1988 Indianapolis
Gary Hogeboom	23	15	169	65.2	7.3	2	8.7	1	4.3	45	0/0	97.9

Rushing Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv	Fumbles/Lost
1988 Houston
Lorenzo White	16	86	5.4	15	0	0	0/0
Mike Rozier	12	33	2.8	7	0	0	0/0
Alonzo Highsmith	8	59	7.4	15	0	0	1/1
Allen Pinkett	7	25	3.6	14	1	0	0/0
Warren Moon	1	2	2.0	2	0	0	0/0
1988 Indianapolis
Eric Dickerson	19	141	7.4	33	1	0	0/0
Albert Bentley	5	27	5.4	18	1	0	0/0

Receiving Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv
1988 Houston
Drew Hill	6	58	9.7	16	0	0
Ernest Givins	6	91	15.2	28	0	0
Alonzo Highsmith	3	15	5.0	5	1	0
Allen Pinkett	1	12	12.0	12	0	0
1988 Indianapolis
Eric Dickerson	5	32	6.4	11	0	0
Bill Brooks	4	97	24.3	45	2	0
Pat Beach	2	14	7.0	8	0	0
Clarence Verdin	2	9	4.5	5	0	0
Mark Boyer	1	10	10.0	10	0	0
Matt Bouza	1	7	7.0	7	0	0

Field Goals
	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	Totals	% Made
1988 Houston
1988 Indianapolis
Dean Biasucci	0/0	1/1	0/0	0/0	0/1	1/2	50.0

Punting
	No	Avg	Net	Tb	Inside 20	Long	Blocked
1988 Houston
Greg Montgomery	5	39.2	37.4	0	4	46	0
1988 Indianapolis
Rohn Stark	5	53.4	40.2	2	1	69	0

Kickoff Returns
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 Houston
Leonard Harris	2	35	17.5	18	0
Lorenzo White	2	30	15.0	20	0
1988 Indianapolis
Albert Bentley	3	48	16.0	18	0

Punt Returns
	Ret	FC	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 Houston
Kenny Johnson	2	0	26	13.0	14	0
1988 Indianapolis
Clarence Verdin	3	0	9	3.0	7	0

Individual Defense
	Tackles	Sacks	Fum Rec
1988 Houston
Patrick Allen	9	0	0
Al Smith	5	0	0
Keith Bostic	4	0	0
John Grimsley	4	0	0
Robert Lyles	3	0	0
William Fuller	2	0	0
Richard J. Johnson	2	0	0
Ray Childress	2	0	0
Steve Brown	1	0	0
Johnny Meads	1	0	0
Jeff Donaldson	1	0	0
Doug A. Smith	1	0	0
Bruce Matthews	0	0	1
1988 Indianapolis
Eugene Daniel	9	0	0
Duane Bickett	8	0	1
Mike Prior	8	0	0
O'Brien Alston	5	0	0
Fredd Young	5	0	1
Willie Tullis	4	0	0
Barry Krauss	4	0	0
Joe Klecko	3	0	0
John Holt	3	0	0
Craig Swoope	3	1	0
Cliff Odom	2	0	0
Donnell Thompson	2	0	0
Harvey Armstrong	1	0	0
Michael Ball	1	0	0
Ezra Johnson	1	0	0
Jon Hand	1	1	0

Interceptions
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 Houston
Patrick Allen	1	1	1.0	1	0
1988 Indianapolis
Mike Prior	2	25	12.5	15	0
Craig Swoope	1	23	23.0	23	0

Game Story

Eric Dickerson led the way to victory as Indianapolis bested Houston by the score of 30 to 14. Dickerson carried for 141 yards and added a touchdown. Indianapolis got ahead early outscoring Houston 14 to 0 in the first quarter. They were ahead at halftime 24 to 7. Despite the loss, Houston controlled the ball for 37:38.