USFL Season Recap: Stallions Ride to 2nd Straight Championship
Birmingham Was Class of USFL Once Again
The USFL season recap shows the 2023 season ended the same way as it did in 2022. With the Birmingham Stallions hoisting the championship trophy. The Stallions cruised to the title with a 28-12 victory over the Pittsburgh Maulers. Birmingham quarterback Alex McGough threw four touchdown passes, three of them to Deon Cain. The MVP Award from the Championship Game went to Cain.
There were eight USFL teams in the league, which were divided into two divisions. In the North division were the Maulers, Michigan Panthers, Philadelphia Stars and New Jersey Generals. While the South division consisted of Birmingham, New Orleans Breakers, Houston Gamblers and Memphis Showboats.
All games were played in four stadiums: Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, TN; Protective Stadium in
Birmingham, AL; Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio; and Ford Field in Detroit, MI.
Regular Season Begins
The USFL schedule began on Saturday, April 15. The league played two games on Saturday and two games on Sunday.
The USFL scores showed the South division was by far the stronger of the two. All four teams in the South finished with records of .500 or better. All four teams in the North were below .500. However, that didn’t make any difference as far as the playoffs were concerned. The top two teams from each division advanced to the postseason regardless of record.
The USFL season recap shows Pittsburgh and Michigan claimed the top spots from the North division by virtue of a tie-breaker. Both teams, along with Philadelphia, finished with 4-6 records. In the playoffs, Pittsburgh defeated Michigan 31-27 in overtime to advance to the championship game.
Birmingham finished with an 8-2 record and New Orleans was 7-3 to lead the South division. But the Stallions rolled past the Breakers in the playoffs, posting a 47-22 victory to advance to the title game for the second consecutive year.
The season MVP Award went to McGough. He threw for a league-high 20 touchdown passes. He was also sixth in the league in rushing with 403 yards and five touchdowns.
The USFL season recap notes New Orleans quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson led the league with 2,433 passing yards. New Orleans running back Wes Hills led the USFL with 679 rushing yards and Philadelphia’s Corey Coleman had a league-best 669 receiving yards.
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