Defensive, depth, experience: Birmingham Stallions showed why they were champions in the opening game
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The champions threw down a marker at Guard Stadium on Saturday night.
The Birmingham Stallions knock off General of New Jersey, October 27, behind another characteristic defensive performance, plus a foul enough to win. They all emphasize how they became last year USFL champions and how they plan to defend their title now.
Stallions are forced to have revenue when the Champions own the first game after Nate Holley free polish from Braeden Bowman.
Then, with the first attack of the 2023 season, the Stallions midfielder J’Mar Smith hit USFL rookie Austin Watkins for the 61-yard TD throw and catch. It was Watkins’ only match, but it set the tone.
Birmingham’s Iron Curtain
After allowing TD to fumble and drag on for the first three minutes of the season, things didn’t get much better for the Champions. Their next four properties ended in free throws, and they converted only four of their first 12 third knockdowns into first takedowns.
midfield generals Dakota Prukop stabilized during split with starter De’Andre Johnson, completed 13 of his 17 148-foot passes. But in the third round and leading 17-10, Prukop surrendered to a game-changing mess.
After the Stallions recovered, they hit New Jersey with explosive play, with the Stallions quarterback Alex McGough dashed into the TD 29 yards to give Birmingham a 24-10 lead.
While the generals made four trips inside Stallions ’20, they only scored one of them.
For Generals coach Mike Riley, the reason for the loss was simple.
“It’s a game where when you put together all the stats from a bunch of games and you look at the penalties and the revenue, it doesn’t change,” he said. “Surname [penalties and turnovers] play a big role, the main player in the games, the other guys play the big part, you know, and they hit the spot right away and put us in a corner. I like the way we reacted to that. However, you know, I think we have a good team. I just don’t think we played well enough consistently [tonight].”
When the game is 6:49, Stallions to kicker Brandon Aubrey took the game out of reach 27–10 with a 49-yard goal, his on-field goal of the evening.
Veteran leadership – and depth – on display
In last season’s opening game between these teams, McGough was forced to leave the game through injury after just eight fouls.
On Saturday, he came on as a substitute for Smith late in the second half, giving the Stallions a 17-10 lead just before half-time with a six-yard touchdown pass late in the game. Jace Sternberger.
McGough completed seven of 11 68-yard passes and also led the Stallions in javelin with 52 in just five attempts, scoring twice on the ground. His ability to extend play and control the midfield with his pace gave Stallions an advantage and gave the Generals defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell a headache.
With Sternberger, along with expansions davion davis And Myron MitchellHoltz’s passing attack demonstrates the strength of the team’s depth, reliant on three newcomers to attack them while their running game produced only 88 yards out of 21 executions.
Sternberger caught all five of his goals in 62 yards and his first USFL TD from roommate, McGough. Sternberger’s contributions demonstrate the kind of talent that is on display in the USFL and how difficult it is to list in this league.
Sternberger left Texas A&M as a close-ended American consensus. However, during training camp with the Stallions, he was told he was behind.
“I think Jace owes his roommate everything during the camp,” Holtz said. “(McGough) has seen him quite a bit. The most important thing for Jace is to try to catch up with him mentally, because we have committed this crime and others have had it for a year. He just didn’t learn that, I mean, he’s about to ride a roller coaster halfway up the hill.
“We made the remark during the camp that if you’re new, you’d better get the handbook because we’re teaching veterans, not rookies. Last year we started where two plus two equals four. We started with division and multiplication this year.”
The newcomers caught up in a hurry and made their job as head coach difficult.
“We were able to get 58 players to camp,” Holtz said. “It’s hard to get to 50. It’s harder to try to keep 10 guys inactive because you know they’re good enough to play. And I think that’s the biggest difference between this year and last year.
“Last year, you had a transceiver that played a game 65 times because the difference was one to two [on the depth chart] is very large. This year I don’t care which team they move in, and I would say the same about the sub-team.”
a lot of trauma
Stallions won despite facing significant injuries in attack and defence.
Last year’s top receiver, Marlon William, suffered a tear in his right Achilles tendon, left the game shortly before halftime and is likely to miss the rest of the season. pavers Scooby Wright was forced to sit out at the start of the first half and for the rest of the game with calf strain that prevented him from training all week. Smith left the game in the second half after dislocating a finger on his non-throwing hand.
But the Stallions clinched a resounding victory while losing many early on against one of the toughest teams in the North Division from last season.
According to Holtz, the depth, continuity of coaches and veteran leadership could be the hallmarks of the 2023 USFL champions and the Birmingham Stallions starting the season 1-0 as the first step in many steps to win that title, according to Holtz.
“We’ve talked a lot from the beginning about we’re not defending anything, we’re getting what we earn,” Holt said.
RJ Young is the national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast “Number one college football program.“Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young And subscribe to “The Number One College Football Show” on YouTube.
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