Week eight in the UFL kicked off Friday night, with the San Antonio Brahmas taking on the Memphis Showboats in the battle of 1-6 teams.
The records of these organizations don’t exactly reflect the talent these two teams possess. San Antonio and Memphis have both dealt with coaching changes and difficult circumstances behind the scenes all year long, resulting in some tough losses – especially for Memphis.
When these two teams played a year ago, it was San Antonio who mounted an 11 point comeback in the final moments to steal a win on the road. This time around, Memphis was searching for revenge – and were giving Troy Williams the keys at starting QB.
Let’s take a look at what went down at The AlamoDome tonight.
First Quarter
Troy Williams trotted out early for the Showboats, but was not in a rhythm to begin the game. Pressure got to him early, causing inaccurate throws. A false start put them further behind the sticks, and then Isaiah Buggs sacked Troy to force a punt.
Kevin Hogan wouldn’t get his Brahmas off to the fastest start, though. He threw a pick six right into the waiting arms of Cam Dantzler, giving Memphis the early edge.
Williams connected with Jonathan Adams on a two point conversion, and the Showboats had a quick 8-0 lead.
San Antonio was moving the ball pretty well on their next drive, but on 4th and 1, decided to go for it from midfield. Kevin Hogan took it on a QB sneak, but Boogie Roberts, Antwuan Jackson, and the Showboats defense were ready – stuffing Hogan before the line to gain.
With one quarter down, Memphis was riding the coattails of Troy Williams’ mobility, as he rushed for multiple first downs en route to setting up the Showboats in scoring position.
Second Quarter
On 3rd and 6, Matt Gotel got to Troy Williams with a sack. San Antonio’s pass rush was off to a good start, and held the Showboats to a field goal to make it 11-0.
Self-inflicted wounds continued to pile up for the Brahmas early, which is the story of their season. A false start put them behind the sticks, and then Marquez Stevenson dropped a pass right in his hands. On 3rd and long, Hogan tried to force a ball into a tight window, and a PBU from Mark Gilbert forced a punt.
Memphis had a chance to take firm control of momentum, but failed to do so. On 3rd and short, San Antonio’s defense held strong, forcing a punt. Interestingly enough, San Antonio committed a penalty on the punt attempt, but because Memphis had a delay of game previously, it didn’t impact anything. Had the Showboats not committed a delay of game, they would’ve had a free first down.
The Showboats would shoot themselves in the foot. After getting a 3rd and 16 stop, unnecessary roughness on Andrew Dowell gave San Antonio a free first down.
San Antonio would finally make something happen. Payton Pardee pulled out the trickery, with a double forward pass from Steven Stilianos to Dee Anderson resulting in a score. It’s a fascinating story for Anderson, who was just traded from the Showboats to the Brahmas earlier this season.
Memphis would respond quickly. I mean, very quickly. Jalen Jackson, who was active this week since Wes Hills got injured against St. Louis, took over. He broke off down the sidelines for a massive gain, showing a burst of speed we hadn’t seen from him all year.
On the very next play, Memphis ran the exact same thing, and Jackson trotted into the end zone untouched.
The Brahmas continued to struggle offensively whenever they weren’t running trick plays, and they had to punt it away again. However, Memphis would hit themselves with a foolish mistake, as they have throughout large chunks of the season. Kwamie Lassiter lunged for a first down and knocked the ball out of his own hands – with Jordan Mosley recovering for San Antonio.
San Antonio would take advantage. On the next play, Jashaun Corbin ran it in for six, cashing in on the turnover. A screen pass to Jashaun converted on the two point try, and just like that it was 17-14 heading into halftime.
Third Quarter
The unfortunate breaks would shift back to San Antonio to begin the second half. RT Zuri Henry got beat by Nasir Player, who got a hand on Hogan’s pass attempt – and it landed in the lap of Andrew Dowell for the interception.
Memphis couldn’t entirely capitalize, though. Troy Williams struggled with his accuracy, throwing two incompletions, and a TFL from Tavante Beckett resulted in another Matthew Coghlin field goal attempt to make it 20-14.
The Brahmas just can’t get out of their own way, even when things are going right. Jashaun Corbin was having an incredible game, getting San Antonio into scoring range. However, Kevin Hogan rolling to his left had a pass tipped by Eric Garror, and Josiah Bronson laid out for the big man INT.
There’s a reason why these two teams are 1-6. Memphis was in a groove, with Deneric Prince running the ball well. Troy found Jay Jay Wilson for an impressive first down gain, but he fumbled at the end of the play, and Jordan Mosley had his second recovery of the day to give San Antonio possession back.
Heading into the final period of action, Memphis held a 20-14 lead, but the Brahmas were knocking on the doorstep with possession.
Fourth Quarter
On 3rd and 18, Jashaun Corbin burst free for a 15 yard gain, making a field goal attempt doable for Tristan Vizcaino. He hit from 45 yards out, and it was 20-17.
San Antonio got another big stop defensively, as Williams couldn’t get anything going through the air. Then, the Brahmas came up with a huge special teams play, as Storey Jackson came through unblocked, and blocked Matt Mengel’s punt attempt – giving San Antonio excellent field position.
This game really featured two teams that did everything they could to lose. After San Antonio got into scoring position, Vizcaino shanked a 39 yard field goal badly – and the score remained 20-17 with several minutes left.
Troy Williams remained in the game for Memphis, even though Noel Mazzone wanted to make a change. He fired a dart to Kwamie Lassiter which was dropped, and then a sack from Jacob Sykes gave the Brahmas another crack at it.
San Antonio leaned heavily into Jashaun Corbin, as he absolutely dominated this game at every level. Memphis had zero answers for him on the ground, getting the Brahmas into the red zone. Kevin Hogan fired a dart to Jontre Kirklin for what would’ve been a touchdown – but Zeke Vandenburgh knocked it away, and it was incomplete.
A hold on Willie Tyler took a touchdown back from San Antonio, and all eyes were on Tristan Vizcaino: could he rebound to tie the game? He connected on the 33 yarder, and we had a tie game with 30 seconds left.
Memphis kneeled it out, and we went into overtime in the UFL Toilet Bowl.
Over Time
Troy Williams got off to a great start in OT, firing a dart to Daewood Davis to give Memphis a two point advantage.
Even with a penalty giving the Brahmas another opportunity, Memphis’ defense held strong, stopping the run. Williams was on fire for the Showboats, with a conversion to Kai Locksley to get on top 24-20.
San Antonio would stay alive, though, with Jontre Kirklin catching a two point try. Tavante Beckett intercepted Williams on the next play, giving the Brahmas one last shot to tie it up.
Memphis would hold strong, as pressure got to Kevin Hogan, forcing an incompletion. The Showboats held on to win on the road, 24-22 in overtime.
Standout Playmakers
RB Jalen Jackson: Jackson was tremendous for the Showboats tonight, with seven carries for 76 yards in his first action since week three. With Wes Hills inactive, he stepped up in a huge way across the board.
LB Andrew Dowell: Dowell had a day for the Showboats defensively, with nine tackles, an interception, and a PBU. Andrew’s been playing a bigger role week in and week out for a linebacker core that’s improved throughout the year, and he stepped up tonight.
DT DeVere Levelston: We said it earlier this week, Levelston is a guy to watch on that defensive line, seeing action more frequently as of late. DeVere totaled five tackles, a sack, and a TFL on the night for Memphis.
DT Josiah Bronson: The veteran in Bronson was on fire in this one. He racked up six tackles, two TFL’s, an interception, and a PBU, doing it all for Jarren Horton’s defense, creating big plays when they needed them badly.
RB Jashaun Corbin: The main force for San Antonio tonight was Jashaun Corbin, who could do no wrong rushing for 143 yards and a touchdown, with 38 receiving yards as well. Without Corbin, San Antonio would’ve had at best three points in this game.
LB Tavante Beckett: Beckett turned the clock back a bit in what was a vintage performance from the veteran linebacker. Tavante led the Brahmas with 13 tackles, 0.5 sacks, a TFL, a PBU, and a key INT in overtime.
S Jordan Mosley: Mosley is another guy who had an impressive day, with seven tackles and two fumble recoveries, including a forced fumble.
Key Takeaways
This game was an example of two teams who did whatever they could to lose. With both of them featuring 1-6 records, it’s not too surprising. There’s a reason why these two teams won only one game heading into this affair – the lack of discipline, execution, and chemistry was on full display.
This isn’t to say that neither one of these teams has talent – they do. One could argue that a team like Memphis is a couple plays away from being 3-5 on the season.
That said, the quarterback play was atrocious. Troy Williams hasn’t done much as a passer the last two seasons, and that was on full display as he went 5-11 with just 36 yards. He did show up when needed in overtime, and funny enough is now 2-0 in his spring football OT career dating back to the USFL.
Kevin Hogan wasn’t much better, with just 90 passing yards and three interceptions. The offensive line didn’t help him out at all, and were a key factor in the loss. Their run blocking was tremendous, as Jashaun Corbin had holes to run through all night long. However, the dropoff in quality pass blocking is abysmal, as Hogan was pressured into sacks and turnovers constantly. When they finally threw a touchdown, Willie Tyler committed a blatant hold, which took back the go ahead touchdown.
“I’m really proud of our team. We had multiple guys who were fighting and scratching and clawing until the very end. I think we showed a lot of grit and perseverance, but this is one we want to have back. We have to clean up the mistakes and be better, and that in essence has been our season in a nutshell. When we execute, we excel. When we don’t, we run into challenges. We had too many turnovers today, too many pre-snap penalties, and those are things that will continue to be addressed this week. There’s no quit left in this team, there’s a lot of fight left.” – HC Payton Pardee
Memphis, while they came away with a win, has plenty to clean up. The turnovers were a killer, and special teams continued to be a problem as Matt Mengel had another punt blocked. Jay Jay Wilson stood out as a liability, as he allowed the punt block, and also fumbled the ball away in the second half. Kwamie Lassiter, as well, is someone who had a rough game, fumbling to give the Brahmas momentum right before halftime – alongside a brutal drop in the 4Q.
That said, Jarren Horton’s defensive unit was stellar in a lot of ways. They finally got turnovers, with three interceptions on the night. When they needed to get stops, they did. Even with the struggles stopping the run, Memphis held strong time and time again, and the defensive backs played out of their minds as Hogan could not push the ball down field at all. Without the Showboats’ defense showing up the way they did tonight, San Antonio would’ve won this game by 20 points.
The Showboats were also able to run the football, with over 150 yards combined between Deneric Prince, Jalen Jackson, and Troy Williams. Jim Turner commented on the O-Line play post-game, commending them for their efforts:
“The offensive line did a great job tonight. Jalen was a big part of it, he did a great job as well. We were able to move them off the football. You can’t win football games by doing that in today’s football, you can’t just run the ball all the time. And we’re aware of that. We were limited in the number of plays we had, our defense was on the field a lot. But of course when you run the ball, you use the clock as well, so I love that. troy ran it well tonight as well, because he’s a great athlete. I give our O-line a lot of credit.”
Final Thoughts
With this win, the Memphis Showboats improve to 2-6 on the season, and while the playoffs are long gone at this point, they have eyes on finishing the year strong. This is their second overtime win of the year. With their 2-0 record in OT, they’re probably wishing they went to overtime more often in 2025.
San Antonio can’t find ways to get the job done late, and it’s what has haunted them all year long. Penalties, turnovers, missed kicks, you name it – San Antonio’s done it. With two games left to play against St. Louis and Arlington, the Brahmas face a 1-9 final record unless they can finally get some luck on their side.
Week eight in the UFL continues tomorrow, with a double header on FOX at 1pm ET.
What are your thoughts on Friday’s game between the San Antonio Brahmas and Memphis Showboats? Which UFL players impressed the most? Let us know down in the comments below, or join the conversation on Discord!
