Record Kicks, Punter Touchdowns: Week One of the UFL had it ALL!!

Via USA TODAY Sports

Wow! That was an amazing first week of UFL action, as a fan who wants this league to stay for good, this weekend was the best! We saw eight evenly matched teams, with some great action Saturday and Sunday. To start off our weekend, we saw the "Match of Champions" in Arlington, Texas with the 2023 XFL Champ Arlington Renegades taking of the 2022 and 2023 USFL Champ Birmingham Stallions. Matt Coral, 3rd Round pick of the Carolina Panthers in 2022 lifted the Stallions with 201 yards on 12-21 passing and one touchdown to a 27-14 victory. You could tell that both teams wanted to be crowned the "real champion" and the stars were out in Arlington. Colorado Football Coach Deion Sanders and NFL Hall of Famer Troy Aikman made appearances to support the newly budding league.

Our second matchup of the weekend came down to the final seconds as Michigan Panthers Kicker Jakes Bates nailed a 64-yard game-winning field goal not once but twice, propelling the Panthers to a 18-16 victory over the Saint Louis Battlehawks. Watching the game had me

Via The Michigan Panthers

on the edge on my seat and had Twitter going crazy. Not only was a 64-yard field goal the second longest kick in a professional football game ever, but Jake Bates had not kicked in a football game in SEVEN YEARS!! He had not taken a live rep since high school, yet against all odds, he drilled a 64 yard kick two times! Unbelievable!

The UFL Sunday slate continued the "March Madness" as the underdog San Antonio Brahmas blasted the D.C. Defenders 27-12. The Brahmas charged to victory and outplayed the Defenders in a game that featured a 300-pound center scoring a 40 yard receiving touchdown. Yes, you read that correctly Punter Brad Wing found Center Alex Mollette on a trick play right before halftime. It was one of the wildest things I have ever seen on a football field, and as a Defenders fan, made me shake to my core.

Week One came to an end in Rice, Texas as the Houston Roughnecks and Memphis Showboats battled it out to end the weekend. The Showboats cruised to victory (pun intended) off of a touchdown run by Christian MacFarland and crazy back-of-the-endzone grab by Vinny Papale. Defense reined supreme as the Showboats topped the Roughnecks 18-12.

I had so much fun watching the games this weekend and look forward to more UFL action, if you did not catch the games, I suggest to mark your calendars for next weekend or check the schedule on our homepage. Hopefully the Defenders get back on track next weekend for my sake. This is the beginning of something special and I really think that spring football is here to stay! Stay tuned weekly content and follow @InsideTheUFL on Twitter!