Stallions look to jump start offense heading into week 4 trip to houston

APRIL 19, 2025 - BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

By Steve Irvine

Self-evaluation was a big part of the work week for the Birmingham Stallions. On Saturday night, Stallions head coach Skip Holtz will see if that approach works in a key division game on the road.

“We kind of did a self-scout where we watched our own third down, we watched our own red zone, we watched our own first down production,” Holtz said. “We watched our own blunder tape of sacks and turnovers and lost yardage plays and things like that, just trying to see what we could do to take advantage of one extra day this week. Maybe not physically, but certainly mentally with our football team.”

Obviously, the true test of the approach begins when the football is kicked off at 6 p.m. CT in a USFL Division game against the Houston Roughnecks (1-2) at TDECU Stadium.

“I really like the way that this team has responded,” said Holtz, whose team is 2-1. “As I told them, I don't want anybody to take this as criticism as much as it was just trying to be constructive, looking at ourselves and trying to take a 30,000-foot view of the Birmingham Stallions and what we are becoming three weeks into the season. You don't always like what you see in the mirror. Sometimes you've got to say, you know what, we've got to get better. I'm excited to watch them line up and play this weekend. I think that they are excited to go out and play. And we know that there's quite a few areas that we need to improve. And hopefully we can continue to get a little bit better each week.”

The improvement needs to begin offensively for a team that is seventh in the UFL in total yards per game (238.7) and rushing yards per game (82.3).

Holtz said two “glaring” things that stand out are the inconsistencies in the run game and efficiency in the passing game. His team will try to fix those areas against a Houston defense that improved considerably after a 31-6 loss to St. Louis in the season opener. The Roughnecks allowed 273 rushing yards and 460 total offense yards in the St. Louis loss. In the next two games, they allowed an average of 86 rushing yards and 279 total yards per game.

Houston has struggled offensively and faces a Stallions defense that gives up 267 yards per game. But Holtz thinks the Houston offense is improving with quarterback Nolan Henderson leading the way after taking over for Anthony Brown. Henderson led the Roughnecks to a 18-17 win at Memphis last week. Brown will serve as the No. 3 quarterback this week with Jalan McClendon moving in as the backup.

“It's been interesting watching their film just because I think they are evolving into what they're going to be,” Holtz said. “I think they are running their quarterback quite a bit more. He has been very, very productive for them and probably feeling more and more comfortable in their offense. And defensively, they are really starting to become much more of a pressure-oriented defense. I think it's going to pose some challenges for us.”