The Michigan Panthers line up against the Birmingham Stallions during the second quarter of the USFL Conference Championship game at Protective Stadium on June 08, 2024 in Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by Donald Page/UFL/Getty Images)
USFL Conference Championship, Michigan Panthers (7-3) at Birmingham Stallions (9-1)
The Panthers and Stallions faced off for the third time this season and twice in the last two weeks. Birmingham swept the regular season series, defeating Michigan 20-13 in their Week 2 game and 20-19 in their Week 10 game.
Last season in the USFL, Birmingham defeated the Panthers 27-13 at Ford Field. In their first matchup in 2022, the Stallions took down the Panthers 33-17 at Protective Stadium, also in week six. In fact, a win for the Panthers in this game would be Michigan’s first victory over Birmingham since Michigan’s first game in their inaugural 1983 USFL season, beating the Stallions 9-7. That season, the Panthers went on to win the USFL championship.
The Chris Blewitt kickoff went 75 yards and was returned by Devin Ross to the Michigan 42-yard line. Starting quarterback Danny Etling handed to Matthew Colburn for a 3-yard gain, and then delivered a 4-yard pass to Ross. A roughing the passer penalty tacked on 15 yards, giving the Panthers a first down on the Birmingham 36.
Etling passed to Marcus Simms for a 6-yard gain, and then a false start penalty pushed the Panthers back 5 yards. A pass to Siaosi Mariner was not caught, and then on third and 9, a pass to Mariner on a slant route was taken to the end zone for a Panthers touchdown. The one-point conversion failed when the Stallions stuffed a run by Colburn, making the score 6-0 for Michigan.
The Jake Bates kickoff went 70 yards and was returned by Ricky Person to the Birmingham 33. Quarterback Adrian Martinez handed to Person for a 2-yard run, and then scrambled for 6 more yards. On third and 2, a 2-yard catch by Amari Rodgers was reviewed and determined to be short of the first down. On fourth down and short yardage, a handoff to Person was stuffed for no gain and the Stallions turned over the ball on downs.
Starting on the Birmingham 42, Etling handed to Nate McCrary for a 5-yard run, and then went back to McCrary for a 2-yard gain. On third and 3, a pass intended for Mariner was too high and could not be caught, and the Panthers settled for a Jake Bates 53-yard field goal to make the score 9-0 for Michigan.
The Bates kickoff was returned by Gary Jennings, and a Stallions holding call put the ball on the Birmingham 23. Martinez handed to C.J. Marable for a 5-yard gain, and then went back to Marable for 7 more yards and a first down. A screen pass to Rodgers gained 3 yards, and then a pass to Rodgers on the sideline was completed. However, after review the Rodgers catch was deemed to be incomplete. On third and 7, a false start penalty pushed the Stallions back 5 yards, and then a head butt by Birmingham’s Derwin Gray drew a personal foul penalty. Now on third and 27, Martinez was pressured and had to throw the ball away. The Stallions were forced to punt.
The Chris Wadman punt was returned by Gray to the Michigan 47-yard line. An Etling pass to Mariner fell incomplete, but an offensive holding call pushed the Panthers back 10 yards. On first and 20, Etling completed a 2-yard pass to Cole Hikutini, and then threw a 5-yard pass to Gray. On third and 13, a 16 yard pass to Mariner moved the chains, and a Birmingham unnecessary roughness penalty added 15 yards to the drive.
On first and 10 from the Birmingham 31, Etling handed to Colburn for a 4-yard run, and then another handoff to Colburn lost 6 yards after he bobbled the ball and recovered it himself. A short pass to Colburn gained only 9 yards, and the Panthers settled for a Jake Bates 42-yard field goal to increase the score to 12-0 for Michigan.
The Bates kickoff was returned by Person to the Birmingham 39-yard line. Martinez was pressured and was sacked for a 1-yard loss as the first quarter ended.
An 8-yard pass to Marlon Williams was followed by a 13-yard pass to Binjimen Victor for a first down. Martinez passed to a wide-open Jace Sternberger who ran the ball down to the Michigan 2-yard line. On first down, Martinez was pressured and scrambled, only to be pushed out of bounds after a 9-yard loss, and then Martinez was pressured again and could not find a target downfield. Unfortunately, an offensive holding call pushed the Stallions back another 10 yards.
On second and long, a 16-yard pass to Gary Jennings moved the ball back to the Michigan 5-yard line, and then on third and 5, a pass to Jordan Thomas in the end zone was well-defended and was not caught. The Stallions settled for a 23-yard Chris Blewitt field goal to make the score 12-3 for Michigan.
The Blewitt kickoff was returned by Ross to the Michigan 34-yard line. Etling handed to McCrary for a 9-yard run, and then went back to McCrary for another 7 yards and a first down. Again, Etling handed to McCrary and he broke the run open for a 25-yard gain to the Birmingham 26.
A pass to Hikutini gained 8 yards, and then a handoff to Colburn lost 3 yards. On third and 5, Etling was pressured and had to throw the ball away, and the Panthers settled for a 39-yard Jake Bates field goal to make the score 15-3 for Michigan.
The Bates kickoff was muffed by Person and recovered by Birmingham’s Marlon Williams on his own 19-yard line. Martinez passed to Deon Cain for no gain, and then was blind-side sacked by Noah Dawkins with the ball being popped loose and recovered by Michigan’s Ron’Dell Carter on the Birmingham 15.
A handoff to McCrary gained 7 yards, and then another handoff to McCrary gained 2 more yards. On third and 2, a handoff to McCrary lost one yard and the Panthers settled for a 25-yard Bates field goal, to make the score 18-3 for Michigan.
The Bates kickoff went out of bounds and the ball was spotted at midfield. A 50-yard pass down the middle to Jordan Thomas was good for a Stallions touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, making the score 18-9 for Michigan.
The Blewitt kickoff was returned by Ross to the Michigan 34. Etling passed 10 yards to Simms for a first down, and a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty tacked on more. A handoff to Colburn gained one yard, and then Etling was pressured and sacked for a 4-yard loss. On third and 13, Etling completed a 12-yard pass to Trey Quinn as the two-minute warning was announced.
A 51-yard Jake Bates field goal attempt was missed and the Stallions got the ball on their own 41. Martinez passed to Marable for a 4-yard gain, and then was pressured and had to throw the ball away, drawing a 10-yard intentional grounding call. On third and 16, a pass intended for Rodgers was long, but a defensive holding call gave the Stallions an automatic first down.
With 0:50 remaining, Martinez could not find a target downfield and threw the ball away, and then a 30-yard pass was caught by Williams, who fumbled, and managed to recover the ball on the Michigan 31. Martinez was pressured and could not complete a pass to Victor, and then Martinez kept the ball and gained 6 yards to the Michigan 25. On third and 4, with 0:20 remaining, Martinez could not complete a pass to Rodgers at the goal line, and a 43-yard Blewitt field goal made the score 18-12 for Michigan.
The Blewitt kickoff was returned by Ross to the Michigan 40. With 0:05 remaining, Etling kneeled to end the half.
The second half began with Chris Blewitt kicking off 79 yards to the Michigan one-yard line, and Devin Ross returning the ball to the Michigan 41. On first down, a Martinez pass deep to the right was intercepted by Adonis Alexander who was tackled on the Michigan one-yard line.
Etling handed to Colburn for a 2-yard rush, and then passed to Simms for a 16-yard gain. A pass to Gray was good for an 18-yard gain, and then Etling handed to Colburn for a 4-yard run. Another handoff to Colburn made no gain, and then on third and 6, Etling passed 5 yards to Mariner. On fourth and one, a false start penalty pushed the Panthers back 5 yards, and the Panthers lined up to punt. However, the punt was faked and Kai Nacua passed 18 yards to Mariner for a Panthers first down.
On first down, Danny Etling was strip-sacked with Birmingham’s Damon Lloyd recovering the ball on the Stallions 47-yard line. A handoff to Person gained one yard, and then Martinez was pressured and scrambled for a 3-yard gain, but the ball was stripped as he was tackled, with Michigan’s Mika Tafua recovering the ball on the Panthers 45-yard line.
Etling handed to McCrary for no gain, and then was sacked for a 7-yard loss. A pass to Quinn could only gain 9 yards, and the Panthers were forced to punt.
The Brock Miller punt was returned by Amari Rodgers to the Birmingham 19.
Martinez handed to Rodgers for a 2-yard gain, and then a pass intended for Jennings could not be caught. On third and 8, Martinez could not find a target and was sacked for no gain, and the Stallions were forced to punt.
The Wadman punt was returned by Gray to the Michigan 43. On first down, Danny Etling’s pass was picked off by Ike Brown and returned to the Michigan 46-yard line.
Birmingham’s Matt Corral entered the game for the Stallions and passed 7 yards to Cain, and then a Corral pass was intercepted by Javin White and taken to the Michigan 40.
Etling handed to Colburn for a 3-yard gain, and then had a pass intercepted by Daniel Isom who returned the ball 48 yards for a Stallions touchdown. The one-point conversion failed, making the score tied 18-18.
The Blewitt kickoff was returned by Ross to the Michigan 40. Etling handed to Colburn for a 3-yard gain, and then could not complete a pass to Hikutini. On third and 7, Etling was flushed from the pocket and ran for a 4-yard gain, and the Panthers were forced to punt.
The Miller punt went into the end zone, and the ball was placed on the 25-yard line. Corral passed 12 yards to Thomas as the third quarter ended.
Corral passed deep to Jennings for a 43-yard gain, and then a handoff to Marable gained 11 yards to the Panthers 9-yard line. Corral scrambled for a 2-yard gain, and then passed 7 yards to Amari Rodgers for a touchdown. The one-point conversion was hampered by a false-start penalty, and was re-run from the 7-yard line, and eventually failed. The score was now 24-18 for Birmingham.
The Blewitt kickoff went out of bounds and the ball was placed at midfield. Etling handed to McCrary for a 6-yard rush, and then passed to Mariner for a 5-yard gain and a first down. A pass to McCrary fell incomplete, and then a pass to Gray gained 10 yards to move the markers to the Birmingham 28.
Etling handed to McCrary for a 2-yard gain, and then a pass to Ross fell incomplete. On third and 8, Etling was pressured and nearly intercepted. A 44-yard Jake Bates field goal attempt was blocked with the ball going out of bounds.
From his own 34-yard line, Matt Corral passed 13 yards to Williams, and then was sacked for a 4-yard loss. A pass intended for Cain was incomplete, but a 5-yard defensive holding penalty awarded the Stallions a first down. A 10-yard pass to Deon Cain was good for another first down at the Michigan 42.
Corral handed to Marable for a gritty 12-yard run, and then another handoff to Marable gained 7 yards. Corral’s pass intended for Cain fell incomplete, and then a pass to Sternberger gained 10 yards for another first down. A false start penalty pushed the Stallions back 5 yards, and then a pass to Person gained 2 yards. A short pass to Ricky Person was taken 15 yards for a Stallions touchdown. The one-point conversion was good on a pass to Thomas, to make the score 31-18 for Birmingham.
The Blewitt kickoff was returned by Ross to the Michigan 40-yard line. Etling passed 8 yards to Quinn, and then handed to Colburn for 4 yards and a first down. A pass to Hikutini gained 5 yards, and then an Etling pass was tipped, and the ball fell incomplete. On third and 5, Etling was sacked for a 4-yard loss. On fourth and 9, Etling threw deep and was picked off by Ike Brown, who returned the ball to the Birmingham 25. Michigan head coach Mike Nolan challenged the play for defensive pass interference and the challenge failed.
A handoff to Marable gained 26 yards to the Michigan 46-yard line as the two-minute warning was announced.
Corral handed to Person for a 4-yard gain, and then took a false start penalty, losing 5 yards. On second and 11, with 1:47 remaining, a handoff to Marable gained 5 yards. Another handoff to Marable gained 5 yards, but was short of a first down. On fourth and one, a handoff to Marable was stopped short of a first down and the ball was turned over on downs.
With only 0:13 remaining, Etling was sacked for a 4-yard loss as the clock ran out.
The final score was Birmingham Stallions 31, Michigan Panthers 18.
