Birmingham Wins USFL Conference Tune-up Game with Michigan

May 28, 2025 by CollegeFootballPoll.com Staff

The Birmingham Stallions and the Michigan Panthers will meet for the USFL Conference Championship on Sunday, June 8th at 3 p.m. eastern time on ABC at Protective Stadium, the home of the three-time defending spring league champions.

This past Saturday, the teams played a tune-up game in week 9 of the regular season and, after a 7-7 halftime tie, the Stallions came out on top by a score of 26-22.

The back-and-forth tussle saw Michigan score first on a 33-yard pass from Daniel Etling to Siaosi Mariner early in the second quarter. The score capped a 15-play, 81-yard drive that took 8:01 off the clock.

Birmingham tied it at 7-apiece on the first play after the two-minute warning on a 19-yard pass to Deon Caine from J'Mar Smith.

The Panthers tried to reclaim the lead before halftime, marching as far as the Stallions' 35, but a false start penalty on a 53-yard FG attempt extended the try to 58 yards and BT Potter's kick failed.

The Stallions opened the second half by driving to Michigan’s 18, but defensive newcomer Benning Potoa’e forced a fumble by C.J. Marable, and Adonis Alexander (Virginia Tech) scooped it up and rambled 54 yards to Birmingham’s 28. Three plays later, Etling hit Gunnar Oakes for the 6-yard touchdown and a 13-7 lead after a pass attempt for the 1-point try was incomplete. That would be the first of six straight drives that led to alternating scores.

Birmingham regrouped and scored on its ensuing possession to tie it back up at 13 with Larry Roundtree's 14-yard run around left end, but was snuffed on his attempted run for the go-ahead single point.

Potter put the Panthers up 16-13 late in the 3rd on a 25-yard field goal and carried that lead into the final stanza when, on consecutive possessions, the Stallions and Panthers both found the endzone. First, Birmingham grabbed its first lead at 20-16 with Roundtree's 1-yard run off left tackle, followed by a 1-point PAT pass from Smith to Jordan Thomas with 11:23 to go. Then, Michigan responded with a 2-yard by RB Toa Taua. The failed PAT left the Panthers up 22-20. Cain's second 19-yard reception gave Birmingham its' final margin of victory with 2:22 to go, but not until Michigan drove to the Birmingham 9-yard line where an incomplete 4th-down pass secured the win for the Stallions.

10,344 were in attendance to witness their home team's victory.

Like any week, the biggest crowd was in St. Louis where the Battlehawks had 27,890 on-hand for a game that was moved from San Antonio and was not part of the season ticket package. It also meant nothing to either teams' playoff hopes as St. Louis (now 7-2) had already secured its XFL playoff spot and San Antonio (1-8) had been eliminated. The crowd was even more impressive when you consider that the city's Major League Baseball Cardinals were facing the Arizona Diamondbacks and drew 32,214. The Battlehawks coasted to a 39-13 victory as they racked up 402 yards of offense.

Elsewhere, the DC Defenders (6-3), who had already secured the playoff spot opposite the Battlehawks, was a 24-21 upset loser at Houston with 6,684 at TDECU while Arlington etched a 30-12 win at Memphis (2-7) where only 2,044 showed up.

St. Louis travels to DC this Friday night at 8, before hosting the Defenders the following week for the XFL Conference title on Sunday, June 8 at 6 p.m. eastern time on FOX.

UFL Standings

Legend:
SoS=Strength of Schedule
SoV=Strength of Victory
c=Clinched Conference
p=clinched playoff
e=Eliminated

XFL Conference	W	L	PCT	PF	PA	Home	Road	Conf	ConfPct.	Streak	SoS	SoV
p-St. Louis Battlehawks	7	2	.778	218	155	4-1	3-1	3-2	.600	Won 5	.420	.381
p-DC Defenders	6	3	.667	217	211	3-1	3-2	4-1	.800	Lost 1	.432	.444
e-Arlington Renegades	4	5	.444	206	162	3-2	1-3	2-3	.400	Won 1	.556	.389
e-San Antonio Brahmas	1	8	.111	130	251	0-4	1-4	1-4	.200	Lost 5	.593	.667

 

USFL Conference	W	L	PCT	PF	PA	Home	Road	Conf	ConfPct.	Streak	SoS	SoV
p-Birmingham Stallions	6	3	.667	198	158	4-1	2-2	4-1	.800	Won 1	.494	.463
p-Michigan Panthers	6	3	.667	233	179	3-1	3-2	3-2	.600	Lost 1	.469	.352
e-Houston Roughnecks	4	5	.444	164	189	2-3	2-2	2-3	.400	Won 1	.494	.306
e-Memphis Showboats	2	7	.222	139	200	0-4	2-3	1-4	.200	Lost 1	.543	.389

Week 9 Results

Home team BOLD, Attendance, venue and location in parenthesis.

Friday, May 23
St. Loiuis 39, San Antonio 13 (27,890 at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis)

Saturday, May 24
Arlington 30, Memphis 12 (2,044 at Liberty Stadium in Memphis)
Birmingham 26, Michigan 22 (10,344 at Protective Stadium in Birmingham)

Sunday, May 25
Houston 24, DC 21 (6,684 at TDECU Stadium in Houston)

Week 10 Games (all times eastern)

Friday, May 30 - St. Louis at DC | 8:00 PM | FOX
Saturday, May 31 - Houston at Michigan | 3:00 PM | ESPN
Sunday, June 1 - Arlington at San Antonio | Noon | ABC
Sunday, June 1 - Birmingham at Memphis | 3:00 PM | FOX

Tracking Head Coach Records

Arlington - Bob Stoops (15-21)
Birmingham - Skip Holtz (38-7)
DC - Shannon Harris, interim (6-3)
Houston - Curtis Johnson (10-19)
Memphis - Jim Turner (2-7)
Michigan - Mike Nolan (17-14)
St. Louis - Anthony Becht (21-9)
San Antonio - Payton Pardee (1-6)