UFL Week 2 Review

DC hits 10 home wins with 0 losses and Jake Bates adds in to his NFL case.

Week two had the most exciting game in the history of UFL football, and probably many other football leagues. In three of the four games, the ultimate result was determined by a decisive play within the final five seconds of each game. Jake Bates adds to his UFL legacy while doing something only seen once in NFL history.

Matchup 1: San Antonio Brahmas 20 - 19 Memphis Showboats

Going into the fourth quarter, Memphis was winning 17-0, looking good and on their way to victory. But, Chase Garbers and the San Antonio Brahmas weren’t done quite yet. On the second play of the fourth quarter, Garbers threw a 10-yard touchdown to Marquez Stevenson who ended the day with 103 yards on 6 catches. They scored the two-point conversion to put up 8 on the board. Then Memphis kicked their fourth field goal to extend the lead to 19-8. But on the Brahmas' next drive, Garbers threw an interception on fourth down to turn the ball over. Their defence forced a stop to get the ball back in QB1 Chase Garbers' hands. Garbers came through to throw a 5-yard touchdown to Jontre Kirklin with just 48 seconds on the clock. They

went for three which I was surprised, and they failed that try also. A UFL unique rule is when a team is tied or losing in the fourth quarter, they can go for a 4th&12 from the opponent's 28-yard line. If you get it you keep the ball. When they went for it, they barely got it, but they did. Then Chase Garbers led them on an amazing drive ending in a 10-yard touchdown pass to Cody Latimer with 3 seconds left. They took a knee on the try to avoid throwing a pick-six or something else bad. Deestroying had another great kick that the Showboats took a knee on, but Case Cookus got sacked to end the game. Chase Garbers ended the game with 287 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, and only 1 pick. He went 29/40 passing. San Antonio has held to just 12 yards in the first half. Case Cookus had 194 yards on 17/31 passing with 1 touchdown. Cookus also led the team in rushing with 58 rushing yards.

Matchup 2: Arlington Renegades 24 - 27 St. Louis Battlehawks

This game was also decided in the last 5 seconds. Andre Szmyt nailed a 22-yard field goal to win the game for the Battlehawks. Both quarterbacks had over 200 yards. The Battlehawks QB AJ McCarron went 19/29 for 248 yards and 2 touchdowns with a long of an amazing 53 yards. Luis Perez had 233 yards on 21/29 passing for the Renegades with one touchdown.

Matchup 3: Birmingham Stallion 20 - 13 Michigan Panthers

There are no words to explain how amazing the Panthers kicker has been through the first two weeks. He nailed a walk-off 64-yard field goal last week (twice), and drilled a 62-yard field goal as time expired in the second in this game. Only once in football history has a kicker made a 60+ yard field goal in back-to-back weeks, and it was Brett Maher for the Cowboys in 2019. Jake Bates did that, and in the UFL. Matt Corral and Adrian Martinez split snaps for the Stallions. Corral went 5/12 for 53 yards and an interception, while Martinez went 8/15 for 88 yards. Birmingham made 4 field goals in the game. For Michigan, EJ Perry started and went 20/33 for 203 yards, 1 touchdown, and one interception. He had an amazing long of 76 yards that resulted in a touchdown.

Matchup 4: Houston Roughnecks 18 - 23 DC Defenders

10-0 at Audi Field for the Defenders after this one. As I expected, Ta’amu played well so DC won. Ta’amu went 16/32 for 212 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. But, that interception was taken 98 yards back to the house by Corn Elder of the Houston Roughnecks. 2 quarterbacks played for the Roughnecks, but Reid Sinnett played more, going 19/30 for 221 yards and 1 touchdown. Jarrett Guarantano only threw 8 passes and only completed 3 of them. He had 23 yards in the game also.

Game Of The Week: San Antonio Brahmas @ Memphis Showboats

Player Of The Week: AJ McCarron