VANCOUVER – It came down to the wire, but the UBC Thunderbirds prevailed on a late fourth quarter field goal to earn a 30-27 win over the Alberta Golden Bears Saturday afternoon at Thunderbird stadium, punching their ticket to the Hardy Cup Playoffs and a date with the Saskatchewan Huskies.
After the Golden Bears (3-3) scored a pair of touchdowns in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter to tie the game, an Alberta fumble on a punt return was recovered by UBC (3-3), setting up a 34-yard Owen Brown field goal with 66 seconds left on the clock for what turned out to be the game deciding points.
"Special teams has been a struggle for us most of the year and there were three or four occasions today when our special teams unit looked really good and made the plays we need to be successful," said UBC Head Coach Blake Nill who's guided the T-Birds to their first playoff berth since 2018. "Coach (Special Teams Coordinator Pete) Buckley works so hard with that group, I was glad to see special teams make a big play."
"To put us in the playoffs and have this program keep playing it's huge, huge for this program," commented UBC quarterback
Garrett Rooker who went 21-for-26 for 206 yards and a touchdown. "My receivers played their butts off this game, especially in the rain. Offence played a great game, but we were stagnant at points, and we just got to get better every week."
With a 17-10 lead at the half, UBC answered an Alberta field goal with their third major score of the game to go up 24-13 when Isaiah Knight punched in his second rushing touchdown of the game, a four yard scamper to complement his 44-yard defence-busting run in the second quarter.
Perhaps more important than the lead itself was UBC taking more time off the clock, forcing the Bears to look to the air in their attempt to claw back with eight minutes remaining in the final frame.
Facing third and long, Brad Launhardt connected with Chevy Thomas for a clutch 17-yard reception to keep the ball in the offence's hands. After the Bears quarterback ran the ball himself down to the UBC three yard line, he once again called his own number on third and goal, cutting the T-Birds' lead to just seven points with 4:25 left in the game.
UBC was unable to move the ball on their next possession, giving the Bears ample opportunity just inside the three minute warning. And take full advantage they did, as Launhardt threw to Jonathan Rosery for a 35-yard touchdown, completing the late comeback as the successful convert tied the game 27-27 with just under two minutes to play.
The Bears forced the T-Birds into a two-and-out, but Alberta coughed up the ball on the return while Robert Lutman pounced on it at the Bears' 23 yard-line, setting up Brown's game winning try.
UBC's defence sealed the deal when Eric Dika-Balotoken picked off Launhardt with 45 seconds left.
The Alberta quarterback finished the game 16-for-33 for 189 yards, one TD and one interception.
A week after Knight put up 105 yards rushing, the rookie running back led the way on the ground Saturday with a season high 147 yards and a pair of scores.
Trey Kellogg gave UBC a 10-3 lead in the second quarter with his fourth touchdown of the season, finishing with 61 yards receiving and 148 all-purpose yards thanks to some outstanding returns.
Matthew Peterson had 83 yards on the ground for Alberta and the game opening major in the first quarter.
With the win, the 'Birds finish the regular season fourth in the Canada West and will head to Saskatoon next Saturday to face the first place Saskatchewan Huskies in a conference semifinal. The Bears will visit Winnipeg in the other Hardy Cup semi against the Manitoba Bisons.
"We deserve to be in the playoffs," added Nill. "We never do anything easy, we probably could have finished that game three different times in the fourth quarter but you got to give Alberta's defence credit man, all we needed was a first down on two occasions and that would have made the difference, Alberta wouldn't give it to us. That's a good football team, I think we're becoming a good football team, we just have a ways to go yet."
