VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds did what they needed to the last two weeks by winning both of their first two home games of the season. But things for the blue and gold now get even tougher as they face back-to-back road contests, starting this Saturday afternoon against the Manitoba Bisons.
On the strength of stout defensive performances and an increasingly balanced offensive attack led by rookie running back sensation
Marvyn Larozar, the T-Birds (2-1) have a renewed air of confidence, bolstered by last week's Homecoming win over No. 4 ranked Regina.
UBC's week four opponent won't be feeling any differently, though, as the No. 10 Bisons (2-1) are fresh off an overtime win over the Dinos, improving to 2-0 on home field.
"With Coach Stan (Pierre), I see a familiar type of Manitoba team. They're a tough, very resilient, well-coached group," said UBC head coach,
Blake Nill. "They play the game with a little nastiness which I like to see, and they're always very formidable, especially at home. We're expecting another game like we just had this weekend where it's toe-to-toe for 60 minutes and whoever makes the most plays or makes the fewest mistakes might have a chance to pull it off."
While the Thunderbirds were deserving of last week's 25-20 win over the Rams, it wasn't the cleanest of victories with UBC racking up over 100 yards in penalties. The team's offence struggled in the opening half before finding its groove in the final 20 minutes of the game.
The most consistent aspect of the Thunderbirds thus far in 2026 is their defence. After holding the Dinos to just eight points in the second half of week one, UBC has shut out their opponents beyond half time. Allowing 20.7 points against per game, second only to Regina, the T-Birds lead the Canada West conceding just 93.3 yards per game on the ground.
All of this has been accomplished despite significant injuries including defensive lineman
Deacon Sterna and veteran defensive back
Darrien Brown.
"Coach (Noah) Cantor and his team of defensive coaches are always together, trying to make it simple on our young men and you're seeing the results of it," said Nill. "Our depth has been challenged for sure, but we have athletic talent there, it's just a matter of putting them in a simple system where they can execute. Even last week against Regina, we dressed
Tahliek Louis, I gave him a call an hour before the game and told him he had to be ready to go and he was out there entire fourth quarter. It basically points to the success of Coach Shomari (Williams') recruiting effort and the job he's done identifying talent and bringing it in. It'll be nice to get some of these guys back at some point, but for now we are who we are, and we just got to put them into the best places to succeed."
A quick look at Manitoba's numbers so far this season and collectively, not a ton jumps off the page. The team sits fifth in conference passing yards per game and fourth in rushing, but the Bisons' number ten ranking is well deserved for their incredible efficiency.
Quarterback Cole Anseeuw has a pair of dangerous receivers in Nathan Udoh and Mikun Odunuga who have combined for 428 yards and four touchdowns.
Third-year T-Bird
Trey Montour sits third in Canada West receiving with 289 yards and a touchdown, the only UBC receiver currently in the conference's top ten. Larozar,
Kai Rawnsley,
Kai Rednour-Bruckman and
Owen Herle all average more than 20 yards per game receiving and all with the ability for much more. If there's one aspect of UBC's offence Nill would like to see improvement at, it's ball distribution.
"We need more consistency out of our quarterback and pass game. It's not a knock, I think you could ask anyone who's involved in that group and they'll tell you the same thing. Drew (Viotto) has as high an expectation for himself as I do for him and he's just got to find a way to get out of this slump a bit, be more consistent and distribute the ball to the athletes he has. When that happens, you're going to see a shift because Drew can beat you by himself too. If you got a guy who can do that and then you start looking at the run game in addition, I think it'll bode well for us."
There's always a danger in looking too far down the road, but with UBC's schedule featuring two games against the Huskies and a late-season trip to Regina still to come, a win this Saturday in Winnipeg could be critical in many ways.
"Our schedule in 2026 is just unreal. I don't know if many teams in U SPORTS can say they play the likes of Regina and Saskatchewan four times in total. Then you got to deal with up and comers like Manitoba, up and comers like Calgary. What we do is just try to take it one game at a time, identify what we think our key points are to attack and then see if we can get our athletes bought in and convince them they can compete with most teams in U SPORTS."
Kickoff against the Bisons at Princess Auto Stadium is set for 3:00 p.m. PT Saturday, September 26. The game will be available
live on Canada West TV.
