The Birmingham Stallions (1-1, 1-0) rebounded to earn their first win of the 2025 season with a 21-12 win over the Michigan Panthers (1-1, 0-1) in a USFL Conference matchup on Friday on the road.

It wasn’t pretty on offense for Birmingham once again as quarterback Alex McGough was injured on the first play of the game, bringing former Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral in to lead the Stallion offense. The Stallions struggled to move the ball in the first half, gaining just 122 total yards but the Birmingham defense allowed just 69 total yards. A pair of field goals gave the Stallions a 6-0 lead at halftime.

The Stallions got going in the second half after safety AJ Thomas intercepted a pass. A few plays later, Ricky Person Jr. scored one a 1-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 12-0. Michigan had its best drive of the game next but the Stallions held on the goal line, forcing a turnover on downs on the 2-yard line. After the Stallions offense drove near midfield, Corral heaved a 52-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Deon Cain. A two-point conversion extended Birmingham’s lead to 18-0 with 14:52 left in the game.

Michigan finally got on the scoreboard with a 9-yard touchdown pass with 9:16 left. A three-point conversion cut the Birmingham lead to 18-9. After a Stallion field goal extended the lead to 21-9 with 1:53 left, the Panthers added a 39-yard field goal of their own to cut the lead to 21-12 with 26 seconds left.

In the UFL, teams that trail late in a game can opt to attempt a fourth-and-12 from their own 30-yard-line rather than attempt an onside kick. Michigan opted for that opportunity – down by nine – but the Birmingham defense held and gave the defending UFL Champion Stallions their first win of the season.

“What a difference a week makes. A week ago, I thought we had arguably our worst performance in three years,” Birmingham coach Skip Holtz said. “We did not play very well, and I was proud of how our team came out and practiced this week. The sense of urgency that our players had, the energy that they practiced with, and the sense of determination to get the job done was awesome.

“When you get beat, you have two options: put your head in the sand or roll your sleeves up and go to work. Even though this game today wasn’t the prettiest football game ever, it was just a slugfest with two heavyweights sitting in the middle of the field going at it. We called it a bit of a conservative game plan because of how great our defense played.”

Birmingham totaled 271 yards of offense and Michigan managed 252 yards. The Stallions forced four turnovers and turned the ball over twice themselves. Birmingham was also penalized seven times, compared to just four for the Panthers.

Corral completed 18-of-29 passes for 198 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Ricky Person Jr. led the Stallion ground game with 53 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. Cain caught four passes for 84 yards and a score.

Kyahva Tezino led the Stallion defense with nine tackles, while Willie Yarbary earned six tackles, one tackle-for-loss and a sack. Ronnie Perkins also tallied five tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss and a sack. Thomas tallied six tackles, two pass breakups and an interception. Ryan Langan, Barry Wesley and Daniel Isom earned fumble recoveries.

Birmingham will open its home schedule on April 11 against the Arlington Renegades at 7 p.m. in a game that will air nationally on FOX.