The first game After a scoreless first quarter, it was the Oilers who broke the deadlock with the first sustained drive of the game, going 81 yards on 12 plays early in the second quarter. QB Dan Pastorini went to the air and eventually connected on a TD pass to Willis to give the home team a 7-0 lead. The Bucs replied with a drive of their own that included a pair of Steve Spurrier to John McKay Jr 17-yard passes, but despite having a first down at the Oiler 12, a holding penalty pushed them back and eventually Mirro Roder missed a 39-yard fieldgoal attempt when he hit the post. Early in the second half, S Ken Stone set the Bucs up at their own 45 with an interception of Pastorini, but Spurrier unfortunately returned the compliment with a pick to CL Whittington at the Oiler 30. This led to Skip Butler's 30-yard fieldgoal and a 10-0 Houston lead. Another long Oiler drive taking advantage of a tiring Buc defense led to Butler hitting the post on his own fieldgoal attempt, but after Spurrier threw his second interception of the game to Whittington, Pastorini hit Ken Burrough on a 42-yard TD pass and a 17-0 home advantage, Butler added a 44-yard fieldgoal during the fourth quarter as the Buccaneers could only muster one further first down in their final four drives, three of which were led by back-up QB Parnell Dickinson. Interesting anecdotes Future Buc assistant coach Carl Mauck played for the Oilers in that game. As did DL Tody Smith who was in Tampa Bay's training camp the following year, and also RB Don Hardeman who became a Buc in a 1978 trade and was then dealt again without ever playing a down for the franchise. After assembling in the visitors' locker room of the Houston Astrodome, the Bucs marched into the hallway, ready for battle. They shouted and whooped and pounded on walls. Then they took a wrong turn in the cavernous stadium and lost their bearings. When you get lost on the way to your first game, you figure that tells you something," TE Bob Moore said. First tackle: The first stop in team history is owned by linebacker Calvin Peterson on a first down run by Oilers RB Fred Willis, made the stop after a gain of just one. First interception: The first pick belongs to Ken Stone who picked off Dan Pastorini’s first pass of the second half and returned it to the Bucs’ 45. Stone also had the first pass defensed in team annals, as he broke up a third-down pass by Pastorini on Houston’s first drive of the game. First kickoff return: Isaac Hagins, to start that Houston game. He took it at the 13 and got 21 yards to the 34. First offensive yard gained: Running back Jimmy DuBose, on a three-yard carry off right guard on the first Buccaneer play from scrimmage. First completion: The Bucs ran all three times on their first possession, then ran on first and second down on their second possession. On third-and-seven on that drive, quarterback Steve Spurrier tried to hit Carter, but it was broken up by Houston’s Zeke Moore. Spurrier’s next pass, to start the team’s third possession, was a three-yard strike to DuBose. First first down: The Bucs’ first eight possessions ended in three-and-outs, but once the offense got a taste of first-down success, it got on a roll. The first play of the ninth possession, just before halftime, was a 17-yard Spurrier-to-J.K. McKay hookup. First takeaway: The Bucs forced four turnovers in that inaugural game, another sign of things to come. The first was a fumble by running back Ronnie Coleman that Peterson forced and linebacker Steve Reese recovered in the first quarter. First Sack: This one fittingly belongs to Lee Roy Selmon, the Bucs’ Hall-of-Famer and first-ever draft pick, at least in part. Selmon combined with Pat Toomay to take Pastorini down for a 14-yard loss on the second play of the second quarter of that Houston game. The game was still scoreless at the time and that play killed a drive that had reached the Bucs’ 39. The first solo sack was also Selmon when just before halftime, he got to Pastorini for a nine-yard loss on third down, killing another drive near midfield.