Grieb guides Outlaws to victory

Anne M. Peterson

Monday, Feb. 26, 2001 | 8:15 a.m.

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.

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 U.C. 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' 1-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.