UFL Playoffs By The Numbers: Michigan RB Toa Taua dazzles with hat trick
The 2025 UFL postseason was thrilling, and just two teams remain — the Michigan Panthers and the DC Defenders .
The Panthers took down the defending champion Birmingham Stallions in the USFL Conference Championship Game on Sunday, 44-29, followed by the Defenders pulling out a 36-18 win over the powerhouse St. Louis Battlehawks in the XFL Conference Championship Game.
Here are the numbers to know ahead of the upcoming UFL title game on Saturday:
2: St. Louis finished the regular season with the best record in the league but saw its championship hopes dashed in the conference title game for the second consecutive season. Road teams went 2-for-2 this weekend.
3: After leading the league in rushing touchdowns in the regular season with six, Michigan RB Toa Taua kept it rolling in the playoffs with 85 rushing yards and a season-high three scores in the Panthers' double-digit win in Birmingham.
4: Birmingham's quest for a fourth consecutive spring football title under head coach Skip Holtz — Birmingham had won back-to-back USFL titles in 2022 and 2023 before taking the inaugural UFL crown last year — came to an end on Sunday. The loss also snapped a seven-game winning streak against Michigan that dated back to 2022.
5: The Defenders' defense dominated up front in the upset over the Battlehawks. The Defenders had five sacks and nine tackles for loss in the win, as head coach Blake Williams' group controlled the game from start to finish.
15: While it came in a losing effort, Battlehawks All-UFL linebacker Willie Harvey stuffed the stat sheet against the Defenders with 15 total tackles — the most by any player in a single game this season — and a sack.
24: The Panthers will take on the Defenders in the 2025 UFL Championship Game on Saturday. The two teams met in Week 6 of the regular season, with the Panthers handing the Defenders their worst loss of the year, 38-14, in Detroit.
44: The 44 points scored by Michigan were the most Birmingham has allowed in a UFL game and the second most it has allowed in four years of spring football; the defunct New Orleans Breakers scored 45 against the Stallions in 2023.
73: Michigan and Birmingham's 73 combined points is the most (regular or postseason) in a game in UFL history.
100: St. Louis' offense this season was predicated on its run game. It finished the regular season averaging a league-best 144 rushing yards per game. However, DC was the one team that figured out how to stop it, as it was the only team to hold the Battlehawks under 100 rushing yards in a game. What's more, the Defenders did it twice — in their Week 3 win in St. Louis and the playoff win on Sunday.
272: After sitting out the final three games of the regular season with an ankle injury, Panthers All-UFL QB Bryce Perkins showed no ill effects in the win over Birmingham. He completed 80% of his passes (20 of 25) and had 272 total yards of offense to go with two total touchdowns.
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Defending champion Stallions' abrupt exit tops storylines from UFL playoffs
All good things must inevitably come to an end, and that's never been truer for the Birmingham Stallions. After three consecutive spring football championships, Skip Holtz's squad is out of the running for the 2025 UFL title after falling 44-29 to the Michigan Panthers in the USFL Conference Championship Game at Protective Stadium on Sunday. "It's hard to lose, but it's with great respect that I say congratulations to Michigan," Holtz said. "It's with great pride that I say that I have really enjoyed coaching this football team and [watching] what this football team has been able to accomplish." Sunday's win marked the first time in eight meetings that Panthers head coach Mike Nolan earned a win in a head-to-head matchup with Holtz. Even though his team got the win, Nolan said things are far from finished. "There's still work to be done," he said. "Our football team knows that. We're excited to have another week to play." 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Smith went 4-for-10 passes for 102 yards, one touchdown and an interception before he was replaced. Deon Cain led the Stallions with six receptions for 124 yards. Birmingham finished with just 61 yards on the ground. Defenders overcome adversity under Shannon Harris' leadership With head coach Reggie Barlow and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams leaving at the start of the season, interim head coach Shannon Harris did a masterful job of leading his squad to the title game for the first time in team history. The Defenders' offense rolled to 36 points against the top-ranked defense in the league on the road in a hostile environment at St. Louis. Greg Williams' son Blake Williams, serving as the defensive coordinator for the Defenders, held St. Louis to 240 yards and a 22.2% conversion rate on third down. The Defenders also finished with five sacks. "It came down to us, we and ours — and that has been our motto the entire season," Harris said. "We're going to do this together. It's not a one-man show on any of this stuff. As a head coach, you get praise for it and you get a record put on you, but at the end of the day, it's us. We and ours." These two teams will meet for the second time this season. The Panthers easily handled the Defenders in Week 6 of the regular season at Ford Field, 38-16. In that game, the Panthers rolled up 233 yards on the ground, including 99 yards from Taua and 90 from Perkins. Ta'amu went 19-for-36 passing for 259 yards and two touchdowns. Finishing with nine receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown, Chris Rowland was Ta'amu's favorite target. If the Defenders want a shot at winning this one, however, they must do a better job of stopping the run. Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him at @eric_d_williams . Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily ! FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience United Football League recommended Get more from United Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
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