Stallions’ season ends as injuries mount and playoff rally runs out of steam
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - May 31, 2026
By Steve Irvine
The Birmingham Stallions came to a grinding halt on Saturday afternoon following a 26-13 loss to the Houston Gamblers at Protective Stadium.
A win would have kept the Stallions alive for one of the final two spots in the four-team UFL playoffs. Instead, a Houston running game that grinded its way to a UFL single game record of 277 rushing yards and an inept injury-plagued Stallions offense was too much to overcome for first-year head coach AJ McCarron and his team.
“Tough one,” McCarron said in his final postgame press conference of the season. “We were running out of players, so we had five new (offensive lineman), you had 10 personnel (and) we were actually in 12 personnel. I mean, it was a tough, tough day. First two or three drives, headsets going out. I think DTR (quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson) had to call his own stuff on some of those plays with the headsets going in and out. But tough day, I was proud of the guys, they fought.”
The Stallions (4-6) never led in the game and their biggest play – a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown by Alex Cook – was followed by a 72-yard touchdown run by Houston’s Marcus Major. Birmingham’s only offensive points came with 11:29 left on a 6-yard pass from Thompson-Robinson to Kyric McGowan, who was joined the team about three weeks ago and was active for the first time this season. The Stallions managed just 131 yards in total offense and were 3-for-12 on third down by the Gamblers (4-6).
Many of the problems came up front with a patchwork offensive line cobbled together over the past couple of weeks. Houston had three sacks and five tackles for loss and kept the Stallions offense uncomfortable throughout. The Stallions lost wide receivers Justyn Ross, Deon Cain and Marlon Williams during the game and tight ends Jordan Thomas and Tyler Davis were asked to line up on the outside for a large portion of the second half.
McCarron said they had to change things on the fly.
“You go ‘Z’, you go ‘X, hey you got the post, hey you got a basic,” McCarron said of the process of adapting to tight ends playing a wide receiver spot for the first time. “That’s really it. You just got to try over the headset tell them what they have. They do a great job of understanding what they have playing their position but now all of the sudden a tight end is no longer in the Y spot. JT, multiple times had to line up at Z, multiple times had to line up at X. You just try to go over the headset and try to tell them (what to do).”
Combine that with the pressure by Houston’s defensive front and Thompson-Robinson had little opportunity to get into a rhythm. He finished 13-for-27 for 112 yards.
On the other side, the Stallions had no answer for the Gamblers running game which featured four players with more than 50 yards despite leading rusher Marcus Yarns taking the day off so he could remain healthy for a NFL tryout this week. Major was the leading rusher on Saturday with 80 yards on eight carries but a bulk of the damage was done by Plumlee, who had 77 yards on 10 carries. As a team, the Gamblers averaged 7.3 yards per carry.
The loss puts a disappointing end to a season that started slowly but seemed to turn with a three-game winning streak that put the Stallions in excellent position to reach the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. But those hopes were dashed with back-to-back regular season ending losses. Instead of prepping for the playoffs, the Stallions end with a losing record for the first time.
“I mean, hell, we all expect to win,” McCarron said. “Listen, you live and you learn. It’s part of it. Everything’s not going to be perfect. I thought when we hit our groove, really started playing well and had a three-game win streak, the injury bug popped up and started attacking us pretty bad. Like I said, it’s tough. When four of your starting O-line goes out in three weeks, it’s hard to be successful, I don’t care how many playmakers you got. You got to have time.”
McCarron said he signed a two-year contract with the UFL and he talked about plans moving forward. He also was asked for thoughts on his first season despite it not ending as hoped.
“It’s been awesome,” McCarron said. “Listen, I know in this world we get caught up in wins and losses. We’re playing to win but I have zero complaints. Every team in this league goes through things during the year, whether it’s guys getting in trouble or causing chaos within the organization and you not having good fits with everything. Like the ones that weren’t good fits, we made moves and got the right people in. I can’t say enough good things about my guys. I think if you watch the game (and) hear them talk, you can tell I love them and they love me.”