It's been a long week plus for the Dallas Renegades, but the moment has finally come as they are set to take on the St. Louis Battlehawks to conclude Week 2 on a rare Tuesday matchup.
The Renegades are coming off a great 36-17 blowout win over the Houston Gamblers in Week 1 action. Dallas's offense exploded for 427 total yards, the most of any UFL team on the opening weekend, including a league regular season record 376 yards from new starting quarterback Austin Reed. Even the defense was great, allowing just 284 yards of offense from Houston and creating two turnovers.
Now the stage is set for an intriguing showdown between two teams that are 1-0 after St. Louis defeated the DC Defenders 16-10 last week. Renegades head coach Rick Neuheisel spoke with the media just one day before the team's showdown with the Battlehawks, discussing a variety of topics.
Renegades head coach Rick Neuheisel talks Week 2 vs. Battlehawks
UFL News Hub asked Neuheisel about his early assessment of St. Louis after watching game tape on the Battlehawks. Dallas's head coach was impressed by what they accomplished against the defending UFL champions.
"I thought Ricky Proehl did a great job having his team ready to play. That was a blitzkrieg by their defense over that Defender offense. And remembering that's the, you know, you know, the league-defending champs. I know there's a lot of new faces, but that was Jordan Ta'amu playing quarterback, and they got him seven times down on the ground. So that was really, really interesting. I obviously was watching tape rather than the game, but I felt like I could hear the fans even though I'm watching tape. I mean, it was obvious it was a raucous environment, which is great for the league and certainly great for the Battlehawks. And we've got our hands full this week."
One aspect of St. Louis's game that was impressive was the seven sacks they got on the Defenders. Neuheisel has his sights set on one guy that they cannot let their quarterback, Reed, get hit by: Pita Taumoepenu.
"Well, we are mindful of how good St. Louis is in that front. That leading sack guy for last year was at his usual antics against, against Washington, D.C. last week. And so we've got to know where number seven is at all times. At least last week he was always to the right. There were times he lined up over the center and even over the guard. But we got to know where he is and we've got to take what the defense gives us. We can't be greedy and we got to stay on the field. Time of possession was a big weapon last week. It's relatively talked about, but it's, it's one of my favorite stats. And so staying on the field and protecting our defense, both with field position and time of possession, is huge again this week."
A lot of last week's discussion centered on the stunning decision to go with Reed over Luis Perez. UFL News Hub asked Neuheisel if there was any vindication in Reed playing well despite the constant questioning of Perez not starting, but the coach quickly shut down that narrative.
"I love Luis. This is not personal. This isn't about me. This is about you know, what's best for our team. And I had planned to get Luis into the game, and I always preface when I say that to a youngster that, hey, things happen in a game. When he was going to go in, we had the ball on the one-yard line, and I didn't think that was fair to him, right, to be down there having to make the decisions with, you know, no place to back up. So, uh, I expect Luis to play a lot this year. And I'm hopeful that will be the case. And we have nothing but great things to say about him. It just was Austin's turn and Austin played well."
Long-time Renegades fans have been used to seeing Dae Dae Hunter as the running back after being the starter last year and finishing in the top five in rushing. Hunter was inactive last week, and it was Lorenzo Lingard and Ellis Merriweather taking carries instead as they combined for 21 carries for 59 yards. Neuheisel explained the Hunter situation further.
"Dae Dae's fine. Unfortunately, this, this rule where we can only have 43 guys as opposed to our roster of 50 requires us to sit some guys. And last week it was Dae Dae's turn. We'll wait and see exactly how that turns out this week. But my hope is that Day Day is going to get a lot of playing time this year as well."
The Renegeades are set to take on the Battlehawks on Tuesday night at 7:00 pm CST in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas as they look to improve to 2-0 on the season.