The Birmingham Stallions will have Matt Corral at quarterback when they open the home portion of their United Football League schedule against the Arlington Renegades on Friday night.

Alex McGough started the Stallions’ first two games of the 2025 season. But in Birmingham’s 21-12 victory over the Michigan Panthers last week, McGough sustained a shoulder injury on the first snap of the game, and the Stallions placed the 2023 USFL MVP Award winner on injured reserve this week.

The IR designation will sideline McGough for a minimum of five games.

Corral completed 18-of-29 passes for 198 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions and ran three times for 15 yards against Michigan. Corral threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Deon Cain, who also will be out for Friday night’s game.

Corral started three games for Birmingham in 2024 before settling into a backup role behind Adrian Martinez, who won the UFL MVP Award last season.

Martinez signed with the New York Jets after the Stallions’ season and earned the No. 3 quarterback spot for the NFL team.

Among the quarterbacks that Martinez beat out for that spot was Andrew Peasley. A former Wyoming QB, Peasley signed with Birmingham this week to take the No. 3 spot.

Case Cookus will back up Corral. Cookus opposed the Stallions as the Philadelphia Stars’ quarterback in the 2022 USFL Championship Game.

The Stallions and the Renegades will square off at 7 p.m. CDT Friday at Protective Stadium in Birmingham. FOX will televise the game.

While the Stallions are 1-1, Arlington has won its two games this season. The Renegades had only three victories in the 2024 season.

Arlington will bring quarterback Luis Perez back to Birmingham. Perez was the quarterback for the Birmingham Iron in the Alliance of American Football’s only season in 2019. Perez leads the UFL with 375 passing yards this season.

The Renegades also have the leading rusher in the UFL, Kalen Ballage with 148 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries, and the No. 4 rusher, Dae Dae Hunter with 103 yards on 30 carries.

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