STAMFORD, CT- The defending USFL champion Birmingham Stallions take on the Pittsburgh Maulers in the 2023 USFL Championship Game this Saturday in primetime at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock from Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. Birmingham aims for its second consecutive title while Pittsburgh has a chance to complete a worst-to-first turnaround after finishing in last place in 2022.
The teams played once this season, with the Stallions winning 24-20 in Week 4 in a back-and-forth affair that saw three lead changes in the fourth quarter. The Stallions enter Saturday’s championship matchup with the league’s top offense while Pittsburgh boasts the league’s top defense.
The Stallions finished with the league’s top regular season record at 8-2 and handily beat the New Orleans Breakers, 47-22, last week to advance to their second consecutive USFL Championship Game. Head coach Skip Holtz, who also serves as the team’s general manager, was named the 2023 USFL Coach of the Year in his second season in the professional ranks after coaching for more than three decades at the collegiate level.
Birmingham had four All-USFL Team selections, including quarterback Alex McGough, who led the league with 20 passing touchdowns and threw for 310 yards and four scores in last week’s USFL South Division Championship, and tight end Jace Sternberger, a 2019 NFL third-round pick out of Texas A&M who spent two seasons with the Green Bay Packers. Sternberger led the USFL with seven receiving touchdowns. The Stallions offense led the league in yards per game (332.6).
The Maulers beat the Michigan Panthers, 31-27, in an overtime thriller last week to advance to the USFL Championship Game. Pittsburgh, along with the New Jersey Generals, topped the league with five All-USFL Team selections, highlighted by cornerback Mark Gilbert, who led the USFL in interceptions (four), and kick returner Josh Simmons, who had over 100 more kick return yards than any other player (862).
Head coach Ray Horton, who won Super Bowl XXVII as a player with the Dallas Cowboys and Super Bowls XL and XLIII as a secondary coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers, aims to add a USFL Championship to his resume.
NBC Sports’ Jac Collinsworth (play-by-play), former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett (analyst), and Zora Stephenson (sideline reporter) will call the Stallions-Maulers championship matchup on NBC and Peacock.
NBC Sports and FOX Sports, the USFL’s official media partners, will combine to present all 43 games live during the 2023 season. 2023 features 29 games on the NBC and FOX broadcast networks, which is a six-game increase from the league’s inaugural season. NBC Sports will present 18 games across NBC and Peacock (11) and USA Network and Peacock (7). FOX Sports will carry 25 games split between FOX (18) and FS1 (7). Click here for a comprehensive season schedule.
Note to Our Readers: The previous story was sourced directly and in its entirety from NBC Sports.
