VANCOUVER – After dropping their season opener to the Alberta Golden Bears, the UBC Thunderbirds are back at home this Friday, September 6 looking to reverse their fortunes when they host the No. 9 ranked Manitoba Bisons for a key week two Canada West battle.
Despite putting up nearly 450 yards of offence, some defensive breakdowns by the T-Birds saw them start the 2024 season 0-1 for the first time in three years. But with a quick turnaround, there's no time to dwell on the past as UBC is quickly making adjustments and refocusing to face a Bisons team coming off an impressive 37-24 home opener win over the Saskatchewan Huskies.
"Like us, Manitoba brings a lot of big play potential, they have a very dynamic quarterback," said UBC head coach
Blake Nill. "They have outstanding skill players at receiver, in their secondary and big, big line of scrimmage personnel. We're going to come in again expecting a very physical game…they can move the ball physically on you, they can do it quickly. They're going to give us a very challenging defence. Again, I think we match up well with Manitoba, but it's a game where both programs can win this game, it's just going to come down to who makes the plays."
Veteran Bisons quarterback Jackson Tachinksi is no stranger to the T-Birds. The Winnipeg native led the Canada West with six rushing touchdowns in 2023 and in last week's win over the Huskies, he racked up 62 of Manitoba's 250 yards on the ground.
Receiver AK Gassama is back for his final Canada West season, starting the campaign off strong with 77 yards and a touchdown last week.
But while the Bisons' offence has had an impressive start, so too have the Thunderbirds. UBC quarterback
Garrett Rooker led the conference in week one passing with 375 yards along with a pair of touchdowns, one of them an 89-yard catch-and-run to
Mark Webb.
Sam Davenport – who caught Rooker's other touchdown pass – also surpassed 100 yards receiving. The T-Birds' offensive depth should continue to cause problems for opposing defences, especially when considering the likes of receivers
Edgerrin Williams-Hernandez and Ches Rednour-Bruckman haven't even dressed yet this season.
"What it allows us to do is know that we can attack from numerous spots on the field," Nill added. "(Offensive Coordinator Stevenson Bone) and his offensive staff have done a great job recognizing the talent we have and I think he's doing a good job distributing the football."
Defensively the 'Birds need to have a stronger game against Manitoba, especially considering the Bisons also boast a robust ground game, much like Alberta, which UBC struggled to contain.
"We can run with anybody, but we got to find twelve guys who can do up their chinstraps when it's second and short or when the game goes from a finesse game to a power game. That's an identity and that's where we miss guys like
Kyle Samson,
Kaishaun Carter,
Ryan Baker – guys who understood that the physical game is something you got to be motivated to perform in. It was certainly baptism by fire (last week) and hopefully we learn from it."
It may only be week two of the 2024 season, but in a relatively short campaign there is definitely a level of urgency being felt by the 'Birds to ensure they don't fall too far behind.
"We can't go 0-2 at home. We're preparing like we do each week for success. I told the players yesterday, we just have to play better than we did against Alberta. We really did play well for a first game. We had limited penalties, limited assignment breakdowns, we had big plays on special teams. But you could tell we hadn't played a real opponent yet. Where that was evident was on missed tackles, more on that front than anything. If we make two thirds of those tackles, there might have been a different outcome."
UBC's chance at a different outcome begins Friday night at Thunderbird Stadium. Kickoff against the Manitoba Bisons is set for 6:00 p.m. – the first meeting between the two since the T-Birds earned a 29-21 win in last year's Hardy Cup semifinal.
Tickets for Friday are available now and the game will also be streamed live on
Canada West TV.
