VANCOUVER – If last week's UBC win over Alberta was a battle of the Canada West titans, this week's rematch of the 2022 Hardy Cup final in Saskatoon cannot be overstated as the undefeated Thunderbirds take on the two-time defending conference champion Huskies Friday night at Griffiths Stadium.
Boasting their best start to a season in 31 years, the Thunderbirds offence has been virtually unstoppable in the first half of 2023. Averaging over 571 yards per game, UBC continues to lead the conference in points-per-game (45), and touchdowns (20).
Week four Offensive Player of the Week
Garrett Rooker leads the country with a remarkable 79.2 percent completion rate and a 211.7 QB rating. His 325.8 yards passing average is by far away tops in the conference while the combo of he and
Derek Engel's 380 yards per game ranks number one in all of U SPORTS.
Put together with a defence that has allowed just 18 points per game and 110 yards per game on the ground, there's ample reason why the Thunderbirds have moved up to a number five national ranking, with the host Huskies coming in at number eight following a 3-1 first half performance.
"I appreciate what other people think about who the best football teams are in the country, but Saskatchewan is the defending champion, and probably the top Canada West program since COVID," said UBC head coach,
Blake Nill. "Coach (Scott) Flory has done an incredible job building that program based on his culture. We've had nothing but difficulty in Saskatoon so we're not taking this lightly at all."
The Thunderbirds did earn a key week seven victory at home over the Huskies last season, but UBC success at Griffiths Stadium has indeed been hard to come by. Last year's 23-8 Hardy Cup loss to Saskatchewan was just the latest setback for the blue and gold in Saskatoon, the fourth straight road loss to the Huskies. The last time the T-Birds earned a victory at Griffiths was a 38-37 comeback win in 2019.
"There's no place that's tougher to win than Saskatoon on a Friday night," said Nill who earned his 170
th career U SPORTS regular season or playoff victory last Friday, now in sole possession of fourth all-time. "We have to match their physicality, their culture, their coaching. It's going to be a real challenge for UBC this Friday."
As for the Huskies, their only loss on the season came courtesy of Alberta two weeks ago, a game where Golden Bears running back Matthew Peterson put up a combined 295 yards. The defending champs rebounded with a 28-12 win in Calgary last week.
Saskatchewan continues to lead the conference in pass defence, allowing just 203 yard per game. While Rooker and the T-Birds haven't run into much trouble putting up points thus far, it's almost a certainty UBC will need to rely on a balanced attack, something that was on full display last week when
Isaiah Knight alone amassed 220 combined yards, 184 of them on the ground.
Perhaps only because of Knight's prowess once again this season, fellow running back
Dane Kapler has almost slipped under the radar. The third year from California – who has also been lining up at slotback – sits third on the T-Birds in rushing yards behind Knight and
Lucas Mastrodomenico, as well as third in receiving yards behind conference leader
Sam Davenport and
Shemar McBean.
"Kapler's a throwback type athlete. He does what you ask him to do, he competes fully every time he's on the field and he has skill. He could be the type of a young man who complains he doesn't have a steady home as the top tail back for example, but he's a consummate team guy and he's a talent. We just have to find ways to get him the football."
Kapler may be the perfect example of just how deep and versatile UBC's offence is.
But Nill insists his team has still yet to reach their full potential, on both sides of the ball.
"We want to play 60 minutes on defence. Last week our defence was spectacular from after the first play of the second half to the last minute of the second half. They were off the field for most of that time. I'm encouraging both our offence and defence to finish, play 60 minutes and make every play the most important. That's our ceiling, we have room to improve and that's one area we can focus on."
Kickoff for week five in Saskatoon is set for 6:00 p.m. PT Friday, September 29. The game will available live on
Canada West TV.
