The No. 7-ranked Saskatchewan Huskies (4-1) moved back into first-place in the Canada West with a 44-7 victory over the UBC Thunderbirds (1-5) in the Shaw TV Game of the Week on Friday night at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon.

The struggling Huskies running game found their legs against the T-Birds defence, piling up 269 yards on 38 carries to lead Saskatchewan to victory in blustery conditions that wreaked havoc on both team's passing games.

Garrett Bolen had a team-best 94 yards on nine carries with one touchdown while Tyler O'Gorman proved the most common rusher with 10 carries for 59 yards and a pair of scores. Jeff Hassler (eight carries, 62 yards) and Alex Balogun (six carries, 46 yards and one touchdown) also figured prominently in the Huskies rushing attack.

UBC running back Dave Boyd regained his early season form with 125 yards on the ground and had the T-Birds lone touchdown of the evening.

Neither team had much success through the air as  Billy Greene and Boomer Chaube combined to go 12-of-26 for 172 yards and two interceptions for the T-Birds, while the Huskies had three passers combined for 212 yards, one score, and one pick.

The hosts used their running game with great success right from the get go,  as O'Gorman gave Saskatchewan a 7-0 lead just over five minutes in with a 22-yard scamper into the end zone. He followed up with his second TD of the game just under six minutes later, after Saskatchewan needed to march just 25 yards following a Bryce McCall interception deep in UBC territory.

The hosts extended their lead to 17-0 on the following drive, recovering an onside kick before Grant Shaw nailed a 50-yard field goal.

It was a case of deja vu for the T-Birds midway through the second quarter as Saskatchewan scored 10 points on back-to-back possessions. The Huskies marched 102 yards for a major before recovering the ensuing kick-off in UBC territory. Shaw capped the first half scoring with his second field goal of the game to give Saskatchewan a 27-0 lead at the break.

The Huskies opened the second half with another scoring drive to make it 34-0. The T-Birds finally got on the board at the 10:05 mark of the third quarter. Chaube, who replaced Greene at the half, completed an eight-yard pass to Spencer Betts and then a 23-yard strike to Brent Borthistle to open the scoring drive before  Boyd took the next play 22 yards into the end zone.

Saskatchewan added 10 more points in the fourth quarter to close out the evening's scoring.

UBC safety Alex Babalos once again led the UBC defence in tackles, piling up 8.5 to increase his league leading total to 46, with an amazing 39 solo efforts.

The T-Birds travel to Burnaby next Saturday to take on the Simon Fraser Clan (2-4) in the 32nd edition of the Shrum Bowl. Kick-off is 1:00 pm at Terry Fox Field.