The two-time defending USFL champion Birmingham Stallions have played like champions through their first three games in the United Football League, and on Saturday they’ll try to improve to 4-0 against a former XFL club.
The DC Defenders (2-1) come to Protective Stadium for a 6 p.m. kickoff, hoping to derail Birmingham’s perfect start and keep pace with St. Louis and San Antonio atop their conference. It’ll be the second consecutive week Skip Holtz’s team has played in front of a partisan crowd.
“We have a DC Defenders team coming in that had the best record in the XFL last year, and they returned a lot of starters off that team,” Holtz said. “Jordan Ta’amu, their quarterback, is a very talented individual from Ole Miss and they can score a lot of points. They have scored a lot of points, and right now they’re tied for first place in the XFL Conference, so we’ve got a real challenge coming in this weekend.”
Ta’amu has connected on 52 of 101 passes for 627 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions.
Ty Scott paces the receiving corps with 152 yards and a score on eight receptions.
Those two played key roles in DC rallying from 11 points down with 2:08 to play to stun the Arlington Renegades, 29-28, last week.
After cutting the deficit to 28-26, Ta’amu and Scott hooked up for 19 yards on the fourth-and-12 onside conversion play, ultimately setting up Matthew McCrane’s 49-yard field goal to win it.
Michael Joseph has been far and away the team’s top defensive player, with 16 solo tackles and 19 takedowns in all.
“I think (Defenders coach and Alabama native) Reggie Barlow does a great job with that team,” Holtz said. “As I said, they were 10-2 last year and he was the Coach of the Year, and they are 2-1 this year, so it’s got all the makings for another great atmosphere, another great environment.”
The Stallions are the lone unbeaten team in the UFL, and not only set the pace in the USFL Conference but lead the circuit in myriad statistical categories.
They’re No. 1 in total offense (374 yards per game); all-purpose yards (513.3); total rushing yards (432); rushing yards per game (144.0); yards per reception (15.6); rushing touchdowns (five) scoring (26.7 points per game); total defense (226.0); fewest rushing yards allowed (126); fewest rushing yards average (42.0); and fewest rushing TDs (none).
Birmingham is coming off a 33-14 rout of the Memphis Showboats, one that saw the winners put together their most complete game of the season to date.
“Really proud of the team and what they were able to accomplish,” Holtz said. “I think the defense set the tone with two out of the first three plays in the game being sacks, and I thought our front seven – really our defense as a whole – challenged everything. I thought (defensive coaches) John Chavis, Bill Johnson, Corey Chamberlain and Deric Riley, all did a great job.”
Holtz pointed out that last year the team managed 17 sacks for the entirety of the 2023 season and hit that mark in just three games in 2024.
Aside from the strong defensive play – through 12 quarters Kyahva Tezino has been in on 22 tackles with 14 unassisted, followed by Chris Jackson (17/13), Lorenzo Burns (17/13) and Carlos Davis (10/6 and the UFL sacks leader with six) – the offense had a breakout game against Memphis.
Adrian Martinez went the distance at quarterback, and now has 448 passing yards and a team-high 161 rushing yards.
Martinez is the top rusher in the league followed by C.J. Marable, who has churned out 140 yards.
“Offensively, to see Adrian Martinez get his opportunity from wire-to-wire and to throw for 334 yards and to see him run for 44 yards was great,” Holtz said. “And I thought Ricky Person Jr. ran really hard, and our offensive line did a great job of protecting our quarterback.”
Despite Martinez’s excellent outing, Holtz says Matt Corral is still very much in the picture at quarterback. In fact, he’s listed as QB1 on Saturday’s depth chart.
“I named Matt the starter at the beginning, but knew that we were going to roll both of them early,” Holtz said. “Adrian had a great week (of preparation) last week, so we made the decision to go wire-to-wire with him.
“Both these quarterbacks are here to get film, but they’re both good enough to win with and we need to find a way to manage the room and play them both, because I do think that we’re going to need them both before it’s all said and done.”
Deon Cain leads the receiving corps (and the UFL) with 240 yards and a TD. Person Jr., Jace Sternberger and Marlon Williams have all made an impact as well, cracking the 100-yard barrier in receptions.
One major change on Saturday will be at kicker. With Chris Blewitt nursing an injury, recent signee Ramiz Ahmed will handle field goal chores against DC.
Holtz hopes for another energetic crowd on Saturday.
“I was very appreciative of the fan base, the noise they made (last week),” Holtz said. “It was really nice to be back in Protective Stadium. You know we’ve been (in the Arlington hub) for about six, eight weeks now, and it just reminds you when you come back to Birmingham what a special place it is and how much it means to us on the field.”