Category: Alternative Football

Usually when you reach the midpoint of a sports season – in just about any sport – you have a general idea of who’s headed to the playoffs and who’s headed nowhere.

Usually, but not always.

Year two of the United States Football League has become an object lesson in parity, which means trying to figure out the two playoff reps from the South Division and two from the North is little more than a guessing game right now.

Sure, a 4-1 New Orleans team looks good for a slot, but the Breakers suffered their first setback of the season to a Memphis team that began Week Five in last place in the South.

You could chalk it up to one of those “Any Given Sunday” situations, or maybe it’s just  a case of the Showboats being a much better team than the one that started the season 0-3.

Memphis dominated the Pittsburgh Maulers (2-4), 22-0, earlier today at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, improving to 3-3 while recording the USFL’s first shutout of the season. The result suggests Todd Haley’s team will have a big say in how the South shakes out.

“It was not the championship by any means, but it was another big step for our team,” Haley said.

The Birmingham Stallions (4-2) kept pace with a 27-13 victory over Michigan (2-4) at Ford Field, gaining some momentum ahead of their huge showdown with the Breakers next Saturday at Protective Stadium.

“It’s good to get back to winning,” Birmingham coach Skip Holtz said. “It’s hard to win, and it’s harder to win on the road.”

The North started the weekend with all four of its teams saddled with identical sub.-500 records, and two lost on Saturday. Who’ll qualify from among the Detroit/Canton hub teams is anybody’s guess.

“We’re still in the hunt, we’re stull in the chase, so you can still stay encouraged as a player,” Panthers boss Mike Nolan said. “There’s no reason to get your head down. What you strive for in this game is playoffs and the championship, and it’s still there for the taking, as crazy as it sounds.”

From a league standpoint, though, this logjam is great news.

Regardless of which team you cheer for among the eight, each one will enter Week Seven with their playoff hopes very much alive. This weekend’s losers will be knocked down, of course, but hardly knocked out. (Sunday’s lineup features New Orleans vs. Philadelphia (2-3) and New Jersey (2-3) vs. Houston (3-2)).

The bottom line is fans who tune into any of the USFL’s nationally televised games will know they’re watching a contest that serves as something of a playoff within a playoff.

That speaks volumes about the talent in the league, the good work by the general managers and, obviously, the eight coaching staffs.

Not only do they have to deal with missing pieces of the puzzle each week due to injuries, they have to make sure the players filling those holes give them the best chance to win.

“We have a lot of really good coaches who’ve been around the game of football for a long time,” Haley said. “They’ve been through those sour patches that can happen. I really believe in what we’re doing as a coaching staff.”

But if you’re a fan of a particular team, this uniformity can be a bit aggravating. You want your guys to win big and win all the time, and hope that as the regular season winds down they can afford to take a day off.

That’s just not how things are shaping up in 2023.

So, sit back, strap in, and enjoy the ride these next four weekends.

After all, your favorite team is in the hunt.

Thing is, everyone else’s favorite team is in the hunt, too.

“We’ve got four more games, and we’re gonna play the teams that are in our division again,” Nolan said. “We beat them, and they go down further than if somebody else beats them. Head-to-head competition is critical so that’s why I say we’re in the thick of it with four to go. It’s real, it’s encouraging … these guys love to play football.

“They’re still optimistic because there’s still something they can achieve as a team. One thing our team isn’t short on is effort.”

Notes and quotes from Birmingham’s 27-13 victory over Michigan on Saturday at Ford Field in Detroit …

HOW THEY SCORED

Michigan (2-4) struck first on a 45-yard field goal by Cole Murphy at 9:08 of the first quarter for a 3-0 lead. The opening drive of the game covered 38 yards on nine plays and was kept alive by a penalty against Birmingham that negated a fumble recovery following a strip-sack.

Birmingham (4-2) answered back with Brandon Aubrey’s 40-yard field goal at 6:42 of the first to tie the score at 3-3, ending a five play, 37-yard march. Alex McGough got things started with a 28-yard first down run.

Aubrey was at it again at 10:13 of the second stanza, booting a 25-yard trey at the end of a 14 play, 76-yard march to put the Stallions in front, 6-3.

Birmingham extended the lead in the waning moments of the first half, finally hitting paydirt to highlight a 19 play, 62-yard scoring junket.

On a third down play, McGough wiggled out of trouble and found ZaQuandre White on an 18-yard scoring play at :57 of the second.

Aubrey kicked the lead to 13-3.

Michigan quickly moved into the red zone and looked to be headed for at least a short field goal try, but a muffed play call that should’ve been a spike at the Stallions’ 15 became a stuffed QB run, ending the half.

The Panthers did manage to tighten things up with a touchdown at 4:05 of the third.

Going 87 yards on 13 plays, Josh Love found Cole Hikutini on an 11-yard scoring play.

The PAT was good, and it was a 13-10 ballgame.

Birmingham got some breathing room in the fourth quarter after cashing in on a 10 play, 56-yard trip with 13:05 remaining.

McGough connected with C.J. Marable on a four-yard pitch-and-catch for six, and Aubrey’s extra point put the tally at 20-10.

However, a Stallions fumble in their own territory gave the Panthers a chance to get back in the game. The hosts needed a touchdown but settled for a 31-yard field goal, a somewhat disappointing outcome on a five play, 19-yard trek.

Still, it was a one score game, 20-13, with 8:40 to go.

It was a two-score game 3:27 from the finish.

McGough called his own number on a 10-yard TD dash, getting the most important yards of his team’s eight play, 59-yard drive.

Aubrey kicked straight, and Birmingham had the game in hand at 27-13.

BIRMINGHAM COACH SKIP HOLTZ SAID …

“I was really proud of the way our players came out and competed this week. There was an awful lot of adversity a week ago, an awful lot of frustration. But I was proud of the way they channeled all that energy, and they came together and went out and played that football game today.”

MICHIGAN COACH MIKE NOLAN SAID …

“Their quarterback (McGough) did an outstanding job. He’s played well all year and he played well again today. He hurt us early with some long runs and he hurt us in the middle of the game and late as well. He was a difference maker for their offense, without question.”

STANDOUT STATS

McGough turned in another sterling performance, going 19-24-0 through the air for 133 yards and two touchdowns, and rushing for 82 yards and another score. He now has 13 touchdowns and 90 points through six games to lead the USFL.

“Alex is playing really solid, seeing the field, taking what people are giving us and really in control,” Holtz said. “I’m really impressed with the way he’s managed the game. I trust him 100 percent.”

Marable hit triple digits on the ground, getting 100 rushing yards on 18 carries and catching a TD pass.

“I see myself as a running back who can catch the ball out of the backfield and get tough yardage,” Marable said. “I give credit to my offensive line … they did their job and made my job easy.”

Eight different receivers caught McGough passes.

Nate Holley and Quinten Poling had six tackles for the victors, although Holtz bemoaned the lack of takeaways.

“I think this is the fourth game in a row we didn’t get a turnover,” he said. “That’s the elephant in our room right now, defensively.”

Love was 20-34-0 for 222 yards and one TD in a losing effort, while Trey Quinn had 108 receiving yards on eight receptions.

Linebacker Frank Ginda was in on 18 tackles, tying a modern USFL record.

SETTLING FOR THREE

Early on a pair of Birmingham drives stalled, and Holtz opted to bring on the field goal unit instead of trying to make a first down with just a few feet to go.

“We went down a couple of times and got stopped in short yardage situations, and I felt like the right play was to take the points. On the road, in a close football game, I didn’t want to drive the length of the field and come away with nothing.”

NOLAN TAKES THE BLAME

The botched play at the end of the first half most likely cost the Panthers three points, but Nolan said it wasn’t Love’s fault.

“One of my biggest disappointments was there was a coaching error in the first half … that was not Josh,” Nolan said. “It wasn’t Josh’s fault at all. It was a mistake. It was a spike situation and mistakenly, someone over the headset – I won’t say their name, let’s just say it was me – the quarterback was instructed to get the first, and it should’ve been a spike.”

TODAY IN HISTORY

On this date in 1991 the Birmingham Fire defeated the New York/New Jersey Knights, 24-14, in a World League of American Football Game at Legion Field.

In the Fire’s final home game of the season, 31,211 fans showed up for a Monday night clash that was highlighted by three defensive touchdowns. Birmingham’s Arthur Hunter had 37-yard interception return for a score, and Tony Bowick picked up a fumble and rumbled 35 yards for another Fire TD.

Knights defender Mark Moore also had a scoop-and-score, finding paydirt from 20 yards out.

UP NEXT

Birmingham faces the New Orleans Breakers in a crucial rematch next Saturday, 3 p.m., at Protective Stadium. The Breakers are the designated home team.

The Birmingham Stallions have lost two of their last three games and are now third in the USFL South Division.

That’s the bad news.

The good news?

The South – as well as the North Division – remain wide open with half the regular season gone and five games remaining.

Birmingham (3-2) trails Houston (3-2) based on last weekend’s 27-20 Gamblers win in a head-to-head matchup at Protective Stadium, while New Orleans (4-1) remains at the top of the heap despite suffering its first loss of the season last Sunday against Memphis.

The Stallions hope to regain their winning form on Saturday at Detroit’s Ford Field against a Michigan team that has dropped three consecutive games and sits at 2-3.

However, Birmingham quarterback Alex McGough suggests the Panthers’ sub-.500 record is misleading.

“They’re a good team,” McGough said. “They’ve got a really good D-line, very athletic linebackers, and their secondary’s really good at flying around, making some plays. We’re just trying to play our game. I don’t think we have to go outside the box here, I think we’ve just got to kind of find ourselves and do what we do best.”

Saturday’s game marks the first time in the history of the modern Stallions they’ve suited up somewhere other than Birmingham or Canton.

“I just think it’s a mindset of great teams where on the road, you’ve just got to clear your mind of distractions,” McGough said. “When I was in college, we had an expression where the horses wear the blinders and you can only see what’s in front of you. So, I just try not to worry about the airplane, the hotels, or if my back’s gonna hurt, or anything like that.”

Birmingham safety JoJo Tillery will finally be back in action after battling injuries, and is glad to be able to suit up – regardless of where the game is being played.

“We can play in the backyard … it don’t matter as long as we’re on that field,” he said. “The game plan is to win. As long as we go 1-0, it don’t matter. I’m not used to this feeling. We lost one game last year and now we’ve lost two of the last three, so it’s not a great feeling. The mindset now is just to win.”

The Panthers have everything to play for as all four teams in the North share the same 2-3 record. Based on current tiebreakers they – like Birmingham – are in third place in their side of the circuit.

“We have five games to go and we’re 2-3, which is not what you’d like,” Michigan coach Mike Nolan said. “But if we’d been 0-3 and looked at our record now, we’d be saying, ‘Wow … we’re on the right track.’ It’s still midseason, so we’ll stay optimistic and see if we can rectify things.”

But Nolan’s team is looking for an offensive spark; in the Panthers’ last three games, they’ve averaged only 10 points per outing.

And despite yielding 80 points during its three-game skid, the Michigan defense is still formidable. Defensive end Breeland Speaks leads the league in sacks with 6.5, while linebacker Frank Ginda has a pair of interceptions.

“They’re big and strong, physical up front, and they’re a bend-don’t-break type defense,” Birmingham coach Skip Holtz said. “They don’t give up a lot of big plays. They keep everything in front of them and they make you earn it. It’s hard to drive the field 80 yards on them.

“On offense, they’re very unpredictable. You don’t really know what you’re gonna get.”

With quarterback Carson Strong placed on the injured reserve list, quarterbacking duties will come down to Josh Love and possibly Eric Barriere.

Running back Reggie Corbin has 262 rushing yards and two scores, and tops the USFL in all-purpose yards with 650.

As for Birmingham, McGough continues to be the workhorse of the offense. He has now accounted for a league-leading 10 touchdowns and 72 points, and has shown he’ll do whatever’s necessary to move the markers.

“Where he’s playing mentally, that’s what’s making him so good,” Holtz explained. “He had talent last year, but he’s really playing in the system now. He understands the system and takes what the defense gives him rather than predetermined ‘I’m gonna throw to him,’ or ‘I’m gonna do this.’ He’s letting the game come to him.

“I think he’s doing a really nice job. He’s our leading rusher right now (214 yards to go with 972 passing yards) and when he does run the ball, he’s averaging, I don’t know, 14 yards a carry or something like that. I think he said it best … ‘I’m not trying to be Superman.’ He’s just trying to be a quarterback, and I think he’s really doing a nice job of it, both mentally and physically.”

Davion Davis continues to pace the receiving corps in yardage with 290 yards, while Jace Sternberger has the most touchdowns (three).

Defensively, safety Christian McFarland has 34 tackles for Birmingham and defensive tackle Willie Henry has added a pair of sacks.

Having turned the page from last week, the Stallions aim to make the most of their next opportunity.

“We’ve always talked about you have 24 hours to celebrate or 24 hours to mourn, but after 24 hours are over, no more pity parties if you lose,” Holtz said. “Let’s pick ourselves up, brush ourselves off and get ready for the next week.

“And that’s what I love about this game.”  

Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. on Saturday with FOX televising.

PLAYER STATUS (via Stallions Twitter)

Free Agent Signings: LB Brody Buck, NW Missouri State

Transferred Player to Active Roster: S JoJo Tillery; LB Brody Buck; OL O’Shea Dugas

Transferred Player to Inactive Roster: CB Bryan Mills; OT Jahmir Ross-Johnson; DE Darrion Daniels

Game status: DE Joe Jackson: Out (R Ankle); WR Deon Cain: Out (Illness); S Christian McFarland: Probable (R Hamstring, R Shoulder); TE La’Michael Pettway: Probable (L Foot); S JoJo Tillery: Probable (B Ankles); OL O’Shea Dugas: Probable (R Knee); CB Donnie Lewis: Probable (R Hand); CB Brian Allen: Probable (L Shoulder); LB Rashad Smith: Questionable (L Ankle); WR Davion Davis: Probable (B Thighs); WR Adrian Hardy: Probable (R Knee); DT Khalil Davis: Probable (R Knee); OG Matt Kaskey: Probable (R Thumb).