After splitting back-to-back road matchups, the first of which resulted in a season-ending Achilles injury to their starting quarterback E.J. Perry, the Michigan Panthers returned to the friendly confines of Ford Field to face off with the last remaining winless team in the UFL, the Arlington Renegades.
For one team, it was a chance to put themselves firmly in the playoff race at two games above .500, while the other tried to avoid an all-but-certain end to any postseason aspirations. And for the Panthers home fans, it was their first in-person look at their team’s new leader under center, Danny Etling. The Indiana native served as a practice squad journeyman in the NFL for six years before signing with the Panthers before the 2024 season.
Receiving the ball to start the game, the Panthers delivered their most methodical opening drive of the season thus far.
Opening drives
Etling was a perfect 4 for 4 in the passing attack, with a 41-yard connection along the left sideline to Marcus Simms setting up Michigan with a first-and-goal. The pass came just behind the end of his route, but Simms deftly shed his man and came back for the diving reception. Etling’s footwork and pocket presence – especially his awareness to roll out early, was on display early. He capped the drive off with a 9-yard connection to Siaosi Mariner in the endzone, giving the Panthers a 7-0 lead.
Arlington’s first drive began on the Michigan side of the field, with a solid return out to their own 38-yard line extended by an unnecessary roughness penalty, when returner Juwan Manigo was tackled out of bounds by the Panthers’ DaShaun White. The Renegades found some success on the first few plays, though it all came in the form of modest gains in the intermediate game.
The Arlington offense stalled just on the outskirts of the red zone, ending their opening possession with a 39-yard field goal from Jonathan Garibay.
Michigan returned the favor on their next drive. Facing a fourth-and-5 from the Renegades 37, Jake Bates hit a 55 yard field goal – only to have it come off the board due to an offside call against Arlington that extended the drive (if only for a few more plays). Bates returned to hit from 43 yards, bringing the Michigan lead back to a touchdown.
Renegades heat up
Despite a hot start for the home team, Arlington would eventually find their footing. Despite their rocky record, Renegades starting quarterback Luis Perez leads the league in passing yards, and proved to be a highly effective distributor in the afternoon’s outing.
The Renegades constructed consecutive touchdown drives in the second quarter, providing a 2-1 advantage in time of possession during that frame and giving the visiting side a 7-point lead with less than a minute before halftime.
You know where this is going, right? Panthers getting the ball with under 30 seconds left in the half — it’s almost rinse and repeat by now.
On second-and-10 from their own 35 with fifteen seconds (and all their timeouts) remaining, Etling found Trey Quinn in the middle of the field for a 16-yard gain, putting the Panthers in enemy territory. Two plays later, Colburn broke off a 7-yard run that sets his team up on the Renegades 42 yard line. And just like that, with a 20 second drive that only netted 23 yards, Michigan fans know that their favorite player is ready to do it again.
From 60 yards out, Bates hit his second field goal of the afternoon to cut the Arlington lead down to four points. It’s 17-13 Renegades at the half.
Second half
After a low-scoring 3rd quarter, highlighted by an eight and a half minute long Panthers drive that ended with a Bates 29-yard field goal, the fourth quarter began with the Renegades holding the ball at the Michigan 30, and holding onto a one point lead.
Facing third-and-9 just a yard further, Arlington caught a break when Breeland Speaks jumped early, resulting in a Neutral Zone Infraction. On the following play, Bryce Tornaden got called for pass interference while covering Sal Cannella. The back-to-back penalties moved Arlington from the Panthers 29 to the 14, and on the ensuing play, Perez handed off to J.P. Payton for the 14-yard touchdown run.
A glaring concern for this Mike Nolan coached defense all game, the Renegades passing attack continually spread their DBs and LBs with spacing in the pass game, meaning that rushers who could find a gap or outside seam at the line would easily get to the second level for sizable gains. The Renegades running attack averaged five yards per carry on the day, but that number hovered over six for a large chunk of the game.
Giving up a sack on the first play of the ensuing drive, Etling rebounded nicely through the air, connecting with Hills, Simms, and Samson Nacua — all for over 10 yards a pop and setting the Panthers up at the Renegades 29. But on the next play, Etling scrambled out of the pocket and Ryan Pope was called for holding, pushing them back ten yards. The drive stalls, but Bates again proves automatic, hitting his fourth field goal of the day from 49 out.
This is where the game is won (and lost).
The Panthers’ defense forced a fourth-and-1 from the Arlington 46-yard line early in the drive, and the Renegades chose to go for it. Getting the handoff, De’Veon Smith gets met at the line by Walter Palmore and Kai Nacua, resulting in no gain and turning the ball back to Michigan in opposing territory.
On the first play of the drive, Etling faked the inside handoff and bolted right, catching the entire Arlington secondary off balance with a 40-yard run down to the 6-yard line. Two plays later and it’s Wes Hills extending past the goal line for the 1-yard touchdown. Trey Quinn came just inches shy on the 2-point conversion, giving the home team a 1 point lead of their own with less than 4 minutes remaining in regulation.
On second-and-6 from their own 32, Arlington caught another break, and again it’s Breeland Speaks getting off the line early, resulting in another Neutral Zone call. The Renegades would advance all the way to the Michigan 30, with Garibay hitting from 48 to put Arlington up by 2 points with just under a minute remaining.
‘Jake the Great’
If there’s one argument that shouldn’t be levied against Mike Nolan, it’s that the man doesn’t know who he can depend on for a big play when his team needs it.
After trusting return duties to the more than capable Nate McCrary all game to this point, it was Panthers star receiver Simms back to return the punt for their last possession of the game. Simms, who fumbled the ball on first contact, quickly recovered it at the Michigan 9-yard line. And from there, it’s the boat-racing, fleet-footed, greasy-hipped route runner going all the way to the Arlington 46, where he’s tackled and grabbed by the facemask, tacking on an additional 15 yards to the run and putting the Panthers well within Bates’ range.
Etling took one carry to set up his unit inside the hashes, then spikes the ball with three seconds remaining.
The final boxscore will tell you that Bates hit a total of five field goals in this game, but in actuality, there were three other attempts that were wiped out by Arlington penalties that either moved the ball forward or gave the Panthers a fresh set of downs. And with the game on the line, Jake The Great delivers between the uprights from 42 yards for the walkoff. Game over. Panthers survive: 28-27.
