Birmingham Stallions, Michigan Panthers square off in UFL semifinals

The Birmingham Stallions are two victories away from their fourth consecutive league championship. At this point, it could be said Birmingham knows the winning formula.

The Stallions open the United Football League playoffs against the Michigan Panthers in the USFL Conference Championship Game at 2 p.m. CDT Sunday at Protective Stadium in Birmingham. ABC will televise the game.

The Stallions won the USFL championships for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, then won the UFL championship for the 2024 season after the merger of the USFL and XFL created the new spring football league.

“The 1-0 mentality has a whole meaning to these players,” Birmingham coach Skip Holtz said, “so when they talk about 1-0, it’s not just a grand, big picture of, ‘Oh, just want to win one game.’ But it’s: How do you win? It is all about a mentality that we try to take as a football team that is why we have been able to have success. And it’s all about trying to remain humble and hungry and not allowing past successes to try to get in your head with what we’re trying to get done.

“It is a 1-0 mentality of trying to find a way to win one game, but that 1-0 mentality for this football team means much more than just trying to find a way to win a game. It’s almost a formula and how we get there.”

Without that explanation, how the Stallions got here might be mystifying. Birmingham has started four quarterbacks this season because of injuries, and the offensive linemen, defensive ends and cornerbacks have had more than their share of injuries, too.

Birmingham placed two players on the All-UFL team. The other three playoff participants combined for 20. But the Stallions won the USFL Conference regular-season title with a 7-3 record, the second-best mark in the league.

“When you look at the adversity this team has had to deal with, honestly, it’s a testament to these players and the way that they played,” Holtz said. “We have played five quarterbacks. And it’s one thing to play five – we played five out of need from an injury standpoint. You get into one. Made a decision: Alex (McGough) is our guy. I made a decision: Matt (Corral)’s the guy. Out for eight weeks; out for six weeks. Made a decision: Case (Cookus) is the guy. Injury, out. I’m going to start getting (Andrew) Peasley some work. He’s going to be the future. Out.

“J’Mar (Smith) became the starter because he was the only healthy quarterback I had. We went into that next game, and I didn’t know if No. 2 or 3 could play. And he went in there, and he’s done a great job and he deserves it and he’s earned it.

“It’s a real testament to this team that they have really kept their head down with that 1-0 mentality. Kept banging that rock; eventually it’s going to break. And they have really played together well as a team. I think if this team is able to accomplish anything in the next couple of weeks, there is no doubt this year has been the most challenging and at the same time the most rewarding for what this team has had to overcome to get to where it is right now. And regardless of what happens from here, this is a special team and one that will go down as one of my favorites since being here in Birmingham.”

Smith will make his fourth straight start on Sunday, the first Birmingham QB to reach that many after McGough started Games 1 and 2, Corral started Games 3 and 4 and Cookus started Games 5, 6 and 7.

Smith completed 22-of-21 passes for 306 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions and ran for 31 yards on seven carries in the Stallions’ 26-22 victory over Michigan on May 24.

Back from injured reserve, Corral will serve as the backup quarterback. When McGough got hurt on the first offensive snap against the Panthers on April 4, Corral came on to completed 18-of-29 passes for 198 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions and ran for 15 yards on three carries in a 21-12 victory.

The 2025 regular-season sweep raised Birmingham’s record to 7-0 against Michigan.

“I have great respect for (Panthers coach) Mike Nolan and the job that he’s done,” Holtz said. “He’s probably a lot like me – a little bit of a dinosaur. He does what he does. They’re going to have some wrinkles and they’re going to change a couple of things, but we’re not going to come out and run the wishbone. They’re not going to come out and do something completely different. You’re going to dance with the date you brought.”

The winner of Sunday’s USFL Conference title contest will play the winner of the XFL Conference Championship Game in the UFL Championship Game.

The D.C. Defenders and St. Louis Battlehawks play for the XFL spot in the league-championship game at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis. FOX will televise the game.

Sunday’s winners meet at 7 p.m. June 14 in St. Louis.

“It’s a completely different mentality playing in the playoffs,” Holtz said. “It’s win or go home. The other ones are like, ‘Yeah, we want to win. We want to win for the division and where we rank.’ But you have another game and another game and another game, so you can always make anything up. But this one’s win or go home. This one’s the playoffs. This one’s for keeps, so it’s a totally different mindset.

“There will be butterflies that maybe haven’t been prevalent all year. There will be some nervousness. There’ll be a lot of issues going into a game like this, a game of this magnitude and what it carries and how bad these guys want it. But how you win the game doesn’t change a lot.”

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.