Recapping Week 1 in the UFL: Stallions prevail in battle of champions

The United Football League, the result of a merger between the XFL and USFL, kicked off on Saturday, as the UFL opened its 10-week season with two games that pit former XFL teams against former USFL squads.

Saturday started with the champions of each league facing off in Arlington, Texas, with the two-time defending USFL champion Birmingham Stallions prevailing over the defending XFL champion Arlington Renegades. Saturday’s action continues at Ford Field in Detroit, as the Michigan Panthers host AJ McCarron and the St. Louis Battlehawks.

ESPN will carry Sunday’s action, starting with the San Antonio Brahmas hosting the D.C. Defenders at noon ET. Action concludes at 3 p.m. ET in Houston, as the Houston Roughnecks take on the Memphis Showboats.

Saturday’s games

Stallions quarterback Matt Corral, a former Ole Miss star and 2022 third-round pick of the Carolina Panthers, threw for 201 yards on 12-of-21 passing and delivered a beautiful 39-yard touchdown pass to Deon Cain right before halftime to lead Birmingham to victory in the battle of defending champions.

In case you were wondering who the real Champs were 😏🐎

That’s a Stallions W 🔥 #GiddyUp pic.twitter.com/ePHGHFPc7G

— B2B CHAMPIONSTALLIONS 🏆🏆 (@USFLStallions) March 30, 2024

The Corral-Cain touchdown got the Stallions (1-0) even with the Renegades at 11-11 with three seconds left in the first half. The Stallions carried that momentum over into the second half with short touchdown runs by Ricky Person Jr. and C.J. Marable. Marable led all rushers with 67 yards on the ground to go with his touchdown run for Birmingham, which is now 22-3 over the past two-plus seasons.

Arlington (0-1) got in the end zone first, as Luis Perez hit Isaiah Winstead on a 51-yard touchdown pass with 9:01 left in the second quarter to give the Renegades an 11-3 lead. Perez threw for a game-high 214 yards on 19-of-28 passing but tossed a costly fourth-quarter interception to Birmingham cornerback Mark Gilbert to sabotage a comeback attempt.