Michigan Panthers offense sparkles to cruise past Houston Roughnecks, 34-20, in UFL Week 3

The Michigan Panthers found their footing on offense Sunday to beat the Houston Roughnecks, 34-20, in Week 3 of the UFL season at Ford Field. The Panthers are 2-1 on the season.

The Panthers' offense had its best game so far, scoring on six of the first seven drives of the game to build an insurmountable 34-14 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Quarterback E.J. Perry was the standout, running for two touchdowns on scrambles and completing 16 of 19 passes for 208 yards and one touchdown. He picked up 60 rushing yards on nine attempts.

"(I was) very pleased with the offense overall," Panthers head coach Mike Nolan said. "I thought E.J. did an outstanding job in the football game. I thought our rushing game was really on target. Really pleased with that."

Wide receiver Marcus Simms had the biggest play of the day when he turned a 4-yard hitch into a 66-yard touchdown, accounting for most of his game-high 84 receiving yards, on the first play of the second half to open up the lead. Panthers sensation, kicker Jake Bates, continued his perfect streak with two successful field goals from 47 and 55 yards.

MORE: Panthers coach Mike Nolan: NFL teams breaking rules trying to contact Jake Bates

Michigan's defense gave up a touchdown on the first drive of the game, but was sturdy after that. Houston had two field goals, one on a long drive in the first half and one on a short drive in the second aided by a long kickoff return, and a touchdown halfway through the fourth quarter when trailing by 20.

Houston gained 250 yards, 162 coming in the first half and just 88 in the second, but couldn't sustain drives like Michigan. Roughnecks quarterback Reid Sinnett completed 19 of 28 passes for 197 yards with one touchdown and one interception from safety Kai Nacua. Houston couldn't run the ball against Michigan, picking up 53 yards on 20 attempts.

Panthers find offensive rhythm

The Panthers found their rhythm immediately after spending the last week working on improving on the slow starts that plagued them in the first two weeks.

After Houston took an 8-0 with a touchdown and a two-point conversion on the first drive, Michigan answered with a 33-yard drive to reach Bates' field goal range for a successful 47-yarder, his shortest of five makes this season, to cut the deficit to 8-3.

The Panthers' defense forced a quick three-and-out on Houston's second possession and the offense took over at its own 17. The Panthers put together a 14-play drive lasting 8:49 to march down the field and take the lead on a Perry scramble for a touchdown on third-and-goal from the 10-yard line, but led 9-8 after an unsuccessful conversion attempt.

"I think it's just a product of getting better each week," Perry said about the offense's improvement and his own growth. "Each guy coming together, growing as a team, the confidence builds and we start to gel more and more, and productivity and efficiency goes up. It's great to see the results on field."

The Panthers hit their first offensive roadblock on the third drive when Danny Etling took over at quarterback. Etling scrambled for a combined nine yards on the first two plays, then fired incomplete on third down to force a punt.

Perry was back on the field for the fourth possession, with Michigan trailing 11-9 following a Houston field goal. The Panthers drove into field goal range with six straight completions under 10 yards, setting up a 55-yard Bates field goal to go ahead 12-11 at break.

"I thought the offense did an outstanding job, I really did," Nolan said. "Throughout the game, they kept their composure ... and it was a pretty clean performance on the offensive side of the ball."

Panthers open up rout in second half

The Panthers carried the momentum out of halftime and struck for the longest gain on the first play of the second half. Perry hit Marcus Simms on a comeback route on the outside, and Simms beat four defenders on the sideline for a 66-yard touchdown.

"I gotta give credit to my quarterback E.J., man," Simms said. "He bought some time and found me. Once he got rid of the ball, I just made a couple of people miss and got to the end zone."

The Roughnecks answered with a field goal to cut the lead to 20-14 thanks to a kickoff return to the Panthers 20-yard line, but the Panthers answered with a 12-play drive spanning 64 yards that ended with a 9-yard Perry scramble for a touchdown and a successful two-point conversion to go up 28-14 halfway through the third.

Houston went three-and-out on the following possession, but the punt didn't go far. Safety Kedrick Whitehead Jr. broke through the middle of the line and got his hand on the punt to give Michigan the ball at the Houston 27. Michigan scored four plays later on a Matthew Colburn run to go up 34-14 at the end of the third.

Houston scored a touchdown halfway through the fourth quarter but failed on the 1-point conversion attempt to cut the deficit to 34-20. Michigan stopped Houston on the next drive with a turnover on downs and ran out the final four minutes on the clock.

Crowd support

It was the third straight home game for the Panthers at Ford Field to begin the UFL season, the final game of the homestand. The attendance Sunday was 6,952, according to the Panthers and UFL.

The small crowd made themselves heard throughout the game, getting loud in moments when the game dictated it. The crowd yelled on every Houston third down, with some fans slapping the seats in front of them and stomping their feet to help raise the decibel level, and aided the Panthers early as Houston had two false starts on third down on the second drive.

Bates, a fan favorite, also got big cheers for each kick.

"I think there was about 7,000 or so there, but they certainly made a lot of noise," Nolan said. "I was pleased that we were able to give them something to cheer about."

Next up: Brahmas

Matchup: Michigan (2-1) at San Antonio (2-0 entering Sunday).

First pitch: 7 p.m. Saturday; Alamodome, San Antonio.

TV/radio: Fox; none.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan Panthers cruise past Houston Roughnecks 34-20 to move to 2-1