UFL 2024: Daniel Isom's pick-six leads top plays from conference championships
The 2024 UFL Championship Game is set.
The Birmingham Stallions followed their regular-season finale win with a second consecutive victory over the Michigan Panthers on Saturday to advance to the title game. Stallions backup QB Matt Corral was fantastic in relief of starter and newly minted UFL MVP Adrian Martinez, completing 9 of 11 passes for 120 yards and two scores to spark the comeback.
The Stallions are set to face the lone team that defeated them in the regular season — Wade Phillips' San Antonio Brahmas — this weekend. The Brahmas took down the St. Louis Battlehawks behind two scores from QB Chase Garbers and another on the ground by Anthony McFarland, along with some trademark stops from the UFL's top-ranked defense.
Here are the top five plays from a riveting postseason slate!
5. DE Pita Taumoepneu, Battlehawks
The Battlehawks offense didn't offer much in terms of production, so the defense stepped up in a big way to give the crowd a much-needed jolt in the third quarter. After a seven-play, 60-yard touchdown drive, the Battlehawks extended their lead thanks to linebacker Pita Taumoepenu's 10-yard scoop-and-score.
4. QB Chase Garbers to WR Justin Smith, Brahmas
Garbers threaded the needle with a pinpoint pocket pass to Smith, who had nothing but daylight ahead of him as he coasted to the goalpost for a 63-yard score that FOX Sports play-by-play man Curt Menefee praised in the booth.
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3. QB Adrian Martinez to TE Jordan Thomas, Stallions
"One play, 50 yards." Martinez, who entered the game as the UFL's leading rusher, also has a rocket for a right arm — and he showed it off on this missile to 6-foot-5 tight end Thomas.
2. RB Anthony McFarland, Brahmas
Both the run and pass games were clicking on all cylinders for San Antonio in the second half. McFarland finished with 115 yards on 11 carries during his team's win over St. Louis, with one blazing house call accounting for 69 of those yards.
1. CB Daniel Isom, Stallions
Isom was responsible for the play that turned the tide for the Stallions and kept their title hopes afloat. Birmingham trailed 18-3 in the first half vs. Michigan, and after the Stallions climbed back into contention, it was Isom's 48-yard pick-six that vaulted his team right back into the fray. That score knotted things up at 18-all in the third quarter. Isom stood pat on a short stick route, jumped QB Danny Etling's pass and did some fancy footwork before somersaulting into the end zone.
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