Three up, three down from UFL week three

My “Three up, three down” column will appear weekly on UFL Board during the season, taking note of positives or things that are happening often (“up”) as well as negatives or rarities (“down”). 

Up: Birmingham’s T-bone formation

Part of the fun of watching spring leagues like the UFL is that head coaches tend to not be as afraid to try new things as their NFL counterparts. In this case, that something new is in actuality, quite old. Through the first three games, Birmingham Stallions head coach Skip Holtz has reintroduced the world to the T-formation (referred to as the T-bone when used by the Stallions). In it, a sixth offensive lineman is inserted on the line, and three players situate themselves next to each other in the backfield, behind the quarterback. In Birmingham’s usage, it’s usually running backs C.J. Marable and Ricky Person, Jr., and tight end Marcus Baugh, brought in for his blocking prowess. The Stallions have found tremendous success with the play in short-yardage situations this year, and it has become somewhat of a fan favorite play. This is widely regarded as the oldest offensive formation in football history, dating back to before the forward pass was legalized.

Down: D.C. long snapping

Long snappers are at their best when you don’t notice them. Unfortunately, D.C. Defenders long snapper Trae Barry has been quite noticeable the last two weeks. It began against Houston, when he rolled a snap back to punter Paxton Brooks. Brooks was able to handle it and get the punt off cleanly. Then, on Saturday, an errant snap was once again held deftly by Brooks, this time on a field goal try of 54 yards from Matt McCrane. McCrane drilled it through the uprights. Barry has positional flexibility, able to double as a tight end. That’s a spot where the Defenders may be in need thanks to an injury suffered by Briley Moore against the Arlington Renegades. Barry’s snaps will be something to monitor moving forward for the 2-1 Defenders. In a tight divisional race, and with so many games coming down to the wire, a bad snap here or there could prove costly later in the season.

Up: QB rushing touchdowns

Every game this weekend featured a QB rushing TD. Lindsey Scott, Jr. ran one in for Arlington against D.C. to kick things off. Birmingham’s Adrian Martinez put the finishing touches on Memphis with a fourth quarter score. On Sunday, both Houston’s and Michigan’s quarterbacks found the end zone with their legs, with Panthers QB E.J. Perry scoring twice. Then, A.J. McCarron scampered in from 10 yards out to give St. Louis an early lead over San Antonio. It isn’t just about the touchdowns, either; the rushing leaders of three of the eight teams this week were quarterbacks. It speaks to not only how difficult it has been for running backs to get traction, but also to how teams have found a way around that by getting their quarterbacks on the move.

Down: Brahmas passing efficiency

By now, we know that San Antonio’s offense works best with short, quick passes that allow receivers to rack up run after catch yardage by getting them into space. When defenses close that space and tackle receivers quickly after they catch the ball, it can result in the Brahmas dinking and dunking down the field in minimal chunks. The yards per attempt for San Antonio QB Chase Garbers against St. Louis tells that tale best. Garbers threw 41 passes that resulted in just 143 yards through the air. That’s an average of 3.5 yards per attempt. By comparison, the lowest yard per attempt average among qualifiers in the NFL in 2023 was Bryce Young of the Carolina Panthers at 5.5. The median in the league was 7.1. For the Brahmas, the longest pass play was just 15 yards, and that came from the arm of Jontre Kirklin. San Antonio needs to find more efficiency in the pass game if they want to make hay in the XFL Conference.

Up: Houston pre-snap penalties

I didn’t want to pick on Houston’s punt protection again after pointing them out in this space last week. Yes, they had a blocked punt for a third week in a row to open the season, but I don’t think that was the most egregious error against Michigan. Rather, it was the preponderance of pre-snap penalties that must be cleaned up if Houston is to recover from their 0-3 start. Against D.C. last week, in the fourth quarter alone, they had four penalties before the play (one delay of game and three false starts). Two of those false starts resulted in separate ten-second runoffs of the game clock on Houston’s final drive as they were trying to win the game.

This week, they continued that undisciplined play, with the defense contributing as well. The Roughnecks had two false starts and two offsides penalties before the game had even reached the midway point of the second quarter. It’s especially discouraging because you have to imagine that was a point of emphasis this week in practice with the way the game ended against the Defenders in week two.

Down: Attendance

Week three means it’s the second (or third) time in the market for many of these teams. The results were not pretty: The Michigan Panthers drew under 7,000 for their third home game, down about one-third from their opener. San Antonio seated about 1,400 less than their first home date. Birmingham, for a team coming off back-to-back USFL Championships, packed over 12,000 into Protective Stadium, which isn’t bad by comparison, but still feels lacking. Perhaps most disappointing was Arlington, the home of the UFL hub, bringing in under 60% of the crowd they had on hand for week one. We don’t know what UFL management’s expectations are for attendance in these markets, and without that, we’re missing a big piece of the puzzle in terms of analyzing just what these numbers mean. But by any stretch, the UFL would love to have more fans in the stadiums. Perhaps a full off-season of selling tickets will pump up the numbers for year two.