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The New Jersey Generals were hoping to make an early statement against the defending USFL champions.
The failed.
The Generals suffered a 27-10 loss to the Birmingham Stallions on Saturday night at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Ala. in the season opener for both teams.
The Generals lost just regular-season game last season and it was to the Stallions.
The two teams were both 9-1 in the 2022 regular season and appeared to be on a collision course for a rematch in the USFL championship game, but New Jersey fell to the Philadelphia Stars, who wound up losing to Birmingham in the final.
And the Generals couldn’t get revenge in this one.
Despite an up-and-down first half New Jersey had the game tied at 10 late in the second half. Plus, the Stallions lost their starting quarterback J’Mar Smith to an injury to his non-throwing hand. He was 10-for-15 for 160 yards with a touchdown and interception.
Birmingham backup quarterback Alex McCough was forced to enter the game for the final play of the first half when Smith suffered the injury after engineering another long drive deep into Generals’ territory.
In his first play, McCough threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jace Sternberger to give the Stallions a 17-10 halftime lead. McCough finished the game 7-for-11 for 68 yards with one passing and one rushing touchdown.
Interestingly, McGough’s game-winning performance was a role reversal of last year’s Stallions season opener. In that contest — a 28-24 win over the Generals — Smith replaced an injured McGough, who was then the team’s starter, and led Birmingham to the victory.
Smith, however, didn’t seemed crushed and was happy McGough was able to lead the Stallions to victory, telling FOX Sports’ Brock Huard on the sideline that it didn’t matter which quarterback was in the game.
“That’s my guy, man,” he said. “We’re both competitors and we want to see the best from each other.”
The Generals got off to a rough start when tight end Braedon Bowman — who had a brief stint with the Jets in 2016 — lost a fumble after receiving a pass from quarterback De’Andre Johnson (4-for-13 for 29 yards) in the opening minutes of the first quarter.
The Stallions turned the turnover into a touchdown on the next play when Smith threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Austin Watkins to give Birmingham a 7-0 lead.
The Generals tied it up in the second quarter after quarterback Dakota Prukop, who had replaced Johnson, scored on a 2-yard touchdown run on a designed draw. Prukop, who was 13-for-17 for 148 yards seemed to have more success than Johnson, but still couldn’t get the Generals in the end zone enough.
The Generals, who are coached by Mike Riley, employed a two-quarterback system throughout the game, just like they did last season.
Riley said the Generals played well at times but gave up too many plays and “lost the situation game.”
“We had our opportunities,” said Riley, who was the USFL’s Coach of the Year last season. “Give them credit for making the plays they needed to make in the red zone.
“I think we have a good football team, but we didn’t play well enough consistently.”
The Stallions regained the lead later in the second when Brandon Aubrey hit a chip-shot 22-yard field goal after Birmingham’s drive stalled.
The Generals had a chance to take the lead for the first time, but Johnson, who was put back into the game, was stopped before the goal line trying to score on a quarterback sweep. The play was a close one, but was upheld after replay review.
New Jersey had another golden opportunity to take the lead when DJ Daniel intercepted Smith’s pass to set the Generals’ up at Birmingham’s 15-yard line. But they had to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Nick Sciba, which tied the game up at 10.
The Stallions put the game away in the third quarter. First, they recovered a Prukop fumble at the New Jersey 45.
A few plays later McCough scored on a 29-yard touchdown run to give the Stallions a 24-10 lead.
Aubrey kicked a 49-yard field goal in the fourth quarter for the Stallions to complete the scoring.
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