Vancouver, BC – UBC (0-2) goes in search of their first win of the season vs. ninth ranked Saskatchewan (1-1) on Saturday September 15, 2012 at Thunderbird Stadium. Kick off is 2:00 pm. Come out and celebrate homecoming weekend as the Thunderbirds honour former head coach and two-time Vanier Cup Champion Frank Smith.
Saturday marks the first of two meetings this year between the Thunderbirds and Huskies. They will play again on the final weekend of the season. UBC is looking to rebound from a disappointing 49-20 loss at the hands of the Regina Rams last Friday. The Thunderbirds led the game 13-7 at the half, but were no where to be found in the second half, surrendering 42 unanswered points before scoring a late touchdown of their own. With just six games left in the regular season and without a 'W' in the win column, Saturday's game becomes that much more important for head coach
Shawn Olson and his team.
“The biggest concern is continuing to have too many significant mistakes. Last week it was turning the ball over and obviously that effects the final outcome of the game,” said Olson. “My other concern is the way we reacted when we got down to the Rams last week. There were certain guys, not intentionally, who checked out when the going got tough. It was a situation where there was still a full quarter left and we were down by 21 points and by no means in the Canadian game is that out of reach. I wanted to see some resiliency, some fight and determination, but instead we started feeling sorry for ourselves. It is a mindset we aim to fix this week. As the head coach I take responsibility for their actions because the team reflects the coach and to some degree we babied them a little bit throughout the week of practice because of all the injuries we had suffered and we did not want to get anybody else hurt, so we were conserving guys for the game. That didn't work, so we've gone back to the mentality of doing what we need to do on a weekly basis and if somebody gets hurt we will adjust accordingly.”
Saskatchewan, who the Thunderbirds beat 27-22 in last year's Canada West semi-final, are coming off a 31-28 loss to the seventh ranked Manitoba Bisons. In the opening week of the season, the Huskies ran over the Alberta Golden Bears 32-0. The Huskies run a balanced offense, averaging 140 yards per game on the ground and 260 yards per game passing. Offensively they are led by rookie quarterback Drew Burko and on defense, fifth year safety Bryce McCall is the one to watch. McCall has 20 career interceptions in his CIS career, just one shy of tying the CIS record.
“Saskatchewan is tough. They are always perennial contenders in the Canada West,” said Olson. “They are very consistent and you know your going to get a solid, sound football team. This is a team that will certainly challenge us.”
Since 1994 the Huskies have had the Thunderbirds number. UBC is 4-30 vs. Saskatchewan, including playoffs.
The Huskies are led by head coach Brian Towriss who is in his 29
th year as head coach of Saskatchewan.
“The best way to deal with our disappointment is to go back to work,” said Olson. “That is how you should respond to any type of adversity. We can't give our guys the opportunity to feel sorry for themselves.”
Homecoming festivities begin at 12:30 pm at Thunderbird Stadium.
