4 Takeaways from Week 1 of the 2026 UFL Season

Austin Reed’s first start at quarterback in the UFL was one to remember. The Western Kentucky product engineered a scintillating debut for the Dallas Renegades, completing 26 of 40 passes for 376 yards — the most in league history in a regular-season game — three touchdowns and no interceptions in his team’s 36-17 win over the Houston Gamblers in the season opener for both teams. Veteran UFL receiver Tyler Vaughns led Dallas (1-0) with seven receptions for 144 yards and a score, while fellow receiver Greg Ward added three catches for 93 yards and a touchdown in a runaway victory over Houston (0-1). “It was really a team effort more than anything,” Reed said. “[The] guys were playing well, and we had a really good game plan. We felt good about what we had going into this game, and what we were going to do. It just came down to whether we were going to execute or not.” Reed said despite how well the offense moved the ball, the Renegades can play even bigger, which makes for an interesting matchup next week against one of the best defenses in the league in the St. Louis Battlehawks (1-0). “I feel like we could have played even better, and that’s a great thing to see when your Week 1 output looks like this,” Reed added. “There’s so much more we can improve.” [UFL 2026: Everything To Know About the Upcoming Season] Speaking of St. Louis, former legendary NFL receiver Ricky Proehl earned his first victory as a head coach, leading his hometown Battlehawks to a 16-10 victory over the defending UFL champion DC Defenders (0-1) in front a league-high crowd of 31,191 at The Dome at America’s Center. The Louisville Kings (0-1) couldn’t hold onto the lead late, falling to the Birmingham Stallions (1-0) by two, 15-13, in AJ McCarron’s first victory as head coach. The Kings played in front of 14,034 at Lynn Family Stadium in Kentucky. Leading the Orlando Storm (1-0) for the first time, head coach Anthony Becht helped to engineer a 23-16 victory over the visiting Columbus Aviators (0-1). Here are my takeaways from Week 1 of the UFL: 1. Opportunistic defense leads Stallions to road win over Kings Birmingham forced 13 takeaways last season, and it continued its ball-hawking ways to start the 2026 season. The Stallions thwarted an early promising drive for Louisville when Kings tight end Zach Davidson failed to corral a pass from his quarterback, Jason Bean, with Birmingham linebacker Dyontae Johnson winding up with the loose ball. The Stallions turned that into a 5-yard touchdown, courtesy of Snoop Conner, for an early lead. Later in the game, Birmingham safety Hudson Clark intercepted a Bean pass in the fourth quarter to help salt away a two-point victory — McCarron’s first as a head coach, as he replaced three-time spring football champion coach Skip Holtz this year. Birmingham finished with three takeaways overall, the most for a defense in Week 1. 2. Matt McCrane drills first 60-yard, 4-point field goal It didn’t take long for a kicker to take advantage of one of the UFL’s newest rules implemented to generate more points. Defenders kicker McCrane booted a 60-yard field goal on his team’s opening drive on the road against St. Louis on Saturday, marking the first 4-point field goal in UFL history. However, McCrane did miss from 55 yards later. Elsewhere, Battlehawks kicker Tucker McCann made a 58-yarder in the opening quarter but missed from 45 yards. “Matt was hitting the ball well on field goals and things like that,” Defenders head coach Shannon Harris said. “He had the long miss, but he’ll make that 10 out of 10 times. So, we’re going to always continue to put him in those situations because of the faith we have in him.” In Week 1, kickers went 15-for-20 on field goals, including four from beyond 50 yards, and 8-for-10 on extra points. 3. Battlehawks’ defense looks legit after seven-sack performance Led by 2025 UFL Defensive Player of the Year Pita Taumoepenu, the Battlehawks sacked the Defenders seven times on their way to a tough win. Taumoepenu finished with 2.5 of those sacks, along with a combined six tackles in the win. St. Louis lost to DC at home in the playoffs last season, so the win was a little measure of revenge for St. Louis. “When one guy gets to the ball carrier, I want 11 guys getting to the football,” Proehl said. “They bought in, and they’ve done it in practice every day for the last two weeks. They showed up today. They wore them down. We were in better shape, in my opinion. We were in great shape, and we finished.” 4. Jordan Ta’amu and DC’s offense show early struggles Led by 2025 UFL Championship Game MVP Ta’amu, the Defenders struggled to move the ball on the road against the Battlehawks. One of the top offenses in 2025, DC mustered just 153 total yards offensively against St. Louis’ stingy defense. The Defenders averaged 22.4 points per game last season but were held to a league-low 10 points this week. Considered one of the most dynamic quarterbacks returning in the UFL this season, Ta’amu was sacked seven times and held to 123 passing yards. He also threw two interceptions. The only way is up for DC’s offense in Week 2. “We’ve got to clean things up,” Harris said. “We’ve got to understand that every game thus far is going to be everyone’s Super Bowl. We’ve got to understand that magnitude of it.” 4 ½: What’s Next The Kings and the Battlehawks are on the road next week after hosting in Week 1, while the Renegades and the Storm have their second consecutive home matchup of the season. One game will be played on Friday (Defenders at Aviators), one on Saturday (Kings at Storm), one on Sunday (Stallions at Gamblers) and the final game on Tuesday (Battlehawks at Renegades).

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