In the first 2024 home game for the Birmingham Stallions they welcome the Memphis Showboats to Protective Stadium for an evening of football. The Stallions are unbeaten on two road games this season and the Memphis Showboats are looking to get back in the win column after a disappointing home field loss against San Antonio.
In 2023, as the head coach of the New Orleans Breakers, Showboats head coach John DeFilippo was 1-1 against Holtz in USFL regular season action. If you include the playoffs, he was 1-2 against Holtz. In this game he gets the chance to even the record.
Saturday’s game is slated for a 6 p.m. CT kickoff and will be broadcast nationally on FOX. The Memphis radio broadcast can be heard on News Talk 98.9, with Eli Savoie, Russell Copeland and Tyler Springs on the call.
What do we know?
Memphis is 1-1, but coming off a last-minute, heartbreaking 20-19 loss at Simmons Liberty Bank Stadium. The San Antonio Brahmas scored all 20 of their points in the fourth quarter to tally a come-from-behind victory over the Showboats, 20-19.
The Showboats led 16-0 after three quarters. But they settled for field goals, including three drives that ended inside the 5-yard line. San Antonio sandwiched a pair of touchdowns around a Matt Coghlin field goal to pull within five points, 19-14. The Brahmas then took advantage of the UFL’s alternate to an onside kick, allowing them to retain possession with 4th-and-12 at their own 28 and scoring with three seconds remaining to put the Brahmas on top 20-19.
Despite the loss, the Showboats have plenty to be proud of so far in the fledgling 2024 UFL season. Quarterback Case Cookus is healthy and leading the team with 40 completions on 71 pass attempts for 398 yards, two touchdowns, and only one interception. Cookus is also the team’s leading rusher with 73 yards. He will be aiming to build on his performance this week.
The Showboats will also need their defense to give them a chance at winning in Birmingham. They largely dominated their competition in seven out of eight quarters this season, but had their worst play in the most recent one.
Last week, Birmingham retained their top spot on the UFL power rankings by securing a win against the Michigan Panthers and remaining undefeated for the season. Riding their top-ranked defense to another victory and only giving up 27 total points in the first two weeks, Birmingham has proven itself to be one of the UFL’s top teams early in the season.
The Stallions defense has dominated thus far this season, recording a league-best nine sacks for 56 yards lost through two games. Seven of those nine sacks as a unit came against the Panthers last Sunday, the most sacks in a game for any UFL team this season. Individually, Carlos Davis leads the league in sacks on the year with 3.5 over the first two games. Taco Charlton is close behind with three sacks, tied for the second-most in the league. All three of Charlton’s sacks came last week against the Panthers.
On the other side of the ball, Birmingham’s offense is alive and well, with running back C.J. Marable leading Birmingham with 121 yards rushing, while QBs Matt Corral and Adrian Martinez are a combined 27-of-54 for 367 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions.
League-wide, C.J. Marable is the top-ranked runner, tallying 121 yards this season from 16 attempts a game. Adrian Martinez is close behind, ranking second in the league with 117 yards on just 5.5 attempts per contest, boasting the longest run of 29 yards. Ricky Person Jr. also holds the top spot (tied with E.J. Perry of Michigan) for rushing touchdowns on the season with two. The Stallions as a whole are the leading rushing team in the league, with 332 rushing yards on the year. That is nearly double the next closest team, the St. Louis Battlehawks, sitting at 172 rushing yards on the season.
What should we expect?
The Showboats played well enough to get the win in week two, but bad luck and defensive lapses warranted a 1-1 record. They will arrive at Protective Stadium with a sense of determination, and their intensity should be evident from the moment they emerge from the tunnel.
The Stallions are playing their first home game, and they can count on their home fans to buoy the efforts of their league-leading defense. On offense, look for the Stallions to run the ball down the throats of the Showboats and attempt to grind down their defense.
The oddsmakers have given the Stallions a 7-point edge in this game. Considering Birmingham has 47 points for and 27 points against so far this season, they may have a point.
But nobody should count out Memphis in the game, as they are a team on a mission to right a wrong. If they had held on in the fourth quarter of their game against the Brahmas, both of these teams would still be undefeated. It will be tough to beat the venerable Stallions in their own house, but the Showboats might beat the spread.
