MEMPHIS, Tenn. – What a finish for the United Football League’s official Memphis debut.
Unfortunately, it was not to the liking of the hometown crowd.
In the first instance of innovative UFL rules coming into play, the San Antonio Brahmas scored two touchdowns in the last minute of the game, able to get the ball back on the league’s alternative possession rule and get in front of the homestanding Memphis Showboats for a 20-19 win here at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium on Saturday.
Tight end Cody Latimer caught the game-winner from Chase Garbers, a 10-yard pass with three seconds left.
Memphis had been in front the entire game, leading 16-0 at the end of the third quarter, and looked to be in command as late as a minute left in the contest.
“Every win is emotional, but to be able to come back from that far down just showed what kind of heart our team has,” San Antonio coach Wade Phillips told media following the game. “Our guys didn’t give up, and that’s really important.”
Garbers led the Brahmas (1-1), who had not been able to muster much of anything prior to the game’s final moments, on an 84-yard touchdown drive, a 5-yard pass to Javonte Kirklin with 48 seconds left.
The Brahmas went for a three-point conversion – you read that right – from the 10-yard-line. The attempt was no good, broken up by Memphis cornerback Delrick Abrams.
But in the UFL, there’s an alternative to going for an onside kick that teams who trail may utilize in the fourth quarter: the league’s alternate possession rule.
Phillips sent his team to their own 28-yard-line for a fourth-down-and-12; the clock would run as soon as the ball was snapped.
Garbers found a streaking Kirklin again, who caught the ball right at, and we mean right AT, the 40-yard-line, and officials ruled quickly that it was just enough for the first down.
San Antonio’s drive continued, as Garbers hit Marquez Stevenson for a 15-yard-gain to the Memphis 45, then hit Stevenson again, all the way down to the Memphis 19, and Stevenson was able to get out of bounds with 16 seconds left in the game.
Two plays later, with eight seconds left on the game clock and the press box wondering collectively aloud if the Brahmas would have time for two plays, Garbers and Latimer removed the need for a second play, connecting for the 10-yard go-ahead score, 20-19, with three seconds left, and done.
The conversion was no good, but San Antonio had claimed its first lead of the contest.
On the game’s final play, Memphis quarterback Case Cookus was hit by San Antonio linebacker Garrett Nelson and fumbled the ball. Memphis receiver Jonathan Adams picked up the fumble, but the 20-19 score would be the final.
Garbers wound up with a very good day: 29-of-40 for 287 yards and three touchdowns. Stevenson had six catches for 103 yards and a 10-yard touchdown early in the fourth, San Antonio’s first score of the game.
Latimer had eight catches for 91 yards and the game-winner, and Kirklin had seven for 53 yards.
The Brahmas didn’t do everything right, of course. The first half wasn’t good at all, and they did finish with 142 yards’ worth of penalties, something Phillips and staff will likely focus on this week.
Cookus went 17-of-31 for Memphis for 194 yards and a touchdown pass to Daewood Davis. The Showboats finished with 288 total yards, and 112 rush yards, led by Cookus, with 58.
San Antonio’s defense had three sacks; the Showboats (1-1 this season) had two.
“The key stat for our team is that we were 1-for-6 in the red zone,” DeFilippo noted. “And you’re not gonna win a lot of games when you’re 1-for-6 in the red zone.
“Probably one of the most disappointing losses I’ve ever been a part of,” DeFilippo continued. “I hurt for our players, because they worked their tails off, and bought in. But I can tell you this: we’re not gonna let this loss turn into – we’re not gonna come out flat next week. I can tell you that right now.”
Memphis visits 2-0 Birmingham at Protective Stadium on Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern / 6 Central on FOX, also available on Fox Sports on SiriusXM. San Antonio will host the St. Louis Battlehawks (1-1) at 3 p.m. Eastern / 2 Central on Sunday at the Alamodome, on ABC, and also available on SiriusXM’s ESPNXtra.
Comebacks are nice, but Phillips would rather not have to have them.
“We didn’t play good on either side of the ball in the first half, and our guys came back, they knew it, and they came out and played,” he said. “It was a great win for us. Those kind of wins can carry you a long ways. They realize if they are behind, that they can come back. Some teams don’t ever do that. So, that was a nice win.”
