The city of Birmingham will host a playoff game for the first time since 1985
The Birmingham Stallions are poised to return to the USFL Championship this season as the New Orleans Breakers are the only team to capture their second straight division title.
Birmingham finished the regular season with eight wins and is currently riding a five-game winning streak heading into Sunday’s South Division Championship. Birmingham has a plus-91 point differential and they haven’t lost a game while on the road. Many of the wins were attributed to perennial MVP candidate and All-USFL First Team selection quarterback Alex McGough.
McGuff began the season backing up Ja’Mar Smith, who led the Stallions to a championship in the 2022 season. However, a finger injury in April ruled Smith out for the rest of the season and Alex McGough was the team the rest of the way. Ironically, McGough started last season as the QB1 before he got hurt and Smith came in to help lead the Stallions to the title.
The 27-year-old former FIU standout has emerged as the favorite to win the USFL MVP, leading the league with 2,104 passing yards and 20 passing touchdowns.
“It was kind of a rollercoaster in the beginning not knowing how much time I was going to spend playing and splitting the time. I prepared all offseason to play and I prepared mentally and physically for the offseason. I think it’s going to start. The show,” McGough told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.
“I can’t do any of this by myself. I wouldn’t be All-First Team or Player of the Week or anything without the O-line, the receivers, and the running backs helping me. Every accolade I’ve received has to be done by everybody. This is a team that deserves an award. And that’s what we are.” We’re trying to get that championship trophy at the end of the year.”
McGuff was one of four players to earn All-USFL honors. He was joined by tight end Jayce Sternberger, punter Cody Wadman and long snapper Ryan Langan.
The team aspect is one of the reasons the Stallions are sitting on the doorstep of a second USFL championship appearance.
“I feel good,” McGaugh said of the division championship. “I think we’re playing really well on offense. I think we need to stop turning the ball over. I think we fumbled and I think we need to stop hurting ourselves, but I think we’re going into the game with confidence.”
The Stallions had to beat the Breakers last season to get to the championship game. Birmingham won the title 31-17, topping the Philadelphia Stars. This season, New Orleans won the first game 45-31 to tie their series 1-1, while Birmingham won the second game 24-20.
“I think we have to play our game on both sides of the ball. If we play our game, I don’t think anybody can beat us,” he told Fox News Digital. “So, we’ve got to try and go out there and execute our players and execute the game plan and play a really physical game and hopefully go out there and get a win.”
53 McGough represents the number of players who get another chance at professional football after failing to make an NFL roster. He was a seventh-round draft pick of the Seattle Seahawks in 2018. He bounced between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans before finding a home with the Stallions in the USFL.
Now he is two wins away from his second title.
“I think the main thing is to play again and that’s what this opportunity and this league is all about,” he said. “And I think everyone should try it.”
The Stallions and Breakers battle for the USFL Championship at Protective Stadium in Birmingham on Sunday. This is the first time in 38 years that the city of Birmingham has hosted a playoff game. The winner will play the North Division champion – the Michigan Panthers or the Pittsburgh Maulers.