2023 Houston Gamblers season

2023 Houston Gamblers season
Owner	National Spring Football League Enterprises Co, LLC, (Fox Sports)
General manager	Robert Morris
Head coach	Curtis Johnson
Home field	Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium
Results
Record	5–5
Division place	3rd in South Division
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 2023 season was the Houston Gamblers' 2nd and final season in the United States Football League and their 1st under head coach/general manager tandem of Curtis Johnson and Robert Morris.

Draft

Main article: 2023 USFL draft

2023 Houston Gamblers draft

Round	Selection	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	3	Chase Brice	Quarterback	Appalachian State
2	10	Justin Ford	Defensive end	Montana
3	18	Joseph Fisher	Offensive guard	Shepherd
4	26	Scott Matlock	Defensive tackle	Boise State
5	34	Jeffrey Johnson	Defensive tackle	Oklahoma
6	42	Keenan Issac	Defensive back	Alabama State
7	50	Alex Jensen	Offensive tackle	South Dakota
8	58	Brady Russell	Tight end	Colorado
9	66	Jason Taylor II	Safety	Oklahoma State
10	74	Colby Reeder	Linebacker	Iowa State

Personnel

Roster

2023 Houston Gamblers roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 11 Kenji Bahar  6 Montell Cozart  3 Terry Wilson Running backs (RB) 24 Benny LeMay 32 Aaron Shampklin  7 Mark Thompson Wide receivers (WR) 88 Emmanuel Butler 81 Keke Chism 17 Justin Hall 16 Tyler Palka  9 Teo Redding 21 Isaiah Zuber Tight ends (TE)  8 Brandon Barnes 86 Rodell Rahmaan 85 Josh Pederson 42 Clint Sigg

Offensive linemen (OL) 66 Nick Buchanan C 74 Avery Gennesy T 77 Tyler Higby G 78 Brandon Hitner T 52 Braylon Jones C 65 Jair Joseph G 51 Na'Ty Rodgers T 72 Jordan Steckler T Defensive linemen (DL) 92 Josh Avery DE 45 Tim Bonner DE 40 Isaiah Chambers DE 55 Jeffery Johnson DT 93 Chigozie Nnoruka DT 90 Kristjan Sokoli DT 50 Guy Thomas DE 59 Reggie Walker DE

Linebackers (LB) 15 Ronheen Bingham OLB 80 Chris Garrett OLB 30 Isaiah Pryor LB 27 Marcel Spears Jr. LB 44 Khalan Tolson LB 18 Jeremiah Tyler LB Defensive backs (DB) 20 Nick Grant CB -- Jalen Green S  2 Jeremiah Johnson S 33 Elijah Jones CB  5 Bydarrius Knighten CB 25 Dayan Lake S 40 Isaiah Lewis S 10 Malcolm Washington CB Special teams 94 Hunter Niswander P 57 Ross Reiter LS 19 Nick Vogel K

Reserve -- Julian Allen TE (Susp.) 22 Manny Bunch S (IR) 99 Damion Daniels DT (IR) 13 Andrew Galitz P (IR)  4 Shermari Jones RB (IR) -- Bamidele Olaseni T (DNR) 92 Ikenna Onwuasoanya DT (IR) 29 T. J. Pledger RB (IR)  1 Anthony Ratliff-Williams WR (IR) 38 Donald Rutledge Jr. DB (IR) 14 Andrew Soroh S (IR) Rookies in italics 49 active, 11 reserve

Staff

2023 Houston Gamblers staff

Front office General manager – Robert Morris Head coaches Head coach – Curtis Johnson Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks – Eric Price Running backs/wide receivers/offensive quality control – Garrett Chachere Special teams/tight ends – Ray Rychleski Offensive line – Andy Townsend

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/linebackers – Chris Wilson Defensive line – Kwahn Drake Defensive backs – Brett Maxie Assistant defensive backs/defensive quality control – Zach Shagi

Schedule

Regular season

Week	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Result	Record	TV	Venue	Recap
1	April 16	12:00 p.m.	vs. Michigan Panthers	L 13–29	0–1	NBC	Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium	Recap
2	April 22	12:30 p.m.	at New Orleans Breakers	L 31–38	0–2	USA	Protective Stadium	Recap
3	April 29	7:00 p.m.	vs. Memphis Showboats	W 30–26	1–2	Fox	Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium	Recap
4	May 6	1:00 p.m.	at Philadelphia Stars	W 41–16	2–2	Fox	Ford Field	Recap
5	May 13	4:00 p.m.	at Birmingham Stallions	W 27–20	3–2	Fox	Protective Stadium	Recap
6	May 21	4:00 p.m.	vs. New Jersey Generals	W 16–10	4–2	Fox	Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium	Recap
7	May 28	3:00 p.m.	at Memphis Showboats	L 20–23	4–3	USA	Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium	Recap
8	June 3	12:00 p.m.	at Pittsburgh Maulers	W 20–19	5–3	USA	Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium	Recap
9	June 11	1:00 p.m.	vs. Birmingham Stallions	L 15–38	5–4	NBC, Peacock[a]	Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium	Recap
10	June 18	1:00 p.m.	vs. New Orleans Breakers	L 10–17	5–5	FS1	Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium	Recap

Bold indicates divisional opponent.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Michigan Panthers

Week 1: Michigan Panthers at Houston Gamblers – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	6	3	7	13	29
Gamblers	6	7	0	0	13

at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium

• Date: April 16
• Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
• Referee: Derek Anderson
• TV announcers (NBC): Jac Collinsworth (play-by-play), Jason Garrett (analyst), and Corey Robinson (sideline reporter)

Game information

First quarter MICH – Marcus Baugh 22-yard pass from Josh Love (Cole Murphy kick no good), 7:55. Panthers 6–0 Drive: 7 plays, 81 yards, 3:19. HOU – T.J. Pledger 2-yard run (Nick Vogel kick no good), 0:41. Tied 6–6 Drive: 12 plays, 60 yards, 7:11. Second quarter MICH – Cole Murphy 35-yard field goal, 12:31. Panthers 9–6 Drive: 7 plays, 42 yards, 2:51. HOU – T.J. Pledger 2-yard run (Nick Vogel kick good), 8:56. Gamblers 13–9 Drive: 3 plays, 17 yards, 1:32. Third quarter MICH – Stevie Scott 1-yard run (Cole Murphy kick good), 10:28. Panthers 16–13 Drive 2 plays, 2 yards, 1:11. Fourth quarter MICH – Trey Quinn 24-yard pass from Josh Love (Cole Murphy kick no good), 8:46. Panthers 22–13 Drive: 10 plays, 70 yards, 6:03. MICH – Joe Walker 34-yard pass from Josh Love (Cole Murphy kick good), 1:44. Panthers 29–13 Drive: 7 plays, 82 yards, 3:05. Top passers MICH – Josh Love – 18/20, 215 yards, 3 TD HOU – Kenji Bahar – 13/22, 109 yards, 2 INT Top rushers MICH – Stevie Scott – 12 rushes, 61 yards, 1 TD HOU – T.J. Pledger – 16 rushes, 41 yards, 2 TD Top receivers MICH – Joe Walker – 6 receptions, 105 yards, 1 TD HOU – Josh Pederson – 2 receptions, 23 yards

The Gamblers hosted the Michigan Panthers for their season opener. The Panthers began the scoring with a Marcus Baugh 22-yard reception from Josh Love. The Gamblers responded with a long drive capped off with a 2-yard rushing touchdown from T.J. Pledger to tie the game at 6–6. The Panthers extended their lead with a 35-yard field goal from Cole Murphy before the Gamblers answered with a T.J. Pledger 2-yard rushing touchdown on the back of a muffed punt by the Panthers, closing out the first half with Houston up 13–9. The second half began with a Panthers punt before Panthers cornerback William Saba intercepted Kenji Bahar to set the Panthers up 2-yards to score, which they capitalized off of with a Stevie Scott 2-yard run to put them in lead 16–13. The third quarter ended with a Houston fumble and a Michigan punt. In the fourth quarter, the Panthers drove the ball down the field, ending with a Trey Quinn 24-yard reception to put the Panthers ahead by 22–13. With Panthers defensive end Breeland Speaks forcing a fumble in the redzone, the Panthers quickly drove 82 yards down the field to score on a Joe Walker 34-yard reception to extend the Panthers' lead to 29–13, which would be the final score.

Standings

South Division
#	view talk edit	W	L	PCT	GB	DIV	PF	PA	STK
1	(y) Birmingham Stallions	8	2	.800	-	4–2	287	196	W5
2	(x) New Orleans Breakers	7	3	.700	1	4–2	237	184	W3
3	(e) Houston Gamblers	5	5	.500	3	2–4	223	236	L2
4	(e) Memphis Showboats	5	5	.500	3	2–4	190	213	L2
(x)–clinched playoff berth; (y)–clinched division; (e)–eliminated from playoff contention

Notes

1. Game coverage started on Peacock and NBC joined the game in progress.[1]

References

1. "Due to the possibility of severe weather in Memphis, the start time for Sunday's USFL game between the @USFLGamblers and @USFLStallions at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium has been changed to 1PM ET/12PM CT. @NBCSports will start game coverage streaming on @peacock. Coverage of the Gamblers-Stallions game will switch to NBC at the conclusion of Sunday's French Open Men's Final".