UFL Conf/UFL Championship & Team articles/media etc...

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Good place to drop an article, tweet, news clip etc on this weekends conf champs games and teams

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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/ ... 001980007/

>>  The Michigan Panthers will have multiple goals Saturday when they face the Birmingham Stallions in the USFL Conference title game: win a playoff game for the first time in three seasons, make it to the inaugural UFL championship and get payback for last week's last-second loss in the regular-season finale. 
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“I don’t aspire to be anything other than the coach of this football team,” Nolan said days before the award announcement. “I’m not trying to go to the NFL, I’m not trying to do any of those things, I’m trying to help these guys achieve their dreams. And one of those dreams, aside from trying to get back to the NFL themselves, is to win a championship.” <<

Det Free Press has done a nice job this season and this article is a good read.

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https://www.al.com/sports/2024/06/birmi ... yoffs.html

>>Stallions coach Skip Holtz thinks his team will have a renewed focus after a long countdown to the postseason.  

“I think there’s a totally different attitude in the building,” Holtz said. “I know I’ve been asked a lot in the last couple of weeks: What do you play for? … You’ve been a playoff team for four weeks, after Week 6. You had homefield advantage after Week 8. And I’d like to think, ‘You know what? We’re playing the game, we’re going to play at the best of our ability.’ But I don’t think there’s any doubt we didn’t play with the same edge the last two weeks that we have played with the entire season.  

“I see a difference just in the building. I see a difference in the attitude, in the tempo of practice. There’s an excitement, there’s an energy, there’s an enthusiasm right now, and I think these guys are really ready to go play.”  <<

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https://www.espn.com/united-football-le ... e-phillips

>> Can anyone stop the Birmingham Stallions? That's the big question heading into the inaugural United Football League playoffs, as coach Skip Holtz & Co. are hoping to add another championship trophy to their list of accolades. <<

I mean these games could be down to the last play just like last week.

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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/ ... 022932007/

>>HELLO, AGAIN:Michigan Panthers UFL playoff preview: Panthers seek revenge vs. Birmingham StallionsBOX SCOREGame notes: As they note, it’s tough to beat a team three times in a season, which is good news for the Panthers, losers of both games thus far against the Stallions. Both games were decided by one score, with Birmingham prevailing 20-13 back in Week 2 and then scoring with 59 seconds remaining last week for a 20-19 victory to clinch homefield in this week’s game.

Part of the Stallions’ success has been their ability to neutralize star defensive end Breeland Speaks, who was named UFL Defensive Player of the Year on Friday.  <<

Great coverage by DFP - where's the Detroit News?

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>>Deonte Brown started the Birmingham Stallions’ season-opening game at left guard on March 30. Six snaps into the contest against the Arlington Renegades, the former Alabama lineman sustained an ankle injury and hasn’t played since.
But Brown will be eligible to return to the field when the Stallions take on the Michigan Panthers in the United Football League playoffs

A staple of the Stallions’ two USFL championship teams and a starter for the first five games of this season, safety JoJo Tillery is back after missing the past five games.Cornerback Nevelle Clarke, linebacker DeMarquis Gates and running back Ricky Person Jr. also could be back in Birmingham’s starting lineup on Saturday after missing last week’s regular-season finale – a 20-19 victory over the Panthers. <<

WHOAAAA - This is Big news - Birm getting the Big Guns back for Playoffs!

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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/ ... 028738007/

>>  The Michigan Panthers were knocked out of the UFL playoff semifinals by the Birmingham Stallions, who completed a second-half rally to beat Michigan, 31-18, for the second straight week.

The Panthers jumped out to an early two-possession lead in the second quarter but were dominated from then on. The Stallions scored 28 unanswered points, which included a pick-six in the third quarter off Danny Etling to tie the game at 18, then scored two straight touchdowns in the fourth quarter to end the Panthers' season.  <<

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https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sport ... 028925007/

>>  It felt like déjà vu, but stung worse in every way.Just like last week's regular-season finale, the Michigan Panthers let another first-half lead slip away and fell to the Birmingham Stallions, 31-18, in Saturday's USFL Conference Championship game at Protective Stadium in Alabama.  <<

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https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story/sp ... 013964007/

>>Matt Corral, a former star at Ole Miss — who was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the 2022 NFL Draft — split reps with Martinez at the beginning of the season but had not played a down for the Stallions since April 20. In the third quarter of the USFL conference championship, Corral stepped in after Martinez's second lost fumble and third turnover overall.

"My thoughts going into this was to just treat it like every other day," Corral said. "We practice the same plays, same scenarios, each and every day. Coach (Skip) Holtz does a good job of putting us in place to get done what we've got to get done." 

Corral was excellent off the bench. He went 9-for-11 passing for 120 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. The interception came on his second throw, a ball intended for receiver Marlon Williams that bounced off Williams' hands into the arms of linebacker Javin White. Corral was able to shake off the early turnover and only threw one incompletion for the remainder of the game."I felt like we needed a spark offensively," Stallions coach Skip Holtz said. "I've said it all along, I feel like we have two starting quarterbacks." <<

And Martinez had them back at 12-18, but he looked fazed or not focused to me - like it was a big stage and he got over whelmed - plus Mich knows him better.

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https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story/sp ... 014115007/

>>  An Alabama football legend is set to lead the St. Louis Battlehawks into the United Football League playoffs.A.J. McCarron, one of the most celebrated players in Crimson Tide history, is the Battlehawks' starter a decade after he left Alabama. In 2023, McCarron led the XFL with 24 passing touchdowns. After the USFL and XFL merged to form the UFL, McCarron rejoined the Battlehawks for the inaugural UFL season.McCarron and the Battlehawks (7-3) will host the San Antonio Brahmas (7-3) in the XFL conference championship on Sunday at 6 p.m. CT. The game will be a rematch of last week's regular-season finale, in which the Battlehawks clinched home-field advantage with a 13-12 victory over the Brahmas.  <<

Tuscaloosa loves them some AJ McCarron!