Five weeks into the USFL season, the offense might be catching up to the defense for the Pittsburgh Maulers.

After falling behind on an early touchdown sparked by a special teams play, the Maulers shut down the Michigan Panthers the rest of the way, winning 23-7 on Saturday afternoon at Ford Field.

Quarterback Troy Williams led the way for the Maulers (2-3), completing 15 of 19 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns and also leading the team in rushing with 59 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.

After scoring a touchdown once in 12 trips to the red zone in the first four games, the Maulers found the end zone on three of their four visits inside the 20 on Saturday.

The typically stout Maulers defense held Michigan (2-3) to 152 total yards and forced four turnovers.

The Panthers scored first, however. After the Maulers were stopped on their first possession, Michigan’s Ishmael Hyman returned a punt 74 yards to the Pittsburgh 26. Five plays later, quarterback Josh Love hit Cole Hikutini on a 5-yard scoring pass to make it 7-0 Panthers.

After that, it was all Maulers.

They tied the score with a six-play, 80-yard drive late in the first quarter. The big play was a 31-yard pass from Williams to Bailey Gaither. The drive ended with a 5-yard scoring strike to Mason Stokke.

The Maulers forced a fumble on Michigan’s next possession and quickly capitalized on the turnover to take the lead for good.

Vaughn Taylor Jr. recovered the fumble at the Panthers 41. Four plays later, Williams hit Isiah Hennie for a 5-yard TD pass.

The Maulers held the Panthers to a total of 52 yards on their next four possesions, then ran their lead to 17-7 on a 22-yard field goal by Chris Blewitt late in the third quarter.

After a Maulers fumble midway through the fourth quarter, the Panthers were threatening to get back in the game when Arnold Tarpley made a key defensive play. On a third-and-8 from the 11, he intercepted a Carson Strong pass in the end zone and ran it back to the Michigan 24.

Four plays later, Williams ran in a 13-yard touchdown to put the game on ice.

Gaither led the Maulers in receiving with four catches for 89 yards. Hennie caught six balls for 62 yards and a score. On defense, tackle Christopher Okoye had four tackles for loss for the Maulers, who will visit the Memphis Showboats at 12:30 p.m. next Saturday.

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