Week nine in the UFL continued on Saturday, with the Birmingham Stallions hosting the Michigan Panthers as the two USFL Conference standouts battled it out.
Heading into this game, it wasn’t one that mattered too much in the grand scheme of things. Michigan and Birmingham both already clinched the playoffs, with the Stallions being able to host the playoff game, due to a conflict at Ford Field – meaning that if Michigan wins the division, it doesn’t matter, they won’t be playing in front of their home crowd.
Let’s take a look at what went down in Protective Stadium on Saturday, as it was down to the wire as it always is between these two teams.
First Quarter
Michigan received the opening kickoff, and appeared to get off to a rough start as Myjai Sanders forced a fumble on Danny Etling, recovering for Birmingham. However, offsides negated the turnover, and the Panthers kept marching. Myjai Sanders would get his revenge, though, batting a pass at the line of scrimmage on 3rd down to force a punt.
Birmingham was off and running with a fiery first down, as J’Mar Smith called his own number, barreling over D.J. Miller. Michigan’s defense would hold strong, though, forcing a punt out of the Stallions.
The Stallions brought the heat on Danny Etling from the very first snaps, and continued that trend as Kyahva Tezino perfectly read an RPO pull from Etling – sacking him for a loss of six yards.
That said, a conversion on 4th and 1 had the Panthers moving the chains, and they were marching heading into the second quarter.
Second Quarter
On 3rd and 4, Michigan ran the ball with Toa Taua, coming up with just one yard. Sitting at Birmingham’s 40 yard line, the Panthers opted to go for it. They converted with Taua making an impressive one handed grab, keeping the drive alive.
Two plays later, Michigan would find paydirt. A.J. Thomas blew his assignment covering Siaosi Mariner, who waltzed into the end zone for the score. The PAT to Samson Nacua was successful, and the Panthers had a 7-0 lead.
B.T. Potter’s kickoff went out of bounds, meaning that Birmingham got the ball at their own 40 yard line. That said, the Stallions had some problems. A penalty put them way behind the sticks, and then pressure from Breeland Speaks forced Smith into taking a sack from T.J. Carter.
Even though Breeland Speaks didn’t record any stats yesterday (limited snaps), his presence back on the field is huge for this @USFLPanthers defense.
Pressure from Speaks & Ron Stone Jr. forces J’Mar Smith into taking a sack from T.J. Carter (who’s been phenomenal). #UFL pic.twitter.com/vLXETXbthK
— James Larsen (@JamesLarsenPFN) May 25, 2025
Somehow, on 3rd and 26, J’Mar Smith found Cade Johnson for a first down – despite Michigan dropping eight back in coverage.
Penalties continued to be an issue for the Stallions, though, and they punted it away despite being in Panthers territory. Michigan went three and out on their end, as pressure on Etling forced him into a couple of poor throws.
With the ball at midfield to begin their next possession, Smith & Co. got to work. J’Mar pushed the ball down the field, and appeared to throw a touchdown to Davion Davis – but a somewhat controversial call from Mike Pereira in the booth resulted in it being called incomplete.
It wouldn’t matter, though, as Smith flung up a 50-50 ball for Deon Cain, who boxed out Keni-H Lovely for the ridiculous touchdown catch.
Just like that, we were tied up at 7 following J’Mar Smith scrambling in for the PAT score.
Michigan would shoot themselves in the foot on their final drive of the half. Nate McCrary dropped a pass which would’ve picked up a few more yards for the field goal attempt – and then a false start on Chim Okorafor pushed them back another five yards. Potter missed the 58 yard try, and we went into halftime with a 7-7 score.
Third Quarter
The success kept coming for the Stallions to open up the second half, or so they thought. On 3rd and 7, Smith fired a dart to Amari Rodgers for a key first down, deep into Michigan territory.
Meanwhile, the Panthers continued to commit defensive penalties that assisted Birmingham. Two offsides on back-to-back snaps pushed the Stallions into the red zone. Chaos would ensue on the following play, though, as Benning Potoa’e forced a fumble on C.J. Marable, and Adonis Alexander recovered – returning it a long distance before collapsing with an injury.
Toa Taua broke off a big run, with excellent blocks from Ryan Nelson and Victor Curne to open up the hole. A couple of plays later, Etling found Gunnar Oakes wide open for a touchdown, and Michigan had a 13-7 lead.
For the second time in this game, Birmingham looked to be down and out on a drive. On 3rd and 24, following a penalty and a sack, Smith unloaded a deep ball to Jalen Camp – who just beat Keni-H Lovely for the downfield completion.
A few plays later, the Stallions found the end zone once again. Larry Rountree made an impressive sideline scamper, and Birmingham tied things up at 13 apiece.
Michigan put together a solid drive on their next possession, finally running the football a bit more fluidly than they did in the first half. A couple of defensive penalties helped out as well, but in the red zone, Michigan ran out of gas – settling for three.
With one quarter of action left, the Panthers held a 16-13 lead – looking to close the door and get their first win against Birmingham in the modern spring era.
Fourth Quarter
The Stallions opened up with some fireworks in the final period, as Cade Johnson made a ridiculous downfield catch on 3rd and 10, setting Birmingham up in Panthers territory.
Michigan simply couldn’t get a stop on 3rd down in this game. On 3rd and 10 once again, J’Mar escaped the pocket and ran for a first down. A couple of plays later, Rountree ran it in from a yard out, and Birmingham reclaimed a 20-16 lead.
Danny Etling and the Panthers responded quickly. Siaosi Mariner beat Nevelle Clarke on a deep post, for a 45 yard gain to put Michigan right back in business.
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Etling then found Jaylon Moore in a ridiculously tight window to put Michigan at the one yard line, and two plays later, Toa Taua punched it in for six.
Birmingham would come swinging right back at Michigan. J’Mar Smith pushed the ball down field with ease, creating with his legs and finding open receivers. In the red zone, Deon Cain caught a pass, made Lovely miss, and then carried multiple Panthers with him into the end zone to take a 26-22 lead.
Michigan had one drive left in them, and almost got it done. Etling took advantage of soft coverage from Birmingham, getting the ball to his open receivers and extending plays with his legs. With a few tries from the 10 yard line, though, the Stallions held up. DeMarquis Gates came up with a PBU, and then Shyheim Carter finished it off with the game-winning pass breakup.
Birmingham would hold on for their seventh straight win over the Michigan Panthers, 26-22.
Standout Playmakers
QB J’Mar Smith: Smith was on fire today, dicing up a Panthers secondary all afternoon long. He completed 22 of 31 pass attempts for 307 yards and two scores, while adding 30 yards on the ground as well. The veteran continues to impress, after being “retired” earlier this year.
WR Deon Cain: Cain has had a heck of a year, and has emerged in this second half of the season as someone who should easily win All-UFL honors. Cain had four catches for 55 yards and two touchdowns, while also making an impact on special teams as a kick returner.
WR Cade Johnson: Johnson is one of those guys who’s usually quiet in the game until the Stallions need a big play. He was outstanding in this affair, with three catches for 82 yards – with all three receptions going for first downs.
LB Kyahva Tezino: Tez is a spring veteran at this point as well, and he’s continued to show up for Birmingham when they need him. Kyahva led the Stallions with seven tackles, adding a sack and two TFL’s to his total tally on the day.
QB Danny Etling: Etling was once again efficient for the Panthers, showing that he is capable of being a starter in this league. Danny threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns, keeping Michigan in the thick of it all afternoon long.
WR Siaosi Mariner: Mariner has always had his best games against Birmingham, and this Saturday was an example of exactly that. Siaosi finished the day with five catches for 115 yards and a score – none of those defensive backs could guard him.
Key Takeaways
One thing has become increasingly clear over the last couple of weeks: the Birmingham Stallions can win football games, and potentially a UFL Championship, with J’Mar Smith at the helm. It’s one of those storylines that none of us expected coming into the year, but it is spring football after all – and Smith has delivered for this football team since taking over at the end of week seven.
“I really thought J’Mar did a nice job, we kind of put the ball in his hand. Did a lot more drop back, and let him really determine coverages, because we were getting a lot of different looks. I thought J’Mar stood in there and threw some clutch balls.” – HC Skip Holtz
The Stallions were absurdly efficient on third downs in this game. They converted 11 of their 13 attempts, with two of those coming from 20+ yards behind the sticks. It’s becoming a glaring area of concern on Michigan’s end, as their secondary has struggled to get stops all year long in those situations. We even heard DC Collin Bauer on the broadcast mention his lack of confidence in his defense to get a stop, prior to a 3rd and 24 conversion to Jalen Camp.
“I’m looking at the stat sheet here, and we were 11-13 on third down, which is pretty stinkin’ good if that’s true.” – HC Skip Holtz
It wasn’t perfectly pretty for the Stallions, as penalties have continued to be an issue. They had eight of them for 65 yards in this affair, something they have to clean up before the postseason push. On the ground, Birmingham couldn’t get much going, either. C.J. Marable had just 18 yards on 10 carries, with a fumble that gave Michigan plenty of momentum as well.
For the Panthers, they have a lot to figure out before the playoffs. Offensively, they are in good hands, as Danny Etling and Bryce Perkins are both capable of winning them ball games. Perkins has the edge when it comes to his “clutch gene”, but if Etling is the quarterback on June 8th, it isn’t doomsday for Michigan. He’s been solid these past two weeks.
Defensively, though, it’s a mess. The run defense has been outstanding, and they did a good job getting pressure on J’Mar Smith throughout most of the game. However, their inability to get stops in the secondary is extremely alarming, especially with the injuries sustained over the past few weeks. That group is spread very thin right now, and the future looks bleak with Adonis Alexander getting hurt in this game as well.
“They were in some obvious passing situations in those third and longs, and we didn’t execute very well. We need to get those things corrected. That’s what I saw. It wasn’t just one person, or one play, it was several plays. I counted eight plays on third down and 10 or more, that were converted by Birmingham. That might be a record.” – HC Mike Nolan
Special Teams have also hurt the Panthers throughout the year. B.T. Potter isn’t as efficient as Jake Bates, and his kickoff out of bounds gave the Stallions some momentum when Michigan was in control. There’s a lot of little details for Michigan to clean up, ahead of their matchup in two weeks.
Final Thoughts
Once again, the Birmingham Stallions found a way to get the best of the Michigan Panthers. In the end, unforced errors on Michigan’s side of the ball kept them from finding the lead late, while J’Mar Smith continues to show why he belongs in the UFL. On top of that, Birmingham’s solid crowd turnout allowed for some legitimate home field advantage in this one, as they got loud throughout the day – a trend that needs to move in that direction with the playoffs just two weeks away.
Week nine in the UFL finishes today, with the Houston Roughnecks hosting the DC Defenders at 4pm ET on FOX.
What are your thoughts on this game between the Birmingham Stallions and Michigan Panthers? Which UFL players impressed you? Let us know down in the comments below, or join the conversation on Discord!
