stallions’ sack specialists continue to stymie opposing offenses

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JUNE 7, 2024 - BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

By Steve Irvine

The sacks didn’t stop after the first three weeks of the season. But the total number of sacks for the Birmingham Stallions defensive front certainly decreased after a sizzling start to the season.

However, sacks aren’t the only way to gauge the impact that a defensive front can make on an opposing passing game.

“There's not a lot of sacks (in the final six regular season games), but you look at the number of holding calls that people are getting turned in,” Stallions head coach Skip Holtz said earlier this week. “That's because people are doing whatever they got to do to stop those guys from getting through. And even though they may not get a sack, it's still a loss of 10 yards for the offense. So maybe not statistically, but I think (defensive line coach) Bill Johnson and that whole group has done an unbelievable job. They've been a huge strength for our football team.”

For the record, the Stallions ended the season third in the UFL with 29 sacks. Eighteen sacks came in the first three weeks of the season. Defensive tackle Carlos Davis is second in the UFL in sacks with seven and Taco Charlton is third with six. Overall, the Stallions have 10 defensive players who have at least part of a sack and seven of those players are defensive linemen.

“I think there's a number of those guys that are gonna have the opportunity to sign into an NFL camp,” said Stallions head coach Skip Holtz. “There’s a lot of talent. When you look at (Dondrae) Tillman and Taco and (Willie) Yabary and (Jonathan) Garvin and you know, you could go through (the whole lineup of linemen). We feel like we have seven players. I don't care who's in the game. Just roll. I mean, they're all talented. They're all capable of helping us as a football team. But it's nice to know that if we can get people behind the chains and they have to throw the ball down the field, that you have a front like that can wreak havoc the way that they have.”

Sometimes, though a stat sheet is not the most accurate to chart the success up front.

“There are multiple ways we can disrupt the game,” Davis said earlier this week. “We take pride in being that group that just kind of gets things going, gets the defense going and just stepping up. We will disrupt the game any way we can, whether it’s batting balls down, to me that’s more demoralizing when the quarterback is trying to throw and we swat one down. Any way we can disrupt the game, we’re going to do it.”

A good example came in last week’s preview of Saturday’s USFL Division Championship game against the Michigan Panthers. The Stallions had just one sack but they pressured the Michigan quarterbacks throughout, which led to four offensive holding penalties.

Another example came following the third week of the season.

“What ends up happening after you show what you're capable of, then everybody has the opportunity to put on the film and scheme against it,” Holtz said. “And so what you see is you see a lot of quick passing game. Guys are getting rid of the ball, a lot of RPOs, run pass options. People aren't dropping back and throwing four verticals and throwing the ball way down the field. They're getting rid of it a lot quicker, which makes it look like, well, the defense doesn't have as many sacks, but that doesn't mean they're not doing their job.”