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by Fran Stuchbury
May 15, 2025 - United Football League (UFL)


Road teams flipped the script in week seven of the United Football League season, winning three of four games, almost a reversal from the previous week in which home teams went undefeated.

The D.C. Defenders opened the weekend by downing the San Antonio Brahmas, 32-24. Defenders quarterback Jordan Ta'amu continued to sizzle, completing 19 of 24 passes for 278 yards and three scores with a 79.2 completion percentage, his highest of the season. Ten different players caught at least one pass. It was the fourth-straight game in which Ta'amu threw for at least 250 yards and posted two or more passing touchdowns.

One of his touchdowns came on a trick play to Defenders offensive lineman Gunner Britton who caught a two-yard scoring pass on fourth down with 1:55 left in the game.

"We worked it for two weeks now," said Ta'amu. "We knew bringing that heavy package out there, that we liked to call Rhino, that everybody would be in that box. We worked it with Gunner. In practice he caught it with one hand and tried to do it again, glad it worked out."

"We were sitting on that play the last two weeks," said Defenders Interim Head Coach Shannon Harris. "We knew we would need it at the right point in time. Today we needed it."

With San Antonio up 12-6 late in the first half and in range for a field goal, Brahmas quarterback Kevin Hogan tried to scramble out of the pocket but collided with one of his offensive linemen and lost the football. Defenders linebacker Anthony Hines III scooped it up and ran it back 49 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 12 at halftime.

San Antonio finally scored its first touchdown in ten quarters with a seven-yard pass to tight end Alize Mack in the second quarter. The Brahmas have scored a combined 48 points in the two games against the Defenders, and just 47 points in the other five games they have played this season.

At Arlington, Michigan Panthers quarterback Bryce Perkins was able to take his team 71 yards down the field with two minutes left in the game. Perkins scrambled for 10 yards to the one-yard line, and Panthers head coach Mike Nolan was able to get the time out with one second left on game. Michigan's Toa Taua scored rom one-yard out to tie the game at 24-24, then converted for a one-point conversion to win the game 25-24.

"I'm just proud to be a part of these moments ... and for the guys trusting me and having faith," Taua said. "There's never a dull moment in the game. We all looked at each other and said we're going to get another [opportunity] here, and we're going to capitalize. Just be ready. It's one of those times where you just look in the huddle and say. 'Let's win this ballgame.'"

Perkins completed 15-28 passes for 231 yards with one touchdown plus eight carries for 63 yards and another score.

"My time with the (Los Angeles) Rams was definitely special; I learned a lot about ball, and about life," said Perkins. "To be in a room first with Jared Goff, then with Matthew Stafford, The way they compete, the way they trust their guys. No matter when they go out there, the team has faith. Win, lose or draw: compete to the end. They will leave it all out there. Sitting back definitely watching those guys showed me how to be a true competitor at quarterback at the highest level."

On the other side, the Renegades have lost their three games by a combined eleven points.

The Arlington offense finally played well, scoring their first touchdown in 24 possessions over 10 quarters on a Luis Perez 29-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Vaughns in the fourth quarter. For the game, Perez connected on 25 of 34 throws for 314 yards and two touchdowns. This season Perez had four touchdown passes taken away due to Super Challenges.

Perez had another against Michigan, a 20-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to Tyler Vaughns that was called back due to offensive holding after a Nolan challenge. The Renegades ended up settling for a 33-yard Lucas Havrisik field goal that possession.

Arlington Head Coach Bob Stoops was surprised the Panthers had one second left on the clock to get a play off.

"I never seen that happen, someone run around (Perkins) like that and only six seconds are off the clock," said Stoops. "We got a little but unlucky with the timing on the clock. How it goes to zero and then you put a second back, I am not so sure. You can't instantly land and it be timeout."

The St. Louis defense stepped up again to secure a victory at Memphis, 19-9. St. Louis has surrendered a total of 15 points the last two games.

Against the Showboats they collected two sacks, six tackles for loss, five pass breakups, one interception, and stopped the Memphis offense twice on fourth-and-one.

St. Louis has won three straight games.

"The defense, we've just been relentless, bend don't break mentality," said Battlehawks linebacker Travis Freeney. "Like coach wanted: he wanted violence; he wanted us to finish a game and finish strong. We have really been taking it ourselves. At the end of the day our defense has to beat the other team's defense. When the pass rush and the secondary works together, nobody is going be able to stop us."

The Battlehawks go for their fourth consecutive victory on Saturday at home against the Birmingham Stallions.

Birmingham was the only team to win at home this week, overcoming a 25-6 second quarter deficit to rally and defeat the Houston Roughnecks 33-25.

"Game is 60 minutes long, and we have almost mastered the art of how to try and use every one of those 60 minutes to try and win a football game," said Stallions Head Coach Skip Holtz. "We never say die, we never will quit."

Birmingham quarterback Case Cookus went down with an elbow injury, the third Stallions quarterback to have to leave the field this year. J'Mar Smith came off the bench, completing three of five passes for 63 yards plus a key one-yard rushing touchdown that gave them a 27-25 lead late in the fourth quarter.

UFL Top 10 Plays From Week 7

Every Touchdown of Week 7

Week 7 Games

Friday May 16th

Memphis Showboats at San Antonio Brahmas - 8 pm est. FOX

Saturday May 17th

Michigan Panthers at Houston Roughnecks - 1 pm est. FOX (regional)

Birmingham Stallions at St. Louis Battlehawks - 1 pm est. FOX (regional)

Sunday May 18th

Arlington Renegades at D.C Defenders - 12 pm est. ABC

EXTRA POINTS

  • Friday's D.C Defenders at San Antonio Brahmas on FOX drew 540,000 viewers. Saturday's Michigan Panthers at Arlington Renegades game, also on FOX, totaled 596,000 viewers. Sunday's Houston Roughnecks at Birmingham Stallions telecast on ABC had 956,000 viewers, while the St. Louis Battlehawks at Memphis Showboats game on ESPN completed the weekend with 233,000 viewers.

  • Attendance at Friday's D.C at San Antonio game was 9,844. Saturday's Michigan at Arlington saw 9,963 attend. Sunday's Houston at Birmingham game game attracted 4,774, and 4,215 saw St. Louis at Memphis.

  • D.C. Defenders quarterback Jordan Ta'amu, Defenders linebacker Anthony Hines III, and Michigan Panthers running back Toa Taua were named the OurSports Central United Football League Offensive Player, Defensive Player, and Unsung Hero of the Week, respectively, for week seven of the UFL season.

  • Teams went five-of-fourteen on one-point conversion attempts from the two-yard line, zero-of-nine on two-point conversions from the five-yard line, and one-of-one on three-point conversion from the 10-yard line.

  • The United Football League has announced that renewals for season ticket members and deposits for new season ticket members will be available for the 2026 UFL regular season.

  • The Michigan Panthers moved running back Matthew Colburn II to the active roster. Colburn led the Panthers in rushing yards last season with 401. They placed linebacker Frank Ginda on injured reserve. He tops the Panthers in total tackles 61 this season.

  • My UFL Best Bet Lock of the Week is the D.C Defenders -3 at home over the Arlington Renegades. The Defenders offense got back on track last week in their victory over San Antonio. Look for quarterback Jordan Ta'amu to have a big game against a Renegades team that has been reeling on a three-game losing streak.
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