Inside the UFL

by Fran Stuchbury
Published on April 9, 2026 under United Football League (UFL)

Week two of the United Football League season saw the Dallas Renegades continue their dominance on offense, while the DC Defenders and Houston Gamblers rebounded from disappointing week one losses to score victories.

Dallas showcased another impressive performance on offense in their 31-15 victory over the St. Louis Battlehawks to improve to 2-0. Through two games Renegades quarterback Austin Reed has completed 48 passes for 616 yards and seven touchdowns. Tyler Vaughns has caught 18 of those throws for 290 yards and four scores,

"Be careful about dominant," said Renegades Head Coach Rick Neuheisel. "Certainly there was some highlights, but there's so much more we need to do to be able to control the game. A running game (is) still in kind of its infancy. We've got to be more consistent there, which will then lead to more chances down the field for guys like Tyler with play action. Austin has shown that he can handle that kind of stuff. What was really nice today was how well our offensive line handled a front that had gotten seven sacks the first time out, and that was the biggest concern."

Dallas looks to improve to 3-0 when they host winless Columbus Sunday.

On Friday DC powered to its first victory of the season with a 44-26 decision over the Columbus Aviators.

The Defenders ran for just 73 yards last week, but against Columbus they rolled to 230 yards and four rushing touchdowns. Running back Deon Jackson accounted for 97 of those yards and tied a UFL record with three scores.

After surrendering seven sacks in the opener, the DC offensive line allowed just one.

"Honestly I feel like we came together as a team, and offensively I would say we focused on the little details," said Jackson. "I feel like we made a lot of little mistakes last week that cost us. I feel like this week we came in, we had a good game plan. I feel like we executed well all week. We had a good week of practice going against the defense."

The Houston Gamblers also improved to 1-1 thanks to a shocking 22-20 home victory over the Birmingham Stallions. Much of Houston's scoring came via the foot of John Hoyland, who kicked five field goals including the game-winner in the dying seconds. A pair of late coaching challenges added extra drama to the final drive.

"That's something I've worked on a lot since coming out of college," said Hoyland. "It's just kind of the process, being able to check in with myself, preparing myself for the situations that are present. Driving down the field, watching Mike Pereira up on that big screen a couple of times, I knew I was ready for the possibility that the game was going to come down to me."

Benched last week after a poor start, Gamblers quarterback Nolan Henderson redeemed himself after he entered the contest once Hunter Dekkers went down with a shoulder injury in the second quarter. Henderson connected on 15 of 23 throws for 186 yards with 23 rushing yards.

"It's fitting it's Easter because I did a lot of praying this week for resilience," said Henderson. "It was tough last week to go through that. God is good."

Both Hoyland and Gamblers Head Coach Kevin Sumlin were doused with Easter Eggs in post game interviews on the NFL Network.

Top 10 Plays of the Week

Every Touchdown from Week Two

Week 2 games

Friday, April 10th

Orlando Storm at Louisville Kings - 8 pm est. FOX

Saturday, April 11th

Houston Gamblers at DC Defenders - 12 pm est. ESPN

Sunday, April 12th

Columbus Aviators at Dallas Renegades - 12 pm est. ABC

Birmingham Stallions at St. Louis Battlehawks - 3 pm est. ABC

EXTRA POINTS

1. Attendance at Friday's DC at Columbus game was 14,610. Saturday's Louisville at Orlando contest drew 8,585. Easter's Birmingham at Houston game attracted 7,744, while Tuesday's Columbus at Orlando week two finale drew 5,799.

2. Dallas Renegades quarterback Austin Reed, Dallas Renegades wide receiver Tyler Vaughns, DC Defenders safety Sam Kidd and Houston Gamblers kicker John Hoyland were named the OurSports Central UFL Offensive Player, Defensive Player and Unsung Hero of the Week, respectively, for week two of United Football League season.

3. The Louisville Kings named Charlie Eger offensive line coach. He replaced Breno Giacomini who was fired last week.

4. The St. Louis Battlehawks connected on the first three-point conversion after a touchdown in the fourth quarter with a reception from Hakeem Butler in their loss to the Dallas Renegades.

5. The Houston Gamblers signed Sam Castronova. He was the Arena Football One Most Valuable Player with the Albany Firebirds in 2025 where he led the team to a championship.

6. On Thursday the UFL announced it will add a team in Oklahoma City for the 2028 season.

7. My UFL Best Bet Lock of the Week is the DC Defenders -6.5 over the Houston Gamblers. After starting the season on the road the Defenders get to play at home in Audi Field where the beer snake will make its first appearance this season. The Defenders offense appears to be back on track while the Gamblers have to show they can finish drives and not just settle for field goals.

United Football League Stories from April 9, 2026

• Inside the UFL - OSC Original by Fran Stuchbury
• Inside the UFL - OSC Original by Fran Stuchbury
• Inside the UFL - OSC Original by Fran Stuchbury
• UFL to Locate New Team in Oklahoma City in 2028 - UFL

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.