UFL WEEK 1 RECAP: THE DAWNING OF A NEW ERA

The UFL kicked off its third season of spring football, and Managing Partner Mike Repole wasted no time in making moves to innovate the product. A few of the new rules meant to bring more excitement to the game include no punts from inside of the 50 yard line, and 60+ yard field goals now count for four points. It didn’t take long for these changes to come into play and make an impact on the game.

 

LOUISVILLE KINGS VS. BIRMINGHAM STALLIONS

 

The league kicked off with perennial powerhouse Birmingham Stallions taking on the newly minted Louisville Kings. Birmingham’s new coach, AJ McCarron is no stranger to the league, having spent time as the starting quarterback for the St. Louis Battlehawks. Meanwhile the Kings are led by Chris Redman, a local Louisville legend who spent 9 years in the NFL and has a super bowl ring to prove it. 

 

The game remained close all game despite Birmingham being a large favorite, and with 9 minutes to go in the game, Louisville was desperately holding on to a one point lead. Facing fourth and goal from inside the three yard line, Redmon decided to kick a field goal and extend the Kings lead to 4 points, much to the dismay of the crowd. The crowd proved to be correct, as QB Matt Corral was able to lead the Stallions down the field, score a touchdown, and put the Stallions on top with less than two minutes to go.

 

A missed extra point kept the door open for Louisville to kick a field goal for the win, but right as they were nearing field goal range, Kings QB Jason Bean made a poor decision to throw into double coverage. Birmingham picked it off and held on to narrowly escape with the victory, 15-13.

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

 

The Kings offense is like their jerseys: ugly, but has potential. Dropped passes, miscommunication, and a crucial error in judgement prevented the offense from thriving. That being said, Chris Redman seems likea great coach, and if the Kings can clean up the mental errors, they can provide problems for a lot of teams. Also, Lucky Jackson is going to be an absolute star in this league.

 

Birmingham’s o-line is not what it has been in years past, but their defense remains clutch. However, if this running game can’t get going, there’s a clear ceiling for this team. Most expected the league shakeup to re-bolster the Stallions’ position at the top of the league but it looks like they might just be a middle of the road team. 

 

ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS VS DC DEFENDERS

 

The best rivalry in the short history of the UFL added another chapter to its growing legacy. To say these two teams don’t like each other would be an understatement, as things got chippy early and continued all game. 

 

History was made as DC Kicker Matt McCrane made the league’s first 4 point field goal when he nailed a sixty yarder to give the Defenders a very rare 4-0 lead early in the game. Two elite defenses kept it a low scoring game, as the Defenders took a narrow 10-6 lead into halftime. 

 

However the second half was all St. Louis as DC managed to get nothing going, and Defenders QB Jordan Ta’amu was sacked a whopping 7 times throughout the game. The Battlehawks were able to put up 10 points despite facing a lot of pressure and hard hits, and came away with the 16-10 upset victory. 

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

 

It’s hard to tell if the offenses were this bad because both teams have elite defenses, or if they’ve taken a step back. For St Louis, QB Brandon Silvers struggled with accuracy issues, and when he was accurate, the receivers dropped way too many balls. 

 

Jordan Ta’amu made a few very poor decisions, as he’s apt to do. In years past, he was bailed out of these poor choices by his defense and star receivers. The receivers are gone now, and the defense can only do so much. Next week will go a long way in showing us if this was more of a credit to the defenses, or a sign of two struggling offenses. 

 

DALLAS RENEGADES VS HOUSTON GAMBLERS 

The writing was on the wall for this game right from the beginning. Austin Reed connected with Tyler Vaughns early for a huge play, and the Renegades were off to the races. The fact that the “spring king” Luis Perez lost the starting job to Reed should tell you all you need to know about how good Dallas’ passing game is going to be this year. 

On the flip side, Houston’s problems started early when QB Nolan Henderson threw a pick six to put Houston in an early hole that they could never climb out of. Henderson was quickly pulled for Hunter Dekkers. 

Dallas never let off the gas, piling up the points and yards. So many, in fact, that Austin Reed set the UFL passing record in his first game, piling up 376 very impressive yards. Houston was finally able to score an offensive touchdown, but it still was a three touchdown loss for the rebranded Gamblers. Dallas wins 36-17.

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

It’s going to be a very long year for Houston. Dekkers is competent, but the talent on both sides of the ball just isn’t there. They’ll be lucky to win 2 games this year.

While Dallas’ defense is solid, and the passing game is clearly elite, the running game never got going and the special teams allowed a return for a touchdown, and also missed some easy kicks. These areas will need to be fixed if Dallas wants to be champions this year.

 

ORLANDO STORM VS. COLUMBUS AVIATORS 

The big difference in this game was Coaching. The Aviators head coach is Ted Ginn Jr, who is a household name but has no head coaching experience, whereas Orlando is led by spring football coaching legend Anthony Becht. The hiring of Ginn seems to be a gimmick move that the UFL did for marketing, and it cost Columbus heavily in the first game.

Orlando took a 9-6 lead into the half after Columbus opted to go for it on fourth and goal instead of taking an easy 3 points near the end of the quarter. Then in the second half, the aviators had a pick six taken off the board because of too many men on the field, and Orlando took advantage and punched the ball in.  

On the next drive for Orlando, Columbus dropped what would have been another pick six. Orlando ended up driving the length of the field and former DC standout Chris Rowland snagged a great ball in the back of the end zone to effectively ice the game. Columbus clawed back into the game late, but ultimately fell to Orlando 23-16.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS 

I will say this until I am blue in the face: in the first half, ALWAYS put the points on the board. 

The Aviators run game should be strong all year. Ryan Nelson, Cohl Cabral, and Toa Taua anchored a Michigan panthers team that led the league in rushing last year. Zaquandre White is also an extremely talented runner. He and Taua are going to eat up a lot of yards this season. The question marks are coaching and defensive execution. Columbus seems like a team that is still a year or two away from being contenders. 

Orlando is loaded with talent on the offensive side of the ball. Jack Plummer was an outstanding QB at Louisville, and Chris Rowland and Jashaun Corbin had huge years last year and seemed to be poised for more of the same in 2026. The defense is solid and the coaching staff is the best in the league. If they can stay healthy, Orlando will be in the playoffs, guaranteed. 

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UFL WEEK 2 SCHEDULE

Defenders at Aviators, Friday April 3 @ 8 PM EST on FOX

Kings at Storm, Saturday April 4 @ 8 PM EST on ESPN

Stallions at Gamblers, Sunday April 5 @ 6 PM EST on NFL Network

Battlehawks at Renegades, Tuesday April 7 @ 8 PM EST on FS1