Louisville Kings Stun Houston Gamblers, Get Overtime Revenge

Week four in the UFL kicked off with a special edition of Thursday Night Football. The Houston Gamblers hosted the Louisville Kings at Shell Energy Stadium, for their second home game of the year.

Heading into this affair, both teams were in need of wins. Louisville is 0-3, feeling like they were robbed on Friday against Orlando due to some strange overtime rules. Meanwhile, the Gamblers are 1-2 – having been dominated by opponents in both of their losses.

Let’s take a look at what went down in Houston tonight.

First Quarter

Louisville received the opening kickoff, with James Robinson seeing his first touch of the year. He put the Kings in decent field position, and they were able to turn that into three points. A clutch third down conversion from Javonta Payton kept the drive alive, which set up the field goal – a 59 yard bomb from Tanner Brown.

Houston’s first drive wasn’t too shabby, either. A decent gain from Marcus Major set Houston up on the plus side of the 50, and the strong leg of John Hoyland tied things up at three a piece.

The Kings put together another good drive, with Jason Bean connecting down the field to Lucky Jackson to set them up inside the 20 yard line.

Heading into the second period, the Kings were knocking on the doorstep – in a 4th and goal situation at the one yard line.

Second Quarter

On 4th and goal, James Robinson just stretched the ball past the goal-line, giving Louisville the 10-3 advantage. Dean Blandino confirmed the touchdown in review, despite the Gamblers’ efforts to force a fumble before he crossed the plain.

Houston, on the other hand, was stuck in a rut offensively. Pressure got to Nolan Henderson on multiple occasions, with Jaylon Allen and Travis Bell combining for a sack to force the punt.

While it wasn’t the prettiest showing for Jason Bean and this offense, they continued to find ways to pick up first downs. Jason Bean connected with Tyler Hudson who made a ridiculous catch, setting them up in the red zone. Tre’ McKitty dropped a tough touchdown grab, though, and Louisville settled for three.

Houston’s offense continues to struggle. They decided to go for it on 4th and 1 from close to midfield, but Daniel Grzesiak led the charge to shut that rushing attempt down, turning it over on downs. The Kings wouldn’t make much progress due to a holding call on James Tunstall, and Tanner Brown missed a 55 yard field goal which sailed a bit left.

Defensively, the Kings were stellar in the first half. Cam Gill exploded off the edge past Gottlieb Ayedze, sacking Nolan Henderson, which resulted in another field goal. John Hoyland knocked through the 59 yarder, and Houston pulled within seven.

It appeared like Houston would get a stop that they needed. Jason Bean overthrew Isaiah Winstead, with the ball landing in the waiting arms of Major Burns. However, DPI on B.J. Mayes kept the drive alive, on a questionable call given that the ball was uncatchable.

Heading into halftime, Tanner Brown blasted a 59 yard field goal, once again showcasing his major leg. Louisville held a 16-6 lead – their first advantage at halftime so far this UFL season.

Third Quarter

Because of Henderson’s issues with his hand, the Gamblers started Taulia Tagovailoa in the second half. On his first snap, Marcus Yarns made a house call, shifting through defenders for a 68 yard score to make it 16-12.

The momentum was certainly shifting, which was evident on Louisville’s next drive. Bean was nearly picked by Kary Vincent, and then got blasted by Christopher Allen, who beat Chim Okorafor for a big sack to force a punt.

Taulia proved to be the spark that Houston needed, looking much more composed compared to a week ago. After a strong drive that put them in the red zone, Taulia called his own number, rushing for a five yard score to put the Gamblers on top.

The Kings could not run the ball, leading to another punt as Houston was just sitting on Louisville’s routes. Houston would put together another decent drive, leaning into their ground game which was coming alive in this second half.

With fifteen minutes left to play, the Gamblers led 22-16.

Fourth Quarter

The Kings got into scoring position again, despite some struggles offensively. Tanner Brown connected on a 52 yard field goal, to pull the team within three.

Houston went three and out, having to punt it away. A nice return from Carter Bell put the Kings in great field position, which was boosted by a penalty on Houston’s Charlie Thomas. They would stall out offensively, but not before Tanner Brown knocked through a field goal to tie up the game at 22 a piece.

The remainder of the fourth quarter was a little underwhelming. Both teams traded punts, as Jason Bean and Taulia Tagovailoa traded poor passing attempts. Marcus Yarns broke off another huge touchdown run, but it was called back due to a holding penalty on Victor Curne. It was a close call, and one that many thought Sumlin should have thrown the challenge flag on.

With Jason Bean having zero support in the backfield, the Kings continued to plummet. On 3rd down, Bean was heavily pressured – and attempted to fling it down field to Zach Davidson – but was picked off by Major Burns.

Right when you thought Houston would run away with it, luck would be on the Kings’ side. John Hoyland’s 38 yard field goal was called no good – his first miss of the year. It was a very close call – one that has UFL twitter debating whether or not the refs made the right call.

As fate would have it, the Louisville Kings would head into overtime for a second straight week. A sack from Jah Joyner sent the Kings backwards, and they had to punt. Daniel Grzesiak continued to wreak havoc up front, though, sacking Tagovailoa – which sent us into OT.

Overtime

This week, the Kings’ defense would stand strong in overtime. Corey Mayfield opened things up with a PBU, and while Louisville would fail on their opening try, the Kings would come right back at ‘em. Houston got stuffed on their next attempt – and Louisville took advantage.

Jason Bean rolled out to his right, connecting with Tre’ McKitty who made an acrobatic catch in the back of the end zone.

Houston had one last opportunity, and just couldn’t close things out. Pressure got to Taulia again, with a holding penalty that ended their OT possession. The Kings would hang on for the thrilling 24-22 victory on overtime, advancing to 1-3.

Standout Playmakers

DE Cam Gill: Gill is leading the UFL in sacks, and will probably hold that title after week four. He racked up eight tackles, two sacks, two TFL’s, and a forced fumble in the win. His defensive prowess was one of the main reasons why Louisville held on to win this game.

“Travis Bell, Cam Gill, those guys are really stepping up and making incredible plays at the right time. Cam is leading the league right now in sacks. He’s getting the job done. The guys stepped up when they had to step up, really proud of our defensive effort tonight.” – Chris Redman

DE Daniel Grzesiak: Daniel has emerged as an under-the-radar “glue guy” on this defensive front. He’s in the right place at the right time more often than not. Daniel racked up six tackles, 0.5 sacks, and a TFL on the night.

K Tanner Brown: How about that performance from Tanner Brown? Even with the one miss, Brown was spectacular, and the main reason why the Kings were able to hang on. He hit a few field goals from 50+ yards out, including two clutch kicks in the fourth quarter to tie the game up. Brown is well on his way to an NFL camp opportunity if he keeps kicking like this.

Houston

S Major Burns: After Markel Roby’s release, Major Burns has proven to be a stud defensively for Houston. He had four tackles, an interception, a TFL, and two pass breakups on the night. On top of that, he had an interception that was called back to DPI right before halftime.

K John Hoyland: Despite the late miss, John Hoyland was a machine in this outing. In fact, that miss may not have even been a miss. Regardless, Hoyland connected on three field goals, one of which was from 59 yards out.

Major Takeaways

The Louisville Kings have a serious problem: they cannot run the ball. It was so bad, that at one point throughout the game, Steve Logan called 17 straight pass plays. You heard that correctly, 17. With Benny Snell being one of the most ineffective backs in the league, plus James Robinson hardly seeing any touches, it was a brutal night for the Kings in that department. Snell had eight carries for six yards.

What made all of that even more confusing: Logan’s decision to continue to stick with play action. The Gamblers knew full well that Louisville couldn’t run the ball. Running PA kept putting Bean in pressure situations, as their O-Line really struggled to hold up against any sort of pass rush.

“I’m just really excited for the city of Louisville. Thankful for everyone who has supported us through the crazy year it’s been. Grateful for the players, the administration, from Mike Repole down to our equipment managers. Everyone has been working hard. These guys have been working so hard to get a win. I’m glad to see it finally showed up on the scoreboard. Jason played great tonight, the defense stepped up wehn they needed to, and we got some help from the football gods. It was a historic night for the Kings.” – Chris Redman

The main positive to come out of all of this: Louisville only committed three penalties in the game. A much better statistic compared to some previous outings. Oh, and the Kings finally got a win. So there’s that, too.

Kevin Sumlin’s decisions not to throw some challenge flags was rather fascinating. The play that really sticks out is Marcus Yarns’ second touchdown run, which was called back due to holding. Post-game, Sumlin claimed that the play had already been reviewed:

“The problem is, it was reviewed from what I was told, and it was not at the point of attack. So, with those types of plays being ruled, there was plenty of time. The booth was looking at it. From the time it took, just like the play before half, the time it took for everyone to come back from the touchdown – they were looking at that.”

In all honesty, Houston got screwed on a few occasions. The interception before halftime was a clean play, which resulted in a 3-6 point swing for Louisville. Marcus Yarns’ TD was another 6+ point swing. Finally, John Hoyland’s controversial field goal at the end was also a potential miss (no pun intended by the officials.

At the end of the day, though, Houston had plenty of chances to put Louisville away. Their mistakes in the first half put the team in a hole, although the blame can’t be placed on Nolan Henderson. He simply is just too injured to be throwing the football right now. Moving forward, change at the quarterback position will be a point of emphasis – Taulia Tagovailoa isn’t the guy who will lead this team to victory.

Final Thoughts

This was an ugly game, on both sides of the ball. Special teams carried each organization throughout the night. Luckily for the Louisville Kings, they were able to find a way in overtime, keeping their postseason hopes alive.

Week four continues tomorrow night. The Columbus Aviators (0-3) will host the Dallas Renegades (3-0) on FOX, at 8pm ET.

Did you enjoy this game between the Houston Gamblers and Louisville Kings? Which players impressed you the most? Let us know down in the comments below, or join the conversation on Discord!