Month: June 2024

When Adrian Martinez signed with the Birmingham Stallions last December, the news didn’t exactly make waves.

Although 2023 United States Football League MVP Alex McGough had moved on to the NFL, Birmingham still had J’Mar Smith, who was the presumptive starting quarterback before being injured in the opening game and opening the door for McGough.

And then once Matt Corral agreed to a deal with the Stallions in February, some pundits had already handed him the job, expecting Smith and Martinez to battle it out for QB2.

Instead, Martinez proved all the doubters wrong.

On Monday he was named the United Football League’s Most Valuable Player thanks to a regular season that saw him throw for 1,749 yards and 15 touchdowns while rushing for a UFL-best 528 yards (9.8 yards per carry).

Martinez was responsible for 18 scores and ranks second in the circuit in total offense with 2,277 yards. He is the only UFL QB to throw for more than 300 yards twice during the 10-game slate.

His four TD passes against Memphis on April 4 is a UFL record, and his 138-yard rushing effort against Houston on April 27 was second-best during regular season action.

Even more remarkable is that Martinez and Corral split time as starter through the first four weeks of the season; Martinez didn’t “win” the job until the following game against Houston.

“The journey has been up and down,” Martinez said in April. “I mean, that’s been the story of my football career and it’s just been the story my life so far and, and honestly, I’m thankful for it. I would be lying to you if I told you this is where I expected to be right now in my life, but I’m thankful I’m here.

“I’m thankful I’m playing for (Stallions coach Skip Holtz). I’m thankful I’m on this really, really good team with a lot of talent. And it’s definitely a learning experience. And at the end of the day, I love ball. I love football, and it’s an opportunity, and an opportunity to get back to the NFL.”

On Saturday when Birmingham defeated Michigan, 31-18, in the USFL Conference Championship Game at Protective Stadium, it was Martinez’s seventh consecutive start and eighth overall. He went 10-19-1 for 164 yards and a touchdown before being replaced by Corral, who was 9-11-1 for 120 yards and two TDs.

Martinez spent four seasons at the University of Nebraska, completing 670 of 1,055 passes for 8,491 yards and 45 touchdowns with 30 interceptions.

He closed out his college career at Kansas State, going 118-184-1 for 1,261 yards and six TDs.

But he was even more accomplished as a running quarterback, amassing 2,928 yards over five seasons and reaching the end zone with his legs 45 more times.

He was signed by the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent last May and released in August.

Four months later, the Stallions came calling.

Whether you hold a championship game in Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton or The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, you can bet the Birmingham Stallions are gonna be there.

Skip Holtz’s spring football kings, winners of back-to-back United States Football League titles, earned a shot at the United Football League crown on Saturday with a wild 31-18 victory over Michigan in front of 10,287 fans at Protective Stadium.

Birmingham beat the Philadelphia Stars, 33-30, in 2022 and the Pittsburgh Maulers, 28-12, in 2023, winning both USFL title games in Canton.

The UFL Championship will be in St. Louis on June 16, and the Stallions will face the winner of Sunday’s contest between the St. Louis Battlehawks and San Antonio Brahmas.

A pick-six by Daniel Isom in the third quarter allowed the Stallions to erase an 18-12 deficit against the Panthers in the USFL Conference Championship Game, while Matt Corral came on in relief of Adrian Martinez and threw a pair of fourth quarter TDs to seal the deal.

“We have a little saying that we always talk about … don’t flinch,” Holtz said. “No matter what happens, we’re gonna find a way to win this game. And even with the offense sputtering the way it was, the defense kept creating turnover after turnover, and then they said, ‘Hell, if you can’t score, we will.’”

All’s well that ends well but, good grief, did the eventual winners ever make it hard on themselves for much of the hot afternoon.

Birmingham (10-1) trailed 18-3 at one point, turned the ball over four times, was slapped with 11 penalties for 111 yards and committed enough mental mistakes to last a season.

Errors were not the sole domain of the hosts, though; the teams combined for eight turnovers, and six were committed in the third quarter alone.

But champions find a way, and the Stallions scored the final 28 points of the game – good enough to get another chance at another trophy – while Michigan’s season ends at 7-4. Three of those losses came against the Stallions.

Martinez exited the game with decent numbers (10-19-1 for 164 yards and a touchdown) but Corral finished 9-11-1 for 120 yards and two scores, giving Birmingham much-needed momentum down the stretch.

Amari Rodgers, Jordan Thomas and Ricky Person Jr. had receiving TDs for the Stallions.

“We needed a spark offensively,” Holtz said. “I’ve said all along. I feel like we have two starting quarterbacks. I feel like we have two players that are very capable of leading this football team to a championship, and I felt like we needed a spark. I think Matt is a very talented individual, but more than anything, I think today is an unbelievable lesson in resolve – not four quarters of resolve, but in two months of resolve – as he has had to stand on the sideline. Yet, he has taken reps every week in practice.”

Corral said he was fully prepared to step in and take charge.

“Like every other day, we practice the same scenarios, same place, each and every day, day in and day out, and we get a lot of reps at it,” Corral said. “And coach does a good job of putting us in place to get done what we’ve got to get done.”

The defense was “bend but don’t break” throughout the day, forcing the Panthers to settle for four field goals.

Ike Brown had a pair of key interceptions, Damon Lloyd recovered a fumble, and Armani Taylor-Prioleau blocked a field goal. The unit had five sacks and Kyahva Tezino led Stallions tacklers with seven takedowns.

And it was Isom’s defensive score that flipped the game in favor of Birmingham.

Panthers QB Danny Etling was intercepted three times, although he did rack up 182 yards and throw for a score.

Siaosi Mariner was on the money end of Etling’s touchdown pass.

“I thought that first half we played well, other than the fact that I wish we had turned a lot of field goals into six points,” Michigan coach Mike Nolan said. “Touchdowns would have made a difference for us.”

Scoring plays: Michigan, Siaosi Mariner, 35-yard reception from Danny Etling, 12:17 first quarter, 1-point conversion failed, Panthers 6, Stallions 0; Michigan, Jake Bates, 53-yard field goal, 8:43 first quarter, Panthers 9, Stallions 0; Michigan, Bates, 42-yard field goal, :40 first quarter, Panthers 12, Stallions 0; Birmingham, Chris Blewitt, 23-yard field goal, 10:30 second quarter, Panthers 12, Stallions 3; Michigan, Bates, 34-yard field goal, 7:10 second quarter, Panthers 15, Stallions 3; Michigan, Bates, 25-yard field goal, 3:59 second quarter, Panthers 18, Stallions 3; Birmingham, Jordan Thomas, 50-yard reception from Adrian Martinez, 3:53 second quarter, 2-point conversion failed, Panthers 18, Stallions 9; Birmingham, Blewitt, 43-yard field goal, :12 second quarter, Panthers 18, Stallions 12; Birmingham, Daniel Isom, 48-yard interception return, 2:37 third quarter, 1-point conversion failed, Stallions 18, Panthers 18; Birmingham, Amari Rodgers, 7-yard reception from Matt Corral, 13:42 fourth quarter, 1-point conversion failed, Stallions 24, Panthers 18; Birmingham, Ricky Person, 15-yard reception from Corral, 4:04 fourth quarter, 1-point conversion reception by Thomas from Corral, Stallions 31, Panthers 18.

Standout stat: 28. The number of unanswered points the Stallions scored in Saturday’s victory.

Next up: Birmingham plays Sunday’s winner between the San Antonio Brahmas and St. Louis Battlehawks on June 16 in St. Louis in the UFL Championship Game. The contest is set for 4 p.m. CDT and can be seen on FOX and listened to on FOX Sports on SiriusXM.

OTD in 1974: Several hundred fans got their first look at the Birmingham Americans as the team in the fledgling World Football League held their first scrimmage at Robinson Memorial Stadium at Marion Institute.

George Mira, who would earn the starting job at QB, completed five passes for 45 yards including two to former Alabama receiver Dennis Homan for 16 and 14 yards, respectively.

OTD in 1985: The Birmingham Stallions of the original United States Football League defeated the Baltimore Stars, 14-7, in front of 24,300 fans at Byrd Stadium.

Cliff Stoudt hit Jim Smith on a pair of touchdown passes and helped the playoff-bound Stallions improve to 12-4 and win their fifth consecutive game.

The Stars – defending USFL champions – slipped to 8-7-1.

The Birmingham Stallions have been the most dominant football team of the current spring era.

They won back-to-back United States Football League championships, have been victorious in 30 of the 34 games they’ve played, and have never had a losing streak.

But all dynasties eventually fall, and Saturday at Protective Stadium the Michigan Panthers get their chance to topple an empire in the United Football League’s first playoff game.

Michigan (7-3) matched Birmingham (9-1) almost blow-for-blow last Saturday, losing 20-19 when All-UFL kicker Jake Bates’ 53-yard field goal missed the mark on the game’s final play.

“It’s always nice to win,” Birmingham coach Skip Holtz said. “It sure beats the heck out of the alternative. When you go back and you look at this game, there were a lot of things that were very positive but, obviously, a lot of things we need to clean up.”

The USFL Conference Championship Game could be – and should be – another clash that goes down to the wire. This time, though, it’s all or nothing.

“I see a difference, just in the building,” Holtz said. “I see a difference in the attitude, the tempo at practice … it’s playoff time. There’s an excitement, there’s an energy, there’s an enthusiasm right now. I think these guys are really ready to go play and hopefully we can execute much better as an offense and a defense than we did a week ago.”

Quarterback Adrian Martinez – named All-UFL quarterback on Wednesday – has rushed for 530 yards this season, 288 more than the next closest Stallion (running back Rickey Person Jr. with 342). Although he split playing time with Matt Corral earlier in the season, his legs – and arm – helped him become the clear No. 1.

Martinez is 134-229-3 passing for 1,749 yards and 15 touchdowns, and his 2,277 yards of total offense makes him a leading candidate for player of the year.

Last week, however, he was sacked five times.

Holtz doesn’t anticipate a repeat of that on Saturday, saying it was more a case of poor execution that the Stallions being bullied by the Panthers’ “D.”

“Two of (the sacks) were poor decisions by the quarterback where we should have thrown the ball away,” Holtz said. “(Martinez) will be the first one to tell you. I’m not trying to throw stones at Adrian … he’s been unbelievable and made good decisions all year. But on those two, he just needs to throw the ball across the line of scrimmage and we’re good.

“So, when you go back and look at it, it’s not like we’ve got to find a way to double-team this guy or that guy. We’re not going to change schematically. We’re just going to have to make smarter decisions and execute our offense better.”

Michigan coach Mike Nolan, who was named UFL Coach of the Year on Thursday, said Martinez will likely be unleashed in the conference championship game.

“Well, I believe he’ll probably run more this week,” Nolan said. “I think there was a little bit of protecting him from that standpoint, which is very understandable. You want to keep him healthy, and he is a huge part of their offense and a huge part of their success.”

All-UFL tight end Jace Sternberger has 454 receiving yards and four touchdowns for Birmingham; Deon Cain has scored three times and accounted for 436 yards; and Marlon Williams has four touchdowns to go along with 313 yards.

Defensively, Kyahva Tezino leads the way with 70 tackles (38 solo), while Damon Lloyd has been in on 44 and DeMarquis Gates, 37. Gates also has three tackles for 21 yards in losses.

All-UFL safety A.J. Thomas has snagged three of Birmingham’s eight interceptions this season.

Nose tackle Carlos Davis – also on the All-UFL Team – paces the sack crew with seven, and hopes to add to that total against an offense that has trended upward week by week.

“I thought they got a lot better throughout the year, and I think they do a good job with their quarterbacks,” Davis said. “The quarterbacks are mobile, and that’s something that we’re gonna have to stop this week, just keeping them in the pocket and not letting them get out to make plays or run down the field. And, they’ve got some great wide receivers, as well.”

Michigan’s QB room features Danny Etling, Bryce Perkins and Brian Lewerke.

In seven games, Etling is 69-114-2 for 787 yards and three TDs, while Perkins has played in four games and gone 30-38-1 for 664 yards and two touchdown passes.

Both signal callers are effective runners, although the ground game is currently led by RB Matthew Colburn II with 423 yards and four touchdowns.

Nolan said earlier in the week Etling will get the start, but Perkins was likely to play. On the depth chart released on Friday, however, Perkins was inactive and Lewerke was listed as the backup.

“Our quarterbacks all kind of run the same show,” Nolan said. “We don’t have one that’s a runner and one that’s not, it’s both guys.

“All of our quarterbacks, as matter of fact, are capable of using their legs when they need to and being in the pocket as well.”

All-UFL wideout Marcus Simms has caught 23 balls for 426 yards and three touchdowns, while Siaosi Mariner has two TDs and 346 yards.

In last week’s game against Birmingham, Mariner had 110 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions.

Michigan has three players with at least 40 tackles; Kai Nacua (47), Bryce Torneden (42) and Javin White (41).

UFL Defensive Player of the Year Breeland Speaks has 9.5 of the Panthers’ 30 sacks.

Nacua, Speaks, Daniel Wise and Nate Brooks are All-UFL selections.

Nolan suggests both teams will stick to their normal game plan, although there could be a few more “trick” plays.

“I think they’ll take their chances with maybe some kind of exotic play, whether it be a reverse pass or something you have in your pocket,” Nolan said. “You don’t use it in the game like the other day … you usually use plays like that when the game has a little bit more on the line. So, if there’s anything in the way of an exotic play, it would probably come this week.”

Game time is set for 2 p.m. with ABC televising and ESPN Xtra on SiriusXM providing audio coverage.

“Bring a friend,” Holtz said. “We need people and that home field advantage. Let’s light that place up. We’ve got a great crowd, they’re loud, they’re into it, they’re vocal – they make a difference.

“And I just think about if we could try and fill that lower bowl, oh, my gosh. I mean, it would be absolutely awesome.”