When the 2023 USFL season began, Alex McGough was not the Birmingham Stallions’ starting quarterback. But he ended up being the league’s Most Valuable Player.

The USFL announced on Friday that McGough had won the league MVP Award for the 2023 season.

The MVP Award announcement comes after the USFL named Houston Gamblers running back Mark Thompson as the league’s Offensive Player of the Year and Michigan Panthers linebacker Frank Ginda as the Defensive Player of the Year on Wednesday.

Birmingham’s Skip Holtz was the USFL Coach of the Year Award winner.

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McGough moved into the lineup when Birmingham quarterback J’Mar Smith dislocated a finger in the second quarter of the Stallions’ season-opening game on April 15.

Birmingham won that game 27-10 over the New Jersey Generals and went on to post the USFL’s best regular-season mark in 2023 at 8-2 with McGough at quarterback. The Stallions defeated the New Orleans Breakers 47-22 in the South Division playoffs on Sunday to advance to the league championship game.

McGough completed 21-of-31 passes for 310 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions and ran for 84 yards and one touchdown on eight carries against the Breakers. During the regular season, McGough completed 180-of-267 passes for 2,105 yards with 20 touchdowns and five interceptions and ran for 403 yards and five touchdowns on 70 carries in 10 games.

McGough led the USFL in touchdown passes, TD responsibility and passing-efficiency rating at 108.3 while finishing sixth in rushing yards.

The Stallions will attempt to win their second consecutive USFL championship when they square off against the Pittsburgh Maulers at 7 p.m. CDT Saturday at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. NBC will televise the game.

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Birmingham defeated the Philadelphia Stars 33-30 in last season’s USFL Championship Game.

With Smith sidelined by a leg problem in the fourth quarter of the 2022 title contest, McGough led an eight-play, 64-yard drive, with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Vic Bolden Jr. with 3:09 to play providing the margin of victory.

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