VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds faced a desperate 0-2 Manitoba Bisons football team at Thunderbird Stadium on Saturday. Despite things being close at halftime, Manitoba took over in the second half, keeping UBC off the scoreboard and earning a 40-17 win.
The Bisons’ (1-2) performance included five touchdowns – a vast improvement for Manitoba, who had managed just one major score in their first two games combined.
Thunderbird head coach Shawn Olson gave credit to the visitors, but ultimately hung the responsibility for the loss on his squad.
“You’ve got to go to work every single day, and I don’t know if our guys did that this week,” commented Olson. “People think football games are won or lost on Saturdays, but I think we lost this one through the course of the week. We’ve got to do the things every single day that allow us to be competitive, and that’s work hard, be focused, and understand what your responsibilities are. Today in all three facets we didn’t have it.”
The Bison rushing attack dominated the day, racking up 283 total yards on the ground with 144 of those coming courtesy of running back Matt Henry, who also scored two touchdowns. Quarterback Khaleal Williams also hit triple digits along the ground with a 100-yard performance.
Adding to UBC’s defensive struggles was the absence of T-Bird linebacker Nathan Kanya, who led the team with nine tackles and two sacks in last week’s win over the Saskatchewan Huskies.
The Blue and Gold suffered another key injury mid-way through the game when all-star running back Dave Boyd suffered a high ankle sprain. UBC had 378 yards of offence and 17 points in the first half compared to 178 yards and no points in the second half. The major difference was Boyd.
“Any time you lose two of your team leaders, that’s tough,” said Olson of Kanya and Boyd. “Obviously with Dave out of the line-up that changes our running game. As for Kanya, Manitoba handled us pretty well in the running game today, so you can see what impact he has.”
But Manitoba wasn’t limited to its run game. The most impressive play of the game was Williams’ 69-yard pass and run to receiver and B.C. boy Quincy Hurst. Williams put up a bomb into double coverage, but Hurst came down with the ball, leaving two T-Birds on the turf as he scurried to the end zone.
Bison receiver Stu Schollaardt also had a big day, catching two balls, both for touchdowns.
UBC previously had a long pass for a score of their own when quarterback Billy Greene launched a 38-yard arcing pass to Spencer Betts in the end zone during the second quarter. The reception marked the third straight game with a touchdown for Betts, who now has four touchdowns on the young season.
Mark McVeigh led the ‘Birds with five receptions, while Greene finished the day 19 for 38 with 356 yards, one interception, and one touchdown. He also rushed for 109 yards.
As for Olson, he might have been a little disgruntled with his team’s performance but he’s keeping his eye on the big picture.
“It’s a long season,” said Olson. “This should be a wake up call that we need to bring it every single day, every single rep.”
The Thunderbirds (1-2) are back in action on home turf Friday September 24 versus the Regina Rams. Kickoff is 7:00 p.m. at Thunderbird Stadium.
Photo credit UBC Athletics
Source:
UBC Sports Info
| Manitoba 40 |
UBC 17 |
| UBC (1-2) | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| Manitoba (1-2) | 7 | 17 | 9 | 7 | 40 |
| Vancouver, BC | Thunderbird |
| 1 | 09:47 | Manitoba – Matt Henry 1 yd run. (Nick Naylor kick is good). Drive: 9 plays, 65 yards in 5:13. |
7 – 0 |
| 1 | 06:52 | UBC – B. Pavlopoulos 16 yd field goal. | 7 – 3 |
| 1 | 00:16 | UBC – Billy Greene 2 yd run. (B. Pavlopoulos kick is good). Drive: 6 plays, 89 yards in 2:04. |
7 – 10 |
| 2 | 13:26 | Manitoba – Nick Naylor 28 yd field goal. | 10 – 10 |
| 2 | 09:05 | UBC – Spencer Betts 38 yd pass from Billy Greene. (B. Pavlopoulos kick is good). Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards in 4:21. |
10 – 17 |
| 2 | 08:03 | Manitoba – Quincy Hurst 69 yd pass from K. Williams. (Nick Naylor kick is good). Drive: 2 plays, 86 yards in 0:56. |
17 – 17 |
| 2 | 02:28 | Manitoba – Stu Schollaardt 15 yd pass from K. Williams. (Nick Naylor kick is good). Drive: 4 plays, 70 yards in 1:41. |
24 – 17 |
| 3 | 11:55 | Manitoba – Stu Schollaardt 16 yd pass from K. Williams. (Nick Naylor kick is good). Drive: 4 plays, 65 yards in 1:36. |
31 – 17 |
| 3 | 05:52 | Manitoba – Team safety | 33 – 17 |
| 4 | 02:51 | Manitoba – Matt Henry 5 yd run. (Nick Naylor kick is good). Drive: 10 plays, 86 yards in 4:39. |
40 – 17 |
| 28 | FIRST DOWNS | 26 |
| 9 16 3 |
Passing Rushing Penalty |
13 12 1 |
| 100% (1 of 1) | THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY | 40% (2 of 5) |
| 0% (0 of 0) | FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY | 0% (0 of 0) |
| 498 | TOTAL NET YARDS | 560 |
| 61 8.2 |
Total Offensive Plays Average gain per play |
70 8.0 |
| 215 | NET YARDS PASSING | 356 |
| 9-20 10.8 1 for 6 0 |
Completions-Attempts Net yards per pass play Sacked:Number-Yards Had intercepted |
19-38 9.4 1 for 4 1 |
| 283 | NET YARDS RUSHING | 204 |
| 41 6.9 |
Rushing Attempts Average gain per rush |
32 6.4 |
| 7 for 240 | PUNTS: Number-Yards | 5 for 216 |
| 34.3 | Average | 43.2 |
| 149 | TOTAL RETURN YARDS | 172 |
| 2 for 16 4 for 132 1 for 1 |
Punt Returns:No-Yards Kickof Returns:No-Yards Int. Returns:No-Yards |
6 for 45 6 for 127 0 for 0 |
| 10 for 70 | PENALTIES: Number-Yards | 14 for 121 |
| 1-0 | FUMBLES: Number-Lost | 2-2 |
| 29:42 | TIME OF POSSESSION | 30:18 |
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| 89 | Stu Schollaardt | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 15 | Sean Clark | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 0 | Andrew James | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | – | 1-0 | – | 1 | |||
| 13 | David Ferrier | 5 | 0 | 5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 21 | Teague Sherman | 5 | 1 | 6 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 22 | John Tietzmann | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1-4 | 1-4 | – | – | 1 | |||
| 24 | Justin Clayton | 0 | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 28 | Adam Mazowita | 0 | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 2 | Pete Adams | 2 | 3 | 5 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||
| 35 | Grayson Wells | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | 1-1 | 1 | |||
| 38 | Tyler Greener | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | 0-1 | – | – | ||||
| 39 | Thomas Hall | 4 | 1 | 5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 41 | Lauren Kroeker | 1 | 2 | 3 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 44 | L. Richardson | 2 | 6 | 8 | – | 0-1 | 1-0 | – | ||||
| 46 | Everton Black | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | 0-1 | – | – | ||||
| 52 | Thomas Miles | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 56 | Mike Taylor | 2 | 5 | 7 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||
| 59 | Scott Johnson | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 63 | Clifton Lewis | 2 | 2 | 4 | – | 0-1 | 1 | – | – | |||
| 83 | Tyson Hinds | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 90 | Adam Hindley | 2 | 3 | 5 | – | 0-1 | – | – | ||||
| TM | TEAM | – | – | – | – | |||||||
| TOTALS | 35 | 36 | 71 | 1-4 | 1-9 | 1 | 2-0 | 1-1 | 5 | |||
| 81 | Jordan Grieve | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 85 | Victor Marshall | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 9 | Sam Carino | 3 | 4 | 7 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||
| 10 | Farhad Abi | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 14 | Alex Babalos | 0 | 7 | 7 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||
| 17 | J. Carpenter | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0-3 | 0-4 | – | – | ||||
| 18 | Ian Finlayson | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 20 | Chris Mark | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||
| 22 | Kareem Ba | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 28 | Jeff Burt | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||
| 36 | Domenic Mercuri | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 41 | Mark Bailey | 7 | 7 | 14 | – | 2-9 | – | – | ||||
| 44 | Devin Kavanagh | 1 | 4 | 5 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 50 | Serge Kaminsky | 1 | 2 | 3 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||
| 51 | Zack Kotilla | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 55 | Brett Knull | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0-3 | 0-3 | – | – | ||||
| 86 | Perry Harder | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 2 | Levar Hayden | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||
| 91 | Connor Flynn | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 98 | James Haddad | 2 | 2 | 4 | – | 0-0 | – | – | ||||
| TOTALS | 26 | 44 | 70 | 1-6 | 2-16 | – | – | 6 |
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