stallions down showboats 39-21 behind ufl record 4 td passes from adrian martinez

MAY4, 2024 - BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

By Steve Irvine

The stat sheet from Saturday shows that Birmingham Stallion quarterback Adrian Martinez threw for a season-high 368 yards and a UFL single game best four touchdowns in a 39-21 win at Memphis.

What jumped out to Martinez afterward, though, was the 13 incompletions also listed on the stat sheet. And, he added, his spot as next week’s starting quarterback in the the UFL showdown with visiting St. Louis Battlehawks is not guaranteed.

The results ledger from the 2024 season show that the Stallions are the only team in the UFL that is remains unbeaten after six games. Yet, Holtz looks at that ledger and is more concerned about the final four games than he is the first six.

“We don’t want to be results oriented,” said Holtz after the Stallions became the first UFL team to clinch a playoff berth. “We want to make sure we are as good as we can be. We got to get better fundamentally and I think we’re getting better in a lot of areas.”

For Martinez, at least on paper, he played his best game of the season on a day that Memphis committed to limiting what he did on the ground. Martinez, the leading rusher in the UFL, had just 25 yards on five carries. But he was 23 of 36 through the air with touchdown passes of 28 and 12 yards to Marlon Williams, 80 yards to Kevin Austin Jr. and four yards to CJ Marable. Perhaps the thing that made Martinez happiest, other than the final result, was he completed passes to 10 different receivers.

“That’s means I can go to sleep on the plane and I can feel alright,” Martinez said. “I don’t have to look over my shoulder and think “I didn’t get him the ball at all, I feel bad about that.” I can go to bed tonight feeling good about it and restart next week.”

Speaking of next week, Martinez is not taking for granted that he will be the starting quarterback over Matt Corral next week, even though he’s accounted for 686 yards and five touchdowns the past two weeks.

“I’m not sure, that’s all up to this guy right here,” Martinez said, nodding his head toward Holtz. “If he decides next week that it’s not me going out there, that’s something out of my control. What I can control is I show up Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and prep. It’s not in my hands. Like we were talking about in the golf cart (on the way to the press conference), we can have a deep philosophical conversation right now but, yeah, just control what you can. That’s what I stick to.”

That type of approach, Holtz said, is a key reason his team is on a roll. Another factor, Holtz added, is players are stepping up offensively when needed. On Sunday, wide receiver Amare Rodgers left after making his lone catch early in the second quarter. Kevin Austin Jr. responded with his best game, grabbing four passes for 108 yards, including the long touchdown. Tight end Jordan Thomas had the best catch of the game, a one-handed grab along the sideline for 33 yards and added three catches on two-point conversion plays. Marcus Baugh had a pair of catches for 45 yards and Williams had his first two-touchdown performance of the season.

“I think one of the things that’s making us better is there are some  guys, that are maybe new to the offense, maybe stepping in and doing some big things,” Holtz said. “We heard very little from Kevin Austin so far this year, yet he steps in today, has a huge play down the sideline, four catches, 100 yards. I still think we have way too many drops, things we can work on and get better on. But, we’re playing well as a team. I certainly wouldn’t have said that at the end of the first quarter.”

Defensively, it was a similar story with game-ending injuries to linebacker Demarquis Gates and cornerback Lorenzo Burns. Gates left early in the first quarter in what looked to be an upper body injury. Burns was taken from the field by ambulance but posted on Instagram Saturday evening that he was “good and healthy.”

Damon Lloyd and Elijah Sullivan stepped in at linebacker, alongside Kyahva Tezino, and combined for 12 tackles. The secondary helped limit Memphis to 161 yards passing and Kenny Robinson Jr. had an interception.

 “I think they’ve been playing at a really high level, together as a team,” Holtz said.