Stallions Sloppy In Season Opening Loss At D.C.
MARCH 30, 2025 - BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
By Steve Irvine
With the game still in reach, Birmingham Stallions quarterback Alex McGough was sacked on the final two plays of the season-opening game against the D.C. Defenders. That was a fitting way to end a frustrating afternoon in the 18-11 road loss to the Defenders at Audi Field.
It was a tough first game back for McGough, who was sacked eight times in the loss and threw for just 89 yards with an interception. He was able to escape for 84 yards rushing with 45 of that coming on the final possession. But, in the end, he couldn’t overcome the sacks, as well as some quarterback rust.
“Obviously, I did not do a good job with Alex in getting him ready,” Holtz said. “He’s been out of the quarterback position for a while. He did some great things athletically but I’m talking about playing quarterback, when you get blitzed and you got to throw hot and those type of things. I did not do a very good job of that with him and I thought some of those things showed up today.”
Holtz said afterward that he considered making a change at quarterback with Matt Corral taking over for McGough.
“Really what I did was I tried to roll two quarterbacks last year and it really didn’t work with the personalities involved,” Holtz said. “I’m not going to get into changing quarterback every other series. Matt is very capable. I did give (making a change) some thought at one point. But really it had more to do with taking sacks than it did seeing the field or being able to throw the football. Alex, when he gets pressured, he had some man situations where they brought more than we can block and he’s got to get rid of the ball. Instead, he tries to refer to his athleticism. Like I said, he hasn’t done it for two years and it showed up today. I didn’t make the move and that one’s on me but I felt like Alex would get back into it.”
The Defenders controlled the early part of the game, sandwiching a pair of Matt McCrane videos around a 53-yard field goal by Birmingham’s Harrison Bevis. The Stallions scored the first touchdown of the game on a 12-yard touchdown pass from McGough to CJ Marable with 14:21 left in the second quarter. The scoring play capped a seven-play, 55-yard drive that was sparked by a 22-yard pass play from McGough to Davion Davis and an 11-yard run by Ricky Person Jr. At that point, McGough was 5-for-7 passing for 61 yards. The remainder of the game, he was 4-for-15 for 28 yards with an interception.
D.C. managed to regain the lead with an eight-play, 63-yard drive that began with 1:42 left in the first half. Quarterback Jordan Ta’amu concluded the drive on a 4-yard scoring pass to Chris Rowland with eight seconds on the clock. The scoring play was the second third down conversion of the drive.
The Defenders put offensive pressure on the Stallions for much of the second half but the Birmingham defense made timely plays. D.C. managed just two field goals after halftime, with both coming in the fourth quarter. The final field goal, a 53-yarder by McCrane, came with 1:50 remaining and left Birmingham with one more chance.
McGough was sacked for an 8-yard loss on second down but scrambled for 19 yards on the next play. Two plays later, McGough scrambled for 26 yards, giving the Stallions a first down at the D.C. 19-yard line with 43 seconds left. But the threat ended with back-to-back sacks and the Stallions dropped the season opener.
Linebacker Tae Crowder led the Stallions with 11 tackles and added a pass breakup. Cornerback Steven Gilmore had nine tackles and three pass breakups and defensive tackle Willie Yarbary had eight tackles. Overall, the Stallions were outgained, 297-131, and hurt themselves with 10 penalties for 71 yards.
It will be a quick turnaround for the Stallions, who play at the Michigan Panthers on Friday. The Panthers beat Memphis, 26-12, on Sunday.