In the fine tradition of weird Pac-12 football, there was USFL After Dark on Friday.
The Michigan Panthers-Philadelphia Stars Week 4 matchup started around 10:20 p.m. ET (9:20 p.m. local time in Birmingham), after the league delayed the kickoff by 20 minutes. Not great for the dozens of diehards who trekked to the stadium for the showdown between 1-2 teams, but the night wasn't about them. It was about TV viewers.
MORE: USFL schedule Week 4: TV channels, times, scores
Sports fans suddenly had football to watch into the wee hours at the start of a huge sports weekend, after NBA and NHL playoff games, MLB's slate and even a NASCAR race.
They got an entertaining late, late show.
Michigan and Philadelphia started their second half just before midnight on the East Coast, 9 p.m. on the West Coast. The game ended a little after 1:10 a.m. ET, with the Stars escaping with a 26-25 win. Panthers kicker Michael Carrizosa hit the left upright on a game-winning field goal attempt from 21 yards out as time expired.
In the fourth quarter alone, Jeff Fisher's Panthers took the lead on a Shae Patterson touchdown pass to Joe Walker and a 2-point conversion; handed the Stars the lead back with the aid of a muffed punt inside their 15; and then drove from midfield to Philly's 3 over the final five-plus minutes after the Stars' kickoff went out of bounds. Carrizosa's duck-hook doink was the capper.
STARS WIN STARS WIN STARS WIN pic.twitter.com/qqB3ywHwcp
— Philadelphia Stars (@USFLStars) May 7, 2022
That sounds exactly like how an Arizona State-UCLA game might end on a Saturday night in the fall. So the USFL already has the After Dark part down.
This was the first league game scheduled for 10 p.m. ET this season. Only two games from Weeks 6 through 10 have set kickoff dates and times. The way the USFL is experimenting on the fly in its inaugural year, expect more late-night starts, especially if the FS1 ratings for Friday are good.
