VANCOUVER – Winners of three straight, the UBC Thunderbirds head into the final week of the regular season as the hottest team in the Canada West, set to visit the Alberta Golden Bears Saturday afternoon, looking to make it four in a row to head into the Hardy Cup playoffs.
While preparing to face the Bears (2-5), the T-Birds (4-3) are keeping a full view on the following week when they head to Regina to battle the Rams in one of two semifinal playoff games as UBC looks to punch their ticket to their first Hardy Cup final since 2017.
"You never want to limp into the playoffs, you want to go in winning," said UBC Head Coach
Blake Nill who last week secured a playoff berth with UBC for the sixth time in seven seasons. "Having said that though, you also have to take a balanced approach where nothing can be determined for us from this last game of the year. Our focus has to start on the Regina game, making sure our athletes are ready for the playoffs. Consequently, we're going to make decisions slanted to that approach."
Sliding back into the U SPORTS Top Ten this week after last Saturday's 35-29 win over the reigning Hardy Cup champion Huskies, the T-Birds are locked into third place in the Canada West standings. No longer battling from outside the playoff picture, the T-Birds continue to gain momentum while also boasting back-to-back conference Offensive Players of the Week, the most recent award going to second-year running back
Isaiah Knight who continues to lead the Canada West in rushing yards, now with 713. But the previous week's winner – quarterback
Garrett Rooker – suffered a devastating injury early last week against Saskatchewan as the 'Birds will be without their offensive leader for the rest of the season.
Rooker's loss turns the offence over to a fellow Texan in
Derek Engel who filled in more than admirably last week, leading UBC to victory over the previously undefeated Huskies.
"Derek's a very good football player," said Nill of his new starter. "He understands pressure and he understands the position very well. He knows his job isn't to go out and win it on his own, his job is to distribute the ball, put it into the hands of the playmakers and then as he gains more and more experience you'll see him expand his boundaries and become more confident. We're very happy with Derek and to be honest we're very fortunate to have him, a quarterback of his quality, to take over for the loss of
Garrett Rooker."
While the results of Saturday's game in Edmonton do not impact UBC's place in the standings, it's a must-win game for the Bears who are against the ropes in their bid to earn the final conference playoff berth. Sitting at 2-1 after week three, Alberta has lost four in a row, most recently a devastating 44-30 defeat in Winnipeg last Saturday. That Bisons win propelled Manitoba ahead of the Bears, meaning Alberta needs a win over UBC and a Bisons loss to Regina on Saturday in order to find themselves playing beyond this weekend.
Standing in Alberta's way, of course, is a T-Birds team brimming with confidence. Outscoring the opposition by a combined 101-79 over the past three weeks, UBC heads to Edmonton as the top rushing team in the conference, averaging 197 yards per game on the ground, led by Knight and fellow running back
Dane Kapler. The Bears will also need to be wary of UBC's deep receiving corps with multiple athletes carving out a notoriety for executing big plays at big moments.
While UBC's offence picks up steam, so too does the T-Bird defence. Linebacker
Ryan Baker's 7.6 tackles per game leads the entire country. Fourth-year defensive lineman
Lake Korte-Moore picked up 2.5 sacks last week against the Huskies, yet another leader on the conference's second-best pass defence.
"I think we've played well for most of the season to be honest, we haven't been totally consistent but we've shown each and every game that we do have the ability to play football the right way," added Nill. "Again, I want to be able to carry that kind of momentum and at the same time be smart about resting the right players; developing, giving chances to players you may need in the playoff run, so it's a real calculated approach."
The T-Birds opened the year with a 30-21 win over the Bears and will look to bookend the regular season with another victory to head to Regina with what would be the team's longest win streak since UBC's last Vanier Cup winning season in 2015.
Kickoff at Foote Field Saturday is set for 12:00 p.m. PT. The game will be streamed live on
Canada West TV.
