The UBC Thunderbirds aim to turn 'Back in Black' into getting back in the win column as they host the reigning Hardy Cup champion Regina Rams Friday, September 12 at Thunderbird Stadium.
Following an impressive season opening win at home over the Manitoba Bisons, the T-Birds (1-1) suffered a humbling set back last week in Saskatchewan and now face their third straight top-10 opponent in the undefeated Rams (2-0), the first of two straight home games in what's quickly become a critical portion of their Canada West season.
"It's just incredibly important, you got to be successful at home. We've got two tough opponents and we're going to prepare as best we can for them," said UBC head coach,
Blake Nill, on re-setting and quickly turning the page after last week's 51-14 loss to the Huskies. "I thought we were out-prepared last week. I thought as coaches we had to be better, I've addressed that with our staff. We got a lot of youth and so with the youth is going to come inconsistency and you saw that in our secondary, you saw that at our quarterback and also in our ability to be effective rushing the football. And so we've got to just keep trying to make it easier for our young athletes to be more consistent and that's what we're focussed on."
The biggest challenge for UBC will be trying to slow down Regina's offence which has burst out of the gate to start the season. The No. 6 Rams have put up back-to-back 40-plus point efforts and boast the conference's leading rusher in Marshall Erichsen who ran for over 170 yards in last week's win over Alberta, one week after scoring four touchdowns in Regina's season-opening victory in Calgary.
The Rams also have weapons galore at receiver with second-years Nicholas Sirleaf and Renzel Arinaza both sitting in the Canada West top four through week two.
Fans at Thunderbird Stadium Friday should be in for a treat overall as T-Birds receivers
Trey Montour,
Shemar McBean and
Jaden Phillips all also find themselves in the top ten in yardage.
UBC's defence will not only be tested this week, but will need to be significantly better, especially against the run.
"With us right now, what we're trying to do is first of all correct the fundamental mistakes that I thought we made, and can't make if we want to have any success this season," said Nill. "So we've been spending time working on fundamentals, on alignments, assignments, execution. The reality is come Friday night we're facing an equally impressive opponent and we better be ready to play at our best. We need a higher level of resiliency, a higher level of both physical and mental toughness, and that'll come. But right now we're in a period of adjustment and we just have to get to a place where we feel we can compete each and every play."
While the T-Birds seek more consistency to their game, the Rams have been nothing but consistent, dating back to the final regular season game of last season, earning three straight victories to clinch their first Hardy Cup in 24 years. The success has continued so far in 2025 as Regina sits atop the early season standings alongside their provincial rival Huskies.
"(Rams Head Coach Mark) McConkey's done a great job there, they're a blue collar program, I really appreciate what they bring to each and every game. There's not a lot of flash there, it's mostly hard work and there's a lot to be said for the culture at Regina and it's been like that for a while now."
Friday night's 'Back in Black' game will see the T-Birds wear their all-black jerseys for the only time this season. Kickoff at Thunderbird Stadium is 6:00 p.m.
Tickets are still available and the game will also be streamed live on
Canada West TV.
