Birmingham defensive end Taco Charlton sacked Michigan quarterback E.J. Perry on fourth down with 15 seconds to play as the Stallions held on for 20-13 victory on Sunday.

Charlton’s sack was the final big play by Birmingham’s defensive front to help the Stallions win a United Football League game in which they sometimes played like their own worst enemy.

Charlton recorded three sacks, nose tackle Carlos Davis had two and defensive ends Jordan Thompson and Dondrea Tillman had one apiece at Ford Field in Detroit.

Tillman also forced a fumble as part of back-to-back, first-half takeaways after safety A.J. Thomas’ interception at the Birmingham 13-yard line.

Davis’ first sack came on a first-down snap at the Birmingham 47 on Michigan’s final possession – field position gained by Perry’s 7-yard scramble and a personal-foul penalty on Stallions linebacker Scooby Wright.

The Panthers recovered from the 9-yard loss with help from a roughing-the-passer penalty against Charlton. But Davis recorded his second sack on a first-down snap at the Birmingham 17-yard line with 30 seconds to play.

The Stallions ran for 161 yards in the game, but quarterbacks Matt Corral and Adrian Martinez combined for only 141 yards through the air. Birmingham’s offense stumbled in the red zone, producing one touchdown on six possessions inside Michigan’s 20-yard line.

Chris Blewitt kicked field goals of 34, 30, 38 and 20 yards, and running back Ricky Person Jr. went over from 1 yard out from a fullhouse backfield (followed by a 2-point pass from Corral to wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr.) for the Stallions’ points.

Birmingham’s other red-zone possession ended when Michigan cornerback Keith Gibson Jr. picked off a Corral pass in the end zone with 6:10 to play.

The Panthers got 76 of their game total of 205 yards on one play – Perry’s 76-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Marcus Simms with 3:16 left in the first half after Blewitt had kicked three field goals.

Birmingham regained command on Person’s touchdown with 26 seconds remaining in the first half. The five-play, 57-yard drive featured a 16-yard catch-and-run by running back C.J. Marable, a roughing-the-passer penalty on defensive end Breeland Speaks and an 11-yard scramble by Corral to the Michigan 1-yard line.

Corral and Martinez alternated at quarterback for the Stallions on a two-series rotation. Corral was on the field for one touchdown and one field goal, and Martinez was on the field for three field goals.

Corral completed 5-of-12 passes for 53 yards with no touchdowns and one interception and ran for 28 yards on four carries while playing six full series.

Martinez completed 8-of-15 passes for 88 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions and ran for 65 yards on eight carries in four full possessions.

Michigan kicker Jake Bates, who lifted the Panthers to an 18-16 victory over the St. Louis Battlehawks with a 64-yard field goal in the season-opening game last week, connected from 62 and 52 yards against the Stallions.

With their ninth win in a row, Birmingham is the only team in the United Football League’s USFL Conference without a loss two weeks into the 2024 season.

The Stallions kick off their home schedule against the Memphis Showboats at 6 p.m. CDT Saturday at Protective Stadium in Birmingham. FOX will televise the game.

At 1-1, the Panthers play the Houston Roughnecks at 11 a.m. CDT Sunday at Ford Field in Detroit.

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