Month: April 2022

BIRMINGHAM – The first game in the history of the new United States Football League featured 52 points, 685 total yards, a last-minute comeback and just two turnovers. Birmingham 28, New Jersey 24, made for good television on Saturday night, and was everything Fox and NBC could’ve hoped for.

What we didn’t see, however, were a lot of the rule innovations that are part of the circuit.

With the game so close neither Stallions coach Skip Holtz nor Generals boss Mike Riley were interested in trying two or three-point conversions, and there was never a need for the fourth-and-12 onside kick option or an overtime shootout.

“You don’t say, ‘Let’s go for three’ when you got a game like this,” Holtz said. “I don’t think a lot of the rule changes that are being implemented in this league really were able to be seen (Saturday) because the game went from 7-14 to 14-21 to 21-24. I think you’re gonna see a lot more, though, when you’re down two scores and have to figure if you go for one or two.”

For a time, it looked as though the contest might go into overtime, which is a best-of-three shootout from the two-yard line. Had that been the case, Holtz had a plan.

“I sat down and I thought, ‘You know what, if we can do overtime, I may need to add plays,’” Holtz said. “I used to have three but now I have seven. And the last thing you want to be doing is get in the fourth overtime and go, ‘I don’t know, just call something.’ You’ve got to have a plan.

“And so I spent a lot of time just trying to make sure we had something when it comes into play.”

One rule change which is a constant, however, is the change to kickoffs, which are from the 25-yard line. No kicking team member can line up any further back than one yard, and the receiving team must have a minimum of eight players in the set-up zone between their 35-and 45-yard lines.

After a kickoff travels 20 yards, the first touch must be by the receiving team. If an untouched kick becomes dead, then the ball belongs to the receiving team at that spot.

“I mean that kickoff … did you guys see the field position teams got?” Riley said. “That’s scary. And I don’t know, we’ve got to figure out something to limit that.”

Holtz, an offensive-minded coach, likes it a bit better.

“You saw the great field position offenses get after a kickoff,” he said. “Almost every time you get to start in a really good spot.”

LEGION FIELD

Until the USFL decided to make Protective Stadium the hub for all eight of its 2022 teams, Legion Field had been the home for all of Birmingham’s outdoor pro football teams (semi-pro teams excluded). In fact, it was hinted that “The Old Gray Lady” might still be used this year for several games, including the postseason.

However, that talk cooled once it was announced that the USFL playoffs and championship game would be played in Canton, Ohio, at the 23,000-seat Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.

But Legion Field is slated to host games during Week 8 and Week 10, so it’ll still get a piece of the USFL action.

WEATHER WOES

April showers bring May flowers, but April storms on Easter Sunday in Alabama do not bring football fans.

Protective Stadium is hosting a tripleheader today, which might’ve drawn a few thousand fans during nice, warm weather on another date. But the players mostly had the stadium to themselves in the early game between the Panthers and Houston Gamblers.

The league is set up as a television event (since Fox owns it, you can make the case that the USFL is as much a TV series as a football league), so butts in the seats won’t make it or break it. Still, it’d be nice to see games played under optimum conditions.

Looking ahead, the weather forecast for next Friday’s 7 p.m. game between Michigan and New Jersey calls for clear skies and a high of 84.

Saturday’s games – Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia at 11 a.m. and Birmingham vs. Houston at 7 p.m. – will be played under similar conditions, as will Sunday’s 2 p.m. clash between Tampa Bay and New Orleans.

If the forecast is correct (and I think it’s sweet that there are people who think it will be), perhaps then we’ll get a better idea of what a “normal” crowd will look like in the USFL’s Birmingham hub.

LOVE FEST

With all the players housed together, many have talked about the positive relationships they’ve formed with guys who play on teams other than their own. According to Holtz, there’s a pretty strong bond among the coaches, too.

“So many great, great people in this league,” Holtz said. “I love Coach Riley … that guy is unbelievable, just an unbelievable human being. And I can say the same thing about (New Orleans coach) Larry Fedora. And (Houston coach) Kevin Sumlin. We’re all linked together. We’ve all beat each other. We’ve all lost to each other. (Michigan coach) Jeff Fisher, I have great respect for him as I do all of these coaches in this league.

“I think if it’s any indication of the future the USFL, it’s gonna be great.”

BABY BREAKER

The USFL is a league made up largely of younger players, although most are at least a few years removed from college. The youngest, however, is New Orleans Breakers safety Aashari Crosswell. He is 21 years, eight months and nine days old. Crosswell played at Arizona State, declared for the 2021 NFL Draft, and was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent before being cut.

BIRMINGHAM – After 1,112 days – or three years and 16 days, if you prefer – professional football returned to Birmingham Saturday night.

Before the Birmingham Stallions and New Jersey Generals mixed it up at Protective Stadium in the debut of the new United States Football League, the last time a Magic City-branded gridiron club played was on March 31, 2019. That was the day the Birmingham Iron topped the Atlanta Legends, 17-9, at Legion Field in what would be the final weekend of competition for the Alliance of American Football.

The AAF folded after eight weeks of a scheduled 10-week regular season.

FIRSTS

Let the record show that Birmingham Stallions kicker Brandon Aubrey was the first player in USFL history to make contact with the ball – at least in an official capacity.

Birmingham won the toss and deferred until the second half, allowing Aubrey to make first contact in this new football universe.

Trey Williams received the kickoff, giving him a piece of history as well.

Need more?

OK.

Birmingham’s JoJo Tillery made the first tackle in new USFL history; New Jersey’s pass/catch combo of Luis Perez and Randy Satterfield combined for the first pass completion, first down, and touchdown; New Jersey’s Nick Rose kicked the first PAT and both missed and made the first field goal.

; Generals running back De’Andre Johnson had the first run from scrimmage; New Jersey safety Shalom Luani had the first interception; and Birmingham safety Nathan Holley recovered the first fumble. Rose

OPENING NIGHT CROWDS

How many people showed up for tonight’s game? Announced attendance was 17,500 at the 47,000-plus venue. And if you’re wondering how that stacks up against other Birmingham home debuts (all at Legion Field), I have some figures.

Keep in mind the numbers are based on official attendance figures released (and sometimes adjusted years later) by the Birmingham Parks and Recreation Board: World Football League Americans vs. Southern California Sun on July 10, 1974 (43,799); WFL Vulcans vs. Chicago Winds on August 2, 1975 (31,000); original United States Football League Stallions vs. Michigan Panthers on March 7, 1983 (30,305); World League of American Football Fire vs. Montreal Machine on March 23, 1991 (52,942); Canadian Football League Barracudas vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats on July 15, 1995 (31,000); XFL Thunderbolts vs. Memphis Maniax on February 4, 2001 (35,321); and Alliance of American Football Iron vs. Memphis Express on February 10, 2019 (17,039).

The largest crowd to ever watch a Birmingham pro team play at home came on February 26, 1984, when 62,500 fans showed up to watch the New Jersey Generals defeat the Stallions, 17-6, in the second season of the original USFL.

REMEMBER THE DATE

April 16 is a notable date in Birmingham pro football history. While until tonight there had never been any outdoor games played on that spot on the calendar, it was April 16, 1990, when news leaked that the city had been awarded a franchise in the World League of American Football.

That team, named the Fire, would last two seasons before the WLAF went on hiatus and re-emerged as NFL Europe. It was the second spring league to call Birmingham home, following the original USFL (1983-85).

HOW DID THEY GET HERE?

The players you saw Saturday and will watch today were mostly secured through a 45-round draft held in February and March. Players were selected by position (quarterbacks first) and a modified snake system was used between positional rounds so that each team had two number one picks at two positions.

In theory, that created about as much parity as you could hope for in a league starting from scratch.

Obviously, injuries and other factors have altered rosters from the original 38 active to the men playing this weekend. One of the most notable additions is Generals starter Luis Perez, who was signed after New Jersey’s top draft pick, Ben Holmes, was cut due to injury.

BIRMINGHAM – With the game televised live on Fox, NBC and Peacock and shown in more than 130 countries – and 17,500 fans braving iffy weather to rock Protective Stadium – the city of Birmingham was a big winner on opening night of the 2022 United States Football League.

As for the team that represents the city of Birmingham, well, it got to claim a pretty big “W” as well.

J’Mar Smith, called into service after starting quarterback Alex McGough was injured in the first half, scored on a two-yard touchdown dash with 23 seconds remaining to lift the Birmingham Stallions to a 28-24 victory over the New Jersey Generals on Saturday.

After misfiring on all of his passes in the first half, Smith – who played for Stallions coach Skip Holtz at Louisiana Tech – finished 11-21-0 with 156 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 13 yards – the final two the most important.

Trailing 24-21 with time slipping away, Birmingham wasted no time moving the markers and a facemask call helped give the hosts first-and-10 deep in Generals territory with :48 left on the clock.

Smith threw incomplete twice, then on third down a pass to CJ Marable placed the ball at the seven with :33 showing.

Marable then ran down to the two with 29 seconds remaining and Smith closed the deal, scrambling in for a touchdown at the fourth frame’s :23 juncture.

Brandon Aubrey made the kick, and Birmingham was victorious in its first time out.

“Sometimes it takes a little longer to get in rhythm, and tonight showed it,” Smith said. “After going oh-for-four, I got in a little rhythm and got the machine going and we ended up winning the game.”

After hot starts by both teams Birmingham’s offense bogged down, and by the end of the night the Stallions had just 283 total yards to 424 for the Generals.

“The defense kept banging that rock and kept us in the football game,” Holtz said. “As ugly as it was in the first half, there was never a complaining word on the sideline. I’m just really proud of these players, especially defensively. They were out there for three quarters of the game because we kept getting three-and-outs, and at some point, it’s like we only had five first downs.

“But then in the fourth quarter, it’s like a switch turned.”

Birmingham cornerback Tae Hayes, who finished with 10 tackles, was glad to help hold down the fort.

“I’m proud of the whole team,” Hayes said. “That was an impressive win. We just kept telling each other on defense we can’t lose this game, and we didn’t.”

Luis Perez, former Birmingham Iron quarterback during the city’s brief Alliance of American Football era in 2019, showed some skills on the game’s opening possession. He started with a 49-yard pass to Randy Satterfield on the first play from scrimmage, and ended the drive with a three-yard scoring toss to the same receiver at 11:45 of the first quarter. Nick Rose kicked the Generals to a 7-0 lead after Perez finished the march three-for-three with 57 yards.

McGough decided two could play at that game.

Following a seven-yard run plus an extra 15 yards added on for a late hit, McGough moved the home team down to the New Jersey 35.

From there he dropped back and lofted a beautiful strike to wideout Osirus Mitchell, who outmaneuvered coverage in the end zone to snag the touchdown pass.

Brandon Aubrey split the pipes, and this one was tied at 7-all at 11:18 of the first.

Casual fans – especially those watching on TV – couldn’t have asked for a more entertaining start to a contest featuring two new teams in an upstart league.

Both defenses asserted themselves the rest of the first quarter and early in the second, but Perez got busy again and helped put New Jersey back in front with 9:08 left before halftime.

Traveling 51 yards in seven plays and doing most of the damage through the air, Perez hit Braedon Bowman on a 13-yard TD pass to put Mike Riley’s team back on top.

Rose booted the score to 14-7, and that ended all scoring over the first 30 minutes. (Rose missed a 47-yard field goal as time expired).

Perez finished the half with two touchdowns, 142 yards and a 12-16-0 passing line.

Smith still had the starting designation when the third quarter started and led the red and gold offense the rest of the way.

Meanwhile, Generals backup QB De’Andre Johnson was getting plenty of work in spot duty – running as well as passing – and giving his team a potent platoon option behind center. He finished with 98 of his team’s 222 rushing yards.

“As I was going through training camp and as things went on, that’s how we kinda practiced,” Riley said. “Basically, we knew we had to prepare two guys. We did some switching play to play in practice, and they didn’t know what we were gonna do and that’s just kinda the way we worked. We got into a certain kind of game today that De’Andre fit really well.”

Midway through the third frame Johnson mostly used his legs to march New Jersey down the field, setting up a first-and-goal situation. The Birmingham defense held firm, however, and Rose missed his second field goal of the night at 4:50 of the third – this one a 22-yard shank – to leave the score at 14-7.

Smith then helped even things up.

Making connections for 17, seven, 15 and 27 yards, he passed the Stallions down to the three. From there Marable finished the job on the ground, Aubrey kicked straight, and an 80-yard drive ended with the ballgame tied at 14-14 with 37 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Back came the Generals.

With Johnson behind center the team went with a run-first philosophy, and Trey Williams and Darius Victor added their leg power to the effort. After getting a first down the Birmingham 17 and then another one at the five, Johnson called his own number on a second down play at the four and scooted around right end for a TD with 9:14 to play.

Rose made the extra point, and the pressure was on the Stallions, down 21-14.

They responded.

Smith’s newfound accuracy continued, and he set his team up with a first-and-10 at the New Jersey 28. On the next play he connected with tight end Cary Angeline, who caught a bullet and proceeded to bull his way across the stripe six minutes from the end of regulation.

The kick was good, and the teams had an even split of 42 points.

But stopping the Generals offense completely proved to be too tall a task. With what amounted to a three running back attack, Riley’s crew advanced to the enemy 37 at the two-minute warning.

The drive stalled at the 29, but Rose trotted out for another field goal try. The third time was the charm as his 47-yard kick was on target, and New Jersey led yet again, 24-21.

The Stallions then had 1:54 to pull off some late heroics.

“J’Mar stepped up with Alex’s injury, and I thought he stepped in and did a phenomenal job,” Holtz said. “I’ve been watching him do this a long time in college, so it was neat to see him get out on that field to do it.

“And thank you to the people in Birmingham. That was awesome. What a great experience.”

USFL action resumes today at Protective Stadium with a tripleheader.

The Houston Gamblers and Michigan Panthers meet at 11 a.m. (NBC and Peacock); the Philadelphia Stars and New Orleans Breakers clash at 3 p.m. (USA Network); and Week One ends with the Tampa Bay Bandits facing the Pittsburgh Maulers at 7 p.m. (FS1). Birmingham (1-0) battles Houston next Saturday at 6 p.m. while New Jersey (0-1) will try to rebound against Michigan Friday at 7 p.m.