Excitement was certainly electric three weeks ago when the UFL’s Orlando Storm kicked off its first season at Inter&Co Stadium with a victory over Columbus in front of 11,127 fans.
A week later, attendance dropped by 3,000, but the Storm have kept winning and sit atop the UFL, tied with Dallas at 3-0.
Head coach Anthony Becht, who guides his team into Game 4 on Saturday afternoon (4 p.m., FOX), at Birmingham, is hoping that winning can help bring in a huge crowd next week, when the Storm return home against the St. Louis Battlehawks, Becht’s former team (April 25, at 5 p.m., ESPN).
“It’s good to be 3-0. This is a team that we really like, and we’re going to continue to win games until we get the Orlando fan base to embrace what we’re doing, and we know they will,” Becht said Wednesday at his weekly media zoom conference. “We’re really thankful for the fans who have come out and supported us … we’ll keep doing our part.”
Orlando Storm debut with 23-16 UFL victory over Columbus
The Storm have opened the season unscathed by playing determined and physical football. There’s not a lot of flash with this team, and Becht said they are still a long way from an A+ performance, but they are getting the job done.
Orlando Storm quarterback Jack Plummer leads the UFL in passing percentage, completing 70% of his passes in leading the Storm to a 3-0 start in their first season. (Chris Hays/Orlando Sentinel)
You won’t find individual stars who clamor for the limelight. The only Storm player leading the league in any statistical category is quarterback Jack Plummer, whose consistency has been impressive. Plummer has completed 70% of his passes (56-of-79) for 671 yards and six touchdowns. He is third in the league in passing yards and second in touchdown passes.
Running back Jashaun Corbin, the Rockledge native and former FSU star who led the league in rushing a year ago, is second in the league with 143 yards with 2 touchdowns, but he is only running for 48 yards per game. The receivers are led by former Florida Gator Elijhah Badger, who has 10 catches for 208 yards and a touchdown. He is second in the league in yardage.
Nate Meadors leads the team in tackles with 18.
The stats might not jump off the page, but this team has won as a group, and that’s the way Becht likes it. Obviously, the victories are the endgame, but Becht would like to see fewer mistakes.
“Man, we just have not played our best game yet,” Becht said. “We’ve got a lot of stuff … we just feel like we have more control of why it didn’t work vs. maybe the other team.
“We just feel like these are the three preseason games, and if you are lucky to get through them, now you kind of start putting it together, start humming at the right time.”
The Storm has taken steps to focus on the mistakes in practice and in the film room, working toward where Becht thinks this team can be.
“Selfishly, we want more … 3-0 is nice, but we want to win them all,” Becht said. “We don’t look ahead, but we’re not scared to talk about it, and we understand what it takes to do that. We need to cut down on mental errors.”
Pictures | Columbus Aviators vs. Orlando Storm
This week’s game with Birmingham reunites Becht with his former St. Louis quarterback AJ McCarron, who is now a rookie as the Birmingham head coach. The Stallions are 1-2 and coming off two straight losses by a total of six points.
“Privately, we’re kind of telling our buddies that we want to kick this guy’s ass,” Becht laughed. “But I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for AJ. This guy helped me win a tremendous amount of games in St. Louis in two seasons.
“AJ is a competitor. … I know him, and he knows me too, but I may have kept some things under my sleeve for this game.”
Last week’s 29-27 overtime victory over Louisville ended in a bit of controversial fashion. In the UFL, when regulation play ends in a tie, teams take turns attempting two-point conversions from the 2-yard line in overtime. If a team commits two straight defensive penalties in overtime, however, the conversion is awarded to the offense. Louisville committed two straight defensive holding penalties, and the Storm was awarded 2 points and the victory.
That decision prompted plenty of fodder for criticism, and it stirred enough conversation that UFL head of officiating Dean Blandino announced Thursday that the rule would be thrown out. Overtime penalties will now continue to result in a replay of the down, with the ball moving closer to the goal line.
“We heard you loud and clear,” Blandino said in a YouTube presentation Thursday. “We had good intentions with this rule. It was designed with player safety in mind. These guys are out there for three-plus hours, and we wanted to limit the number of additional snaps in overtime.
“But the game just can’t end on a penalty. That doesn’t work. Here’s the thing about the UFL. We are not afraid to change to make the game better. … if you want to win, you gotta get the ball in the end zone.”
In fact, a long-standing NFL rule reads that a game, regardless of regulation or overtime, cannot end on a defensive penalty.
STORM NOTE: Cornerback Lamar Jackson was placed on IR this week with an injury, and the Storm signed Nate Brooks, whom the team tried to draft but St. Louis selected. He was injured in camp and cut by the Battlehawks, so Becht is happy to be working with Brooks again. The two were together in St. Louis previously.
Chris Hays can be found on X.com @OS_ChrisHays.