Birmingham cornerback Shyheim Carter broke up a pass in the end zone on the final snap to preserve the Stallions’ 26-22 victory over the Michigan Panthers on Saturday.

Carter’s pass-breakup was Birmingham’s second in the end zone of the final 15 seconds in a dramatic and hard-fought end to a game that supposedly didn’t mean anything.

The Stallions and Panthers are tied for the lead in the United Football League‘s USFL Conference at 6-3 with one weekend remaining in the regular season. The teams already had secured the conference’s two playoff spots, and, by completing a season sweep of Michigan, Birmingham would have locked up the right to host the USFL Conference Championship Game if they remain tied through one more game.

But that was not at stake on Saturday. Because of a scheduling conflict at Ford Field in Detroit, the UFL already had assigned the USFL Conference Championship Game to Birmingham regardless of how the teams finished in the standings.

That appeared to affect the game not a whit as the Stallions took the lead twice in the fourth quarter and made the second rally stand up.

Birmingham quarterback J’Mar Smith completed 22-of-31 passes for 307 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Both touchdowns went 19 yards to wide receiver Deon Cain. The first, with 1:54 left in the first half, allowed the Stallions to tie the game at 7-7. The second, with 2:22 remaining in the game, put Birmingham in front 26-22 after Cain had twisted and turned his way across the goal line.

Michigan quarterback Danny Etling answered Cain’s second TD by completing 8-of-9 passes for 66 yards to put the Panthers on the Stallions 9-yard line with 21 seconds to play.

Etling used a spike on first down to stop the clock. Birmingham linebacker Demarquis Gates broke up Etling’s second-down pass. Wide receiver Jaylon Moore caught the third-down pass, but he was out of bounds. And Carter, a former Alabama defensive back, broke up the fourth-down throw.

“The defense was able to get the stop,” Stallions coach Skip Holtz said. “I would have liked to have gotten the stop with two minutes to go on the 30-yard line. But nonetheless we made the stop.”

Of all the plays in the game, though, nothing surpassed Birmingham wide receiver Cade Johnson’s catch of a third-and-10 throw for a 57-yard gain on the first play of the fourth quarter. With the Stallions trailing 16-13, Johnson got his hands on a long throw by Smith, had the football knocked away by cornerback Keni-H Lovely and caught the pass while he was falling to the ground.

The candidate for UFL Catch of the Year served as the springboard for Birmingham’s first lead at 20-16 as running back Larry Rountree III scored his second touchdown of the game on a 1-yard plunge with 11:23 left to play. Rountree scored his first touchdown on a 14-yard run with 6:08 left in the third quarter to tie the score at 13-13.

After Rountree’s second touchdown, a 45-yard Etling-to-Siaosi Mariner completion fueled a touchdown drive for Michigan. Running back Toa Taua’s 2-yard tote gave the Panthers a 22-20 lead with 7:47 remaining.

On the way to regaining the lead for the final time, Birmingham converted two third-down snaps and scored on a third-down throw. For the game, the Stallions succeeded in gaining a first down on 11 of their 13 third-down snaps, including a 26-yard reception by Johnson on third-and-26 and a 48-yard reception by Jalen Camp on third-and-24. Three of Birmingham’s touchdowns came on third down.

“I thought J’Mar stood in there and threw some clutch balls,” Holtz said. “By the stats, I don’t know if this is accurate, but we were 11-of-13 on third down, which is pretty stinking good.”

The Stallions close the regular season against the Memphis Showboats at 2 p.m. CDT June 1 at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. FOX will televise the game.

“If we can continue what we’re doing for one more week,” Holtz said, “we’re not playing in Birmingham because we have to, we’re playing in Birmingham because they’ve earned it.”

Michigan and Birmingham will meet again in the USFL Conference Championship Game at 2 p.m. June 8 at Protective Stadium. The winner will advance to the UFL Championship Game, a contest won by the Stallions last season.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.