64-yard field goal by Jake Bates delivers 18-16 win for Michigan Panthers over St. Louis Battlehawks
It's USFL 2, XFL 0 to start the UFL season.
The Michigan Panthers upended the St. Louis Battlehawks with a 64-yard field goal from kicker Jake Bates.
Bates, who kicked collegiately for Texas State and Arkansas, spent time with the Texans last year. He might end up back in the NFL soon, after banging such a long kick with the game on the line.
The kick was not a Ford Field record. In 2021, Ravens kicker Justin Tucker set the NFL record in Detroit, with a game-winning 66-yard kick that hit the crossbar and bounced through.
St. Louis took a 3-0 lead with a field goal as the first half expired. After the two teams combined for 10 total points in the first three quarters, they scored 24 totals in the fourth.
The Panthers are 1-0. They join the Birmingham Stallions as former USFL teams to beat former XFL teams on the first day of the UFL. In Saturday's early games, the Stallion beat the Renegades in Arlington.
