VANCOUVER – The no. 9 UBC Thunderbirds football team is looking to build on the momentum of its home-opening win last weekend, as it welcomes the no. 10 Manitoba Bisons to town for Homecoming 2011 on Saturday afternoon.
Students, staff, alumni and fans are expected to jam Thunderbird Stadium for the 2:00 p.m. kickoff.
The game will also be broadcast live on CiTR 101.9 FM and will also be streamed live at canadawest.tv
Last week, UBC stormed out of the gates, scoring touchdowns on its first two possessions against the Alberta Golden Bears, en route to a 40-30 victory.
The final score was much closer than the game itself as the Thunderbirds built up a 40-8 lead before both teams unloaded their benches.
Alberta made a valiant comeback attempt but fell short.
UBC quarterback Billy Greene (Surrey, BC) was brilliant. He threw three touchdowns and ran in another while running back Dave Boyd (Duncan, BC) gave the Thunderbirds much needed balance on offence by carrying the ball 21 times for 176 and a touchdown.
Levar Hayden (Calgary, AB) led UBC defensively by recording six tackles. Rookie Adam Konar (North Vancouver, BC) continues to impress, notching 5.5 tackles for the Thunderbirds.
UBC head coach Shawn Olson is hoping his team builds upon last weekβs performance.
βWhether itβs at the end of the half or the fourth quarter, Iβd like us to go for the kill a little bit more and when we do have a team down, that we can finish them off maybe a little bit better than weβve done this year,β said Olson.
One of the areas where UBC needs to get better is team discipline. Despite its 2-1 record, the Thunderbirds have averaged 15 penalties a game this season.
βA lot of our penalties donβt end up being disciplined penalties,β said Olson, who also cited better tackling and more defensive turnovers as things heβd like to see from his players against Manitoba.
The Bisons are coming into this weekβs game on a high as well. They entered the Football Reporters of Canada-CIS Top Ten this week on the strength of a 26-16 upset victory at home over the Saskatchewan Huskies.
They were led by fifth year defensive back Grayson Wells, who was selected as CIS Special Teams Football Athlete of the Week.
Wells made the play of the game against Saskatchewan as he jumped on a loose ball in the end zone at the start of the fourth quarter for the first lead of the game that Manitoba would not relinquish during the upset win.
It was Manitoba’s second straight victory, after a season-opening 35-31 loss to Calgary.
The Top 10 ranking is the team’s first, since the second week of the 2008 season.
Manitoba has an experienced and efficient quarterback in Khaleal Williams, who averages 260 yards a game in the air.
Defensively, the Bisons are a strong team, having recorded a Canada West-leading seven interceptions in three games in 2011.
They rank second in the conference in total defence, allowing just 334 yards a game.
βThis game will give us an idea of where we stand in the grand scheme of things,β said Olson. βWeβll be half way through the season and this is a team where if we have any aspirations of accomplishing something this year more than just in the regular season, then this is a team I have a feeling weβre going to have to beat.β
UBC Sports Info
No. 10 Manitoba at no. 9 UBC
When: September 24 β 2:00 p.m. at Thunderbird Stadium
Game Day Notes: University of Manitoba Bisons (2-1) vs. University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (2-1)
Saturday September 24, 2011
The Manitoba Bisons football team (2-1) earned their first CIS Top 10 ranking of the 2011 season (No. 10 ranked) and now travels to battle the new No. 9 ranked UBC Thunderbirds (2-1) at Thunderbird Stadium on Saturday, September 24 with game time at 4 p.m. CT. The game can be heard live on radio at 101.5 FM (umfm.com) with pre-game starting at 3:45 p.m. CT. Derek Taylor will be handling play-by-play with Mike Howard as the colour commentary.
The Herd seek to make a playoff run and embark on a campaign to officially qualify for the playoffs for the first time since capturing the 2007 Vanier Cup with a perfect 12-0 record (8-0 in regular season; 4-0 in playoffs). Over the past three seasons, the Herd had posted a 2-6 record in 2010; while in 2009, Manitoba had a 4-4 record on the field but finished with an official Canada West record of 2-5 due to using an ineligible player and finally in 2008, the team was 3-5.
In the last 15 seasons, the Bisons have a regular season record of 12-11 and 7-5 record on the road versus the T-Birds. Manitoba has won the last three meeting between the two teams and last lost in UBC during the 2004 season (five game winning streak).
This is the first week that four Canada West teams made the CIS Top 10 weekly poll. Calgary remains at number three, Saskatchewan drops to number seven and UBC (#9) and Manitoba (#10). The Herd seeks their third consecutive victory after a road win at Alberta and Homecoming Game win against Saskatchewan.
In the 2011 Canada West regular season, Manitoba entered the season with 78 players on their roster and a whopping 31 (40%) are entering their first year of eligibility while another 12 (15%) eligible players are in their second year. The rest of the breakdown is third year players: 6 (8%); fourth year players: 20 (26%) and fifth year players at 9 (11%)
When the two teams met at the end of last season for the second time in 2010, the Bisons returned seven offensive starters (WR/ Xavier Johnson, OL Scott Johnson, OL Landon Rice, OL Justin Yakiwchuk, SB Jared Ralko, SB Stu Schollaardt and QB Khaleal Williams) and six defensive starters (DL Adam Hindley, DL Lauren Kroeker, LB Thomas Hall, HB Pete Adams, CB David Ferrier and S Teague Sherman) from the regular season game eight at Manitoba in 2010.
This is the 50th consecutive season the Bisons have participated in university football since Manitoba re-instated football as a varsity sport in 1962.
These two teams played twice during the 2010 regular season:
October 30, 2010: Manitoba 35 UBC 25 at Manitoba
In a football game that meant little in the 2010 Canada West standings, the Manitoba Bisons earned their second win, to finish the 2010 season, with a 35-25 victory over the UBC Thunderbirds on Saturday, October 30 at University Stadium (U of M campus). Manitoba rallied for an early 14-3 first quarter deficit and outscored UBC 32-11 for the remaining three quarters of the game.
In a crazy and entertaining contest, both teams combined for exactly 900 yards of offence, 60 points on offence, five turnovers and back-to-back touchdowns on kick return plays. Bison rookie WR Quincy Hurst had a 100 yard punt return (tied for fifth longest in team history) for the first score of the second half and on the ensuing kickoff, UBC fourth year DB Sam Carino matched Hurst with a 96 yard kickoff TD.
In the fourth, UBC was stopped on a promising eight play drive and kicked a 15 yarder from second year Billy Pavlopoulos at the halfway point and closed the Bison led to 28-25. After two-and-out for both teams, Manitoba then drove 72 yards on six plays (with five being rushing) for the final score and extend their lead that they would not relinquish. The big play of the last TD drive was on second and 13 from UBCβs 53 yard line with the T-Birds blitzing and Bison first year QB starter Khaleal Williams hit a streaking fifth year RB James Gerardy who rumbled for 48 yards. The next play, fifth year RB Matt Henry hit pay dirt for his second touchdown of the game and salted away the ten point victory with 2:30 left.
For the visitors, they were led by third year QB Billy Greene who went 22-41 for 311 yards and one TD and one pick plus also was top team rusher with 50 yards on eight carries. Third year WR Spencer Betts had a game-high 96 yards on five catches while third year WR Jordan Grieve grabbed five catches for 86 yards and 1 TD. On defence, fifth year LB Mark Bailey had seven tackles, one forced fumble and one sack while third year DL Serge Kaminsky had 6.5 tackles. Scoring for UBC was second year WR Perry Harder ten yard TD run, Grieve with a 34 yard TD reception, Carinoβs 96 yard TD kickoff return, 15 yard FG and 57 yard punt single.
Williams led the Bisons with his best passing statistics of the year with 327 yards on 16-30 and one TD. Gerardy churned up 88 yards on 11 carries and Henry added 63 yards on 16 rushes with two TDs. Fourth year SB Stu Schollaardt had three catches for 38 yards and fourth year SB Jared Ralko added three receptions for 23 yards and one TD. There were ten different Bisons with at least one catch in the game. On defence, third year DB Teague Sherman had 7.5 tackles, two break-ups and one interception while fourth year LB John Tietzmann added six tackles and one forced fumble. Manitoba scoring included Henry with a five and two yard TD run, Ralko eight yard TD reception, Hurst 100 yard TD punt return, rookie kicker Nick Naylor with his longest FG of the season at 44 yards and 27 yards plus adding a single off a missed field goal.
September 18, 2010: Manitoba 40 UBC 17 at UBC
Bison football earned their first regular season victory of the 2010 season with a strong 40-17 win over the UBC Thunderbirds at UBC on Saturday, September 18.
In the road victory, Bison QB Khaleal Williams earned his first CIS victory as a starter and passed for 215 yards with 3 TDs on 9-20 passing plus added 100 rushing yards on seven attempts. RB Matt Henry had his second consecutive 100 yard game with a game-high 134 rushing yards on 27 carries and two rushing TDs. WR Quincy Hurst led the Herd with 84 receiving yards on two catches with a 69 yard TD reception. SB Jared Ralko had two grabs for 61 receiving yards while SB Stu Schollaardt had two catches for 31 yards and 2 TDs. Kicker Nick Naylor also went 1/2 in field goals.
On defence, the Bisons were led by safety Teague Sherman with 5.5 tackles, DB David Ferrier with five tackles and DL Louie Richardson with five tackles (one for a loss) and one fumble recovery. DB Grayson Wells had one interception while LB John Tietzmann had one sack.
The score was 24-17 at halftime for Manitoba and then the Bisons shutdown the T-Birds the rest of the way while scoring 16 unanswered points in the second half.
Manitoba scored five touchdowns in the UBC game (after scoring only once in the first two regular season matches) with a 1 yard run plunge by Henry, Hurst had a 69 yd TD grab, Schollarrdt caught 15 and 16 yard receiving TD and Henry finished the game with a five yard scamper.
The Herd held the advantage on the ground with an impressive 283 rushing yards as a team along with 28 first downs and no turnovers. Manitoba avoided a 0-3 start, which has not happened in the team history since 1998.
Points of Interest
In the last 15 seasons, the Bisons have a regular season record of 12-11 and 7-5 record on the road versus the T-Birds. Manitoba has won the last three meeting between the two teams and last lost in UBC during the 2004 season (five game winning streak).
In the latest Football Reporters of Canada (FRC) β CIS rankings, the Manitoba Bisons football team (2-1 record) are ranked tenth in the fourth poll of the 2011 season. This is the first time the Bisons have been ranked in the Top 10 since the second week (Sept. 9/08) of the 2008 season.
In the fourth CIS Top 10 football poll, of the 2011 season, Calgary stays ranked number three while Saskatchewan moves down from fourth to seventh spot, while UBC jumps back into rankings at number nine and Manitoba at ten.
There is two Bison roster starter change from game three to game four: RB Nic Demski starts in place of RB Anthony Coombs plus OL Kwinton Albino replaces OL Ray Thornson at guard position
Manitoba did play a pre-season game this season (the first against a CIS team since 2005) and lost 15-7 at Regina on Aug. 27 while UBC went on the road and lost 39-13 to Menlo College at Menlo, CA on Aug. 27.
OL Landon Rice is the final Bison player connection with the 2007 Vanier Cup Championship as he was part of that team in his rookie campaign. LB Thomas Hall was also part of the 2007 team but did not play as he red-shirted that season.
In team conference 2011 stats, starting with scoring offence, UBC is third (28.7 points per game) while Manitoba is fourth (26.3 ppg), while in scoring defence, the T-Birds are third with 23.3 ppg and the Bisons are fourth at 23.7. In total offence, UBC leads with 496.0 yards per game and Manitoba is third at 406.0 ypg. In total defence, Manitoba is second with 334.3 yards per game and the Thunderbirds are last at 482.0.
In rush offence, the T-Birds are second (191.0 yards per game) and the Herd is fourth (145.7 ypg). In rush defence, Manitoba is fourth (158.3 ypg) while UBC is sixth (254.7). In pass offence, the T-Birds is first (305.5 ypg); Bisons are second (260.3). In pass defence, Manitoba is first (176.0 ypg) and UBC is third (227.3 ypg). Manitoba and UBC are tied for first in sacks with seven and the T-Birds are second (5) while the Herd is tied for fourth (7) for least sacks allowed; UBC is third (+1) and Manitoba is fifth (-2) in turnover margin and time of possession, Manitoba is second (30:59) and UBC is fifth (27:57). Finally, Manitoba is third most penalized team (355 yards) and UBC Is second most (412 yards).
Individually in Canada West 2011 offensive stats, UBC Dave Boyd (266) is third and Bisons Anthony Coombs (196) is fifth in rushing yards; UBC Billy Greene leads with 867 passing yards and Bisons QB Khaleal Williams is second with 781. Bisons Jared Ralko and Boyd are tied for second with 14 receptions. In scoring, Bisons Nick Boyd leads with 32 points and UBC Billy Pavlopoulos is sixth at 20.
Individually in Canada West 2011 defensive stats, UBC Levar Hayden is fourth in total with 18.0 and Connor Flynn and Devin Kavanagh are tied for sixth at 15.5. For Manitoba, Adam Hindley, Pete Adams and Lauren Kroeker are all tied at 13th with 14.0. In sacks, Bisons Thomas Hall and Lauren Kroeker plus UBCβs Flynn are tied for fourth with two while T-Birds Serge Kaminsky is tied for first with three. In tackles for losses, Kroeker is tied for first with 4.0 while Bison Evan Gill is tied for third with 3.5 and Kaminsky is tied for fifth at 3.0. In passes defended, Bisons Hall and Brett MacFarlane are tied for first with four while Grayson Wells, Pete Adams, Teague Sherman are all tied for fifth with three. Hall is tied for first with two interceptions.
In a quirky stat, Manitoba starting defensive secondary (CB Grayson Wells, HB Brett MacFarlane, S Teague Sherman, HB Pete Adams, CB David Ferrier) now all have one interception apiece. The team leads the conference with seven overall picks so far this season.
Last week for Manitoba, the unranked Manitoba Bisons football team recorded a 26-16 upset win over the #4 ranked Saskatchewan Huskies in front of 3500 fans on a windy afternoon during the annual Bisons Homecoming Game on Saturday, September 17 at University Stadium (U of Manitoba campus). With their second consecutive victory, Manitoba moves to 2-1 in the young 2011 season while Saskatchewan suffers their first loss and drops to 2-1.
It is not often a punt is a difference maker in a football game but the host team took full advantage of the howling 35 km/h wind. On the first play at the start of the fourth quarter, Bison punter Brendon Bowman boomed a 64 yard punt, with the wind, that went off Huskiesβ Jerit Lambert hands and dribbled into the end zone. Manitobaβs DB Grayson Wells hustled downfield and jumped on the loose, live ball in the Huskies end zone for a surprising touchdown. This was the first lead of the game, at 19-16, for the Bisons and they never relinquished the rest of the way.
For Manitoba offence, QB Khaleal Williams has started and played all 180 minutes at the pivot position so far this season. The Bisons have four receivers over 100 receiving yards (Tyson Takasaki β 181; Brendon Bowman β 157; Jared Ralko β 157; Anthony Coombs β 142) while three Bisons have gained 65 or more rushing yards (Coombs β 196; Kienan LaFrance β 91; Williams β 68) while in all-purpose yards, Coombs leads team and Canada West with 671, Nic Demski has 205, Bowman with 191 and Takasaki at 181. Kicker Nick Boyd is 8-12 in field goals with his longest of 42 yards and 5-5 from 20-29 yard range. Bowman has a 37.6 punt average
The Bisons have scored seven touchdowns so far this season (Coombs β 2; Takasaki β 2; Bowman β 1; Demski β 1; Grayson Wells β 1) with four pass TDs, one run TD, one kickoff return TD and one fumble recovery TD.
For Manitoba defence, HB Pete Adams, DL Lauren Kroeker, DL Adam Hindley all lead the team with 14.0 total tackles followed by LB Eric Vincent with 13.5 and then LB Thomas Hall at 12.5.Along with Kroeker and Hall withy two sacks each, DL Evan Gill has 1.5 sacks, DL Clifton Lewis has 1.0 sack and LB Marlon Azurdia has 0.5 sack. HB Brett MacFarlane leads the Bisons with three break-ups followed by CB Grayson Wells, S Teague Sherman, Kroeker, Adams, Hall and Azurdia with two break-ups. Gill and Wells have one fumble recovery and Gill and DL Lincoln Bryan have one forced fumble.
The Bisons wants to reverse some Canada West statistical team categories not in their favour in 2010. Manitoba was last in scoring offence, scoring defence, total offence, rushing offence, rushing defence, pass defence efficiency, interception, punting, field goals, sacks against, first downs and opponents first downs. The Herd did not lead any team stat categories last season.
In the 2011 season opener, the Bisons had 23 of 50 players (46% of full roster) dressed for the Bisons for the first time in their career. With the new 23 players for Manitoba starting this season on the roster, 13 of them are 20 years old or younger. As of Sept. 10/11, Demski is right now at 17 while Coombs and Adewale are 18 plus eight players are just 19.
Looking at the Bisons depth chart, a couple of highlights are Brendon Bowman with double starting duties as wide receiver and punter while linebacker Marlon Azurdia returns to the Bisons after a year absence and converts from cornerback to linebacker position. The most consistency occurs at the OL and DB positions where three of the five starters are returnees from 2010.
Last weekend for UBC, the T-Birds scored touchdowns on its first two possessions against the Alberta Golden Bears, en route to a 40-30 home victory. The final score was much closer than the game itself as the Thunderbirds built up a 40-8 lead well into the fourth. UBC quarterback Billy Greene threw three touchdowns and ran in another while running back Dave Boyd carried the ball 21 times for 176 and a touchdown. Levar Hayden led UBC defence by recording six tackles while rookie Adam Konar added 5.5 tackles for the Thunderbirds.
This is Homecoming Game for UBC and expected a large crowd at Thunderbird Stadium.
Last season, Manitoba had one Canada West All-Stars with halfback Pete Adams earning his second consecutive selection while UBC had two.
In the third weekend of the Canada West football regular season, fourth year linebacker Thomas Hall was selected as Canada West Defence Football Athlete of the Week while fifth year defensive back Grayson Wells was selected as CIS and Canada West Special Teams Football Athlete of the Week for the week ending September 18/11.
Key Stats β Bison FTB History vs. UBC last 15 seasons
(Regular season: Bisons 12-11; Bisons at home vs. UBC: 5-6; Bisons on the road vs. UBC: 7-5)
October 30, 2010
Manitoba 35 UBC 25 at Manitoba
September 18, 2010
Manitoba 40 UBC 17 at UBC
October 23, 2009
Manitoba 25 UBC 17 at UBC
September 19, 2009
*UBC 1 Manitoba 0 at Manitoba
(* Forfeited game due to ineligible player)
– The original score was 36-10 Manitoba
September 13, 2008
UBC 28 Manitoba 0 at Manitoba
October 13, 2007
Manitoba 26 UBC 14 at Manitoba
September 8, 2007
Manitoba 21 UBC 12 at UBC
October 27, 2006
Manitoba 43 UBC 20 at UBC
September 16, 2005
Manitoba 35 UBC 6 at UBC
October 15, 2004
UBC 41 Manitoba 22 at UBC
September 4, 2004
UBC 18 Manitoba 11 at Manitoba
October 25, 2003
Manitoba 25 UBC 23 at Manitoba
September 14, 2002
Manitoba 29 UBC 13 at Manitoba
September 28, 2001
Manitoba 23 UBC 0 at UBC
October 13, 2000
Manitoba 33 UBC 23 at UBC
September 2, 2000
Manitoba 35 UBC 27 at Manitoba
October 8, 1999
UBC 30 Manitoba 12 at UBC
October 23, 1998
UBC 53 Manitoba 14 at UBC
September 19, 1998
UBC 33 Manitoba 15 at Manitoba
October 31, 1997
UBC 27 Manitoba 6 at UBC
September 27, 1997
UBC 32 Manitoba 0 at Manitoba
November 2, 1996
UBC 24 Manitoba 20 at Manitoba
September 28, 1996
UBC 17 Manitoba
Manitoba Sports Info
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