In Edmonton on Friday, UBC Football possessed a crucial opportunity to get back on track and go into the home stretch of the season with a winning record.
With a 2–2 record at the season’s midway point, the Thunderbirds were tied with Calgary and Manitoba for third in the Canada West — with only the top four teams in the conference qualifying for the postseason. However, while those teams faced challenging match-ups this week, the ‘Birds were pitted against the winless University of Alberta Golden Bears. Coming off their first victory of the month, notching a second consecutive win could have given UBC a crucial advantage in a crowded playoff race.
Instead, the Thunderbirds fell 38–18 to the Golden Bears, a team that has allowed over 20 points in each of their previous games this season.
Even ignoring their 0–4 record, Alberta had seemed like a favourable match-up for UBC. Under new head coach Stevenson Bone — UBC’s former offensive coordinator — the Bears had struggled on defence. Heading into the game, they ranked last in the nation in rushing yards allowed — the perfect opponent for UBC’s floundering ground game, which had finally gained some positive momentum in the preceding week’s Homecoming win. At quarterback, the Bears would be fielding Trey Reider, who had yet to start in a U Sports match. Even the absence of UBC’s starting kicker wouldn’t disadvantage the ‘Birds — Alberta’s kicker was likewise out.
Right from the jump, the T-Birds certainly looked eager to face Reider, with their defence bringing the pressure against the Bears’ first-time starter. Their efforts were rewarded with a fumble on Alberta’s second drive, putting the ball in the hands of UBC’s own new QB, Drew Viotto.
Heading into the week, it was unclear who would start at QB for UBC. While Viotto had begun the season under centre for the Thunderbirds, he lost the starting position to Derek Engel in a blowout loss against Saskatchewan, before gaining it back in last week’s game against Calgary, replacing Engel in the second quarter and leading UBC to victory.
With him at the helm, the ‘Birds capitalized on Reider’s fumble, embarking on an eight-play scoring drive propelled solely by passes to wideout Trey Montour and handoffs to running back Toluwalope Ayedegbe. Ayedegbe’s gains were not large — out of his 17 attempts on the day, his longest rush of the night was 8 yards — but with UBC’s offensive line winning in the trenches, he was able to advance consistently. Fittingly, Ayedegbe crowned the drive with a six-yard touchdown run, putting the ‘Birds on the board first.
In the face of UBC’s quick start, the Golden Bears pushed hard to equalize. Despite his inexperience in U Sports, Reider did not seem rattled by his team’s early mistake. Instead, on the following drive, he demonstrated an almost reckless willingness to air out the ball, lobbing up a 37-yard pass to Chevy Thomas in coverage. Despite heavy pressure from UBC, Reider would complete 5 of 6 passes for 78 yards in his first quarter as a starter — his only incompletion was his initial pass attempt.
Relying on running back Ope Oshinubi on the ground, Alberta continued to drive downfield, beginning the second quarter in UBC’s red zone. The Bears hit paydirt with a quarterback sneak on third down, tying the game at seven.
On the following drive, the ‘Birds had a good opportunity to re-take the lead. Viotto heaved a long pass to veteran wideout Shemar McBean, who’d beaten his coverage near the goal line, but the ball slipped through McBean’s hands.
This seems to be a recurring issue for the Thunderbirds — although McBean is one of UBC’s leading receivers, he and Viotto have struggled to connect this season. In the first half alone, Viotto targeted McBean five times, completing only a five-yard pass. Viotto seems to have better chemistry with the second-year Montour, who he targeted five times over the same period, completing all five passes for fifty yards.
After stalling on offence, the ‘Birds began to lose the field position battle. Backed up in their own red zone, UBC volunteered a safety to avoid punting. The Bears ate up almost five minutes of game clock with their ensuing possession, capping off the drive with two gutsy throws from Reider to receiver Carter Kettyle — first to convert on third down, then to nab another touchdown.
In response, UBC marched steadily downfield, initially favouring Ayedegbe, then moving to the passing game as the clock wound down. The T-Birds managed to reach Alberta’s eight-yard line, but with only three seconds left in the half, they could not find the end zone in time, forcing them to settle for a short field goal.
Down 17–10 entering halftime, a comeback remained quite possible for UBC. That task became a bit more intimidating when the Bears opened the third quarter with a 106-yard scoring drive, buoyed by UBC penalties and ending with Bone drawing up a trick play against his former team, with Kettyle taking the ball on a reverse before throwing a deep touchdown pass to a wide-open Thomas.
Likely concerned with the game clock — being down two scores — the Thunderbirds were quick to abandon the run game. Ayedegbe, who saw 16 rushing attempts in the first half, was given only 1 handoff in the second. Without the ground game, the offence floundered.
On their first offensive possession of the half, Viotto threw two incompletions for a quick two-and-out. The Bears responded with another long drive, depleting more than four minutes of game time despite the possession ending in a missed field goal.
The remainder of the half played out in a similar fashion. As the situation grew more dire, the Thunderbirds were forced to become more reliant on the pass game, which did not succeed on its own. Meanwhile, Alberta continued to advance consistently, scoring two more touchdowns and running down the clock with each possession.
With five minutes left in the match, UBC finally managed to put together another touchdown drive, tacking on a rouge for a score of 38–18. The ‘Birds would not touch the ball again, as Alberta used up the final few minutes of game time on the following drive.
While the loss is unfortunate and likely demoralizing, UBC isn’t out of the playoffs just yet. Thankfully for the ‘Birds, Calgary and Manitoba also lost their match-ups, leaving the three in a tie. With four of the conference’s six teams under .500, the final two spots in the postseason are still up for grabs.
However, UBC sits at a disadvantage — with three games left in the season, their final two match-ups will be against the top two teams in Canada West: the University of Regina Rams and the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, both of whom have already beaten the ‘Birds this year. Facing off against Manitoba on Saturday morning, the Thunderbirds will likely need to pull out a win to have any chance of making the postseason.
