Sunday UFL: St. Louis Makes Statement in San Antonio, Michigan Wins
League Form and Style Taking Shape After 3 Weeks
A lot to talk about with the third weekend of UFL action coming to an end. First, let’s run the key indicator stats from Sunday’s action. I’ll put the first game above the paywall for new readers. That important St. Louis/San Antonio matchup plus some notes on league dynamics will follow just below for paid subscribers. Note that it’s only $20 to sign up for a calendar month (now’s a good time with the NBA Playoffs starting TUESDAY!). Or, if you can tell right away you LOVE reading this kinda stuff (reports on how sharps are betting major events, and box score summaries aimed at analysts and bettors), only $75 gets you a full calendar year (through all college and NFL football, and March Madness 2025!).
We start in Michigan…
Michigan (-2) 34, Houston 20
Total Yards: Houston 250, Michigan 332
Yards-per-play: Houston 4.6, Michigan 5.9
Rushing: Houston 53, Michigan 124
Passing: Houston 22-32-1-197, Michigan 16-20-0-208
Third Downs: Houston 46%, Michigan 58%
Turnovers: Houston 1, Michigan 0
Red Zone TD Pct: Houston 50% (2/4), Michigan 75% (3/4)
Very efficient day for the rested Michigan offense (third home game to start the season) vs. the tiring and soft Houston defense (second straight road game for the UFL’s worst team). Obviously 332 yards isn’t “explosive.” But, 5.9 YPP, 58% on third downs, only four incomplete passes, and 75% in the red zone is essentially “slowly” doing whatever you want. A lot of the rushing yardage was just the QB running into open space because THERE WAS SO MUCH OPEN SPACE.
We have to be careful not to give Michigan too much credit for all this efficiency. They will face better defenses…on the road…not playing in a second road game…that don’t just let you scoot wherever you want all day. Can Michigan produce against those defenses? Only 22% on third downs in a Week 1 upset win over St. Louis, and only 205 yards on 3.7 YPP last week vs. Birmingham suggest issues ahead (granting those are two top teams).
Houston needs to stick at the bottom of your Power Ratings. Michigan’s better…but might not seem THIS much better on a neutral field with equal rest. Market clearly had this one too close given the one-sidedness of those stats. Not currently putting “drive points” in the box because those already a bit balky for a minor league. Michigan won that 22-9 (points scored on drives of 60 yards or more), with TD drives of 68, 66, and 64 yards. Just run your finger down the stat categories and you can see this wasn’t a virtual pick-em.
Updated Records: Michigan 2-1 straight up and ATS, Houston 0-3 straight up, 0-2-1 ATS.