Then, on a trick play to right guard James Walker, as Perry pitched the ball to the big man and Michigan got five more yards. The Panthers’ then got creative offensively, first utilizing Perry’s legs on a designed run that got him 25 yards. Michigan’s special teams unit then came through yet again, getting a piece of Aguilar’s 50-yard attempt at the end of the third quarter, preventing the Stars from tacking onto their five-point lead. The Panthers were able to gain some ground, cutting the Stars’ lead to 20-15 thanks to the aforementioned blocked punt return for a touchdown. The Panthers’ red zone woes continued, though, as Michigan settled for another field goal, making the score 20-9 with 12:47 left in the third quarter. Quinn hauled it in with one hand, giving Michigan its most impressive offensive play of the game. Perry opened up the second half with a bang as he hit Trey Quinn for a 31-yard gain to get Michigan inside the red zone in a hurry. Cookus then took a shot over the middle into a tight window, where the ball was caught by Diondre Overton, giving the Stars a 20-6 lead at the break. Right before halftime, the Stars had a stalled drive receive new life when a roughing the passer penalty moved the Stars to the Michigan 29 with 30 seconds left on the clock. Perry and the offense would again not be able to get six, but Murphy hit another field goal to give Michigan six points right before the two-minute warning, pulling the Panthers within a score of the Stars. On the Panthers’ next possession, Simms returned the kick 67 yards, setting Michigan up at the Philly 21. That wouldn’t be Simms’ only contribution, either. Michigan got its first special teams boost from a 55-yard kickoff return in the second quarter by Simms, which set up a 51-yard field goal by Cole Murphy to get Michigan on the board. Instead, Philly settled for a field goal from kicker Luis Aguilar, the USFL’s leader in kicking points, to make the score 10-0 with 11:17 left in the first half. A long drive for the Stars at the beginning of the second quarter yielded minimal results after a touchdown was negated by an offensive pass interference penalty. The Panthers’ defense did its best to contain the Stars’ surging offense. It pulled the Panthers within five points. Not only did Michigan get two huge returns on kickoffs to set up field goals, but their first touchdown of the night also came on the aforementioned blocked punt in the third quarter. Michigan wouldn’t get much out of its offense on the night in general, but its special teams unit did its best to make up for it. A 53-yard field goal try went wide and the Panthers came away with no points to answer Philadelphia’s opening score. In their last chance for a home win on the season, the Panthers’ first possession stalled out behind Perry in his first start for Michigan. It gave Philadelphia a 7-0 lead with 10:35 left in the first quarter. It was a continuation of the momentum Cookus created last week, when he threw for more than 300 yards and three touchdowns. From there, Cookus engineered an eight-play, 58-yard drive that ended in a 23-yard touchdown to Terry Wright. Quarterback Case Cookus and the Stars’ offense began the night with a play-action pass to the league leader in receiving yards, Corey Coleman. But all three phases matter, and special teams is where the Stars let them back into the game. The Panthers converted just three of 11 third-down attempts, whereas the Stars converted nine of 17. They had just 205 total yards to Philly’s 330. They had just 13 first downs to Philadelphia’s 20. There was no more evidence of that than the fact Michigan, offensively, recorded far fewer offensive stats than their opponents. The biggest part of me feeling comfortable was I had a bunch of guys around me who are terrific football players." A lot of it is on me but yeah, I felt comfortable walking out there. "I thought you know at times we are able to execute really well, and there's obviously some things that we need to work on this week and get better at. "Coach condensed it and did a good job of putting in some stuff that I've run in the past and that I've liked and done well with, and incorporating that with the offense they already had," said Perry after the game. The result was a more creative offense, the likes of which we hadn’t seen from the Panthers so far this season. Together with his coaches, they were able to simplify the playbook and put in plays that Perry already had experience with. Where Love is a pocket-passer, Perry is much more mobile and makes his living using his legs. Perry, a product of Brown University, holds a vastly different skill set than quarterback Josh Love. Perry, making his first start for the Panthers upon an announcement made just this past Friday.
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