REGINA – It may not have been the prettiest of wins, but a win's a win, and the UBC Thunderbirds will take it for their first of the 2024 Canada West season, a gritty 14-12 result over the Regina Rams at Mosaic Stadium.
Trailing for the majority of the game, the T-Birds took the lead in the early stages of the fourth quarter with
Dane Kapler capping off a seven play, 79 yard drive for his first touchdown of the season.
Still with plenty of time – and opportunity – to keep their undefeated streak alive to start the season, the Rams fumbled the ball twice in the final four minutes, one forced loose by
Jaxon Ciraolo-Brown and the other punched out by
Deacon Sterna, recovered by Ciraolo-Brown.
Regina did have one last attempt – facing a 105 yard field and just 32 seconds on the clock – but the hosts turned over on downs as UBC enters week four of the season in a four-way tie for third place at 1-2.
"It was an ugly win but it's a win," said UBC head coach
Blake Nill after securing his team's sixth straight road win in Regina. "Total credit to Defensive Coordinator
Pat Tracey, Noah Cantor,
Shomari Williams, Stevenson Bone and my entire coaching staff on a tremendous effort to get the job done today. We've been under the gun from game one of training camp with the coaching shuffle we had to do. Pete Buckley picked up his first win as offensive line coach, Wayne Harris got his first win as a Thunderbird. Everyone has gutted it out and I really congratulate them all."
It really was a feeling of relief after finding a way to get into the win column for the first time, especially after a first half that was less than stellar.
Garrett Rooker and the T-Birds' offence began the game with a bang on their first drive, capping off a 75-yard march down the field with the game opening touchdown. After a third and short gamble to get a fresh set of downs at the Regina one yard line,
Derek Engel plunged over the heap for his first rushing score of the season.
The Rams responded on their first opportunity with the football, a 22-yard Olivier Savard rush pushing down to the UBC eight. Facing third and goal Regina quarterback Noah Pelletier – the reigning Canada West Offensive Player of the Week – faked the hand off and rushed wide and across the goal line. The successful convert restored the hosts' lead at 8-7, having earned a single point on the game opening kickoff.
Looking to expand their lead on their next drive, the Rams had a field goal attempt blocked as rookie defensive lineman
Deacon Sterna got his finger tips on the ball which was recovered by
Ben Sangmuah.
Following an offence-heavy start to the game by both teams, both UBC and Regina's defences came to play in the second quarter with no points put up on the board, giving the Rams a 9-7 advantage at halftime thanks to Pelletier's major score and two Isaac Wegner rouges.
Starting the second half with the ball, Pelletier and the Rams' offence took more than seven minutes off the clock on a drive that was capped off by a 23-yard Wegner field goal to give the hosts a 12-7 advantage.
A 36-yard Rooker completion to
Zach Patfield got the T-Birds across midfield to the Regina 25. But two plays later, the veteran QB looked for
Mark Webb in the end zone and was picked off by Max Polischuk.
Getting the ball back after a Regina punt, Rooker completed three straight first down passes to
Sam Davenport,
Brad Hladik and Webb, eventually making it first and goal. Cue veteran hybrid option Kapler who executed a seven yard carry for a UBC lead the T-Birds would not relinquish.
Still with plenty of time left and the Rams well inside UBC territory, Pelletier fumbled the ball on a strip sack by Sterna, recovered by Ciraolo-Brown, getting the T-Birds' offence back on the field.
Pelletier got another chance, starting a fresh drive with 2:35 remaining at his own 48-yard line. But two plays later, the Rams fumbled once again, the ball punched out by Ciraolo-Brown and recovered by
Bear Akachuk.
After 59 minutes and change of very clean football by the T-Birds, UBC was called on three consecutive penalties, including a time-count violation with a loss of down which led to a Flannery-Fleck punt which went out of bounds at the Regina five.
Pelletier and the Rams had 105 yards and less than 40 seconds to play with in an attempt to keep their undefeated season going, but the task was too tall. As a result, the 'Birds held on for their first win of the season with UBC now in a four-way tie for third place in a bunched up Canada West.
"Our offensive obviously struggled," Nill said. "But, the defence played well, we covered extremely well. The effort was apparent and at half time I just tried to tell the guys we needed to get our courage back. We needed to remember how we played football in 2023 and I thought we managed to do that."
Rooker finished the game without a touchdown, but threw for 243 yards on 21-of-32 passing. Pelletier was limited to 19-of-33 for 181 yards and his rushing score.
Knight led all efforts on the ground with a total of 103 yards along with another 12 through the air.
The relieved blue and gold now head back to Vancouver for Homecoming 2024 where they'll face one of their staunchest rivals in recent years, the Saskatchewan Huskies, on Friday, September 20.
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