By: Mike Still (@mikestill94)
Feature photo by: Bob Frid, UBC Thunderbirds
NOTE: This article was originally published on gobisons.ca here, by the same author.
In the pre-season coaches’ poll, the UBC Thunderbirds were the consensus pick to win the Hardy Cup. Manitoba was ranked fourth. But on Saturday night on the road, Dobie and his Bisons gave the ‘Birds all they could handle.
“I felt we made as many positive plays, or more, as UBC made on both sides of the ball,” Dobie said.
It’s hard to argue with the head coach’s logic. Offensively, third year quarterback Des Catellier — making just the fifth start of his U SPORTS career — was excellent. He outthrew likely CFL draft pick Michael O’Connor by 70 yards (379 total) and had two touchdown passes. The Calgary native also distributed the ball to seven different receivers and looked comfortable in his second year in offensive coordinator Blaire Atkinson’s system.
“[Des] looked calm. He looked like a veteran quarterback, which he is,” said Dobie.
“His reads were very good. When he felt that he was in trouble, he didn’t panic. He was an emotional leader, but he played the game intellectually and calmly. There was really nothing missing.”
Defensively, the Bisons held top UBC receiving threat Trivel Pinto to just 66 yards, while also forcing a fumble in the second quarter when it looked like the draft-eligible player was about to score. Rookie Markos Bockru also had his first career interception during the contest.
Additionally, the team adjusted well after field halfback Stefan Conway was lost due to injury. Houston Rennie was shifted from his strong side linebacker spot to Conway’s position, while veteran Caleb Abraham slotted in for Rennie. Both played admirably.
“At that point, I thought we were in gigantic trouble,” Dobie said of the substitutions that were made after Conway went down. But we didn’t not win the game for that reason.”
Ultimately, it was three special teams plays that had a major factor in the final outcome of the contest.
Down by one early in the second quarter, Matt Riley had his punt from the UBC 50-yard line blocked and returned for a touchdown to make the score 14-6. Then, once again trailing by a single point with just over two minutes to play in the first half, kicker Brad Mikoluff had his 35-yard field goal partially blocked to keep the score 14-13 heading into halftime.
The back-breaker occurred midway through the third quarter, with the Bisons down 16-13 and attempting the game-tying field goal. The snap went over Mikoluff’s head and Manitoba came away with nothing. The Thunderbirds would go on to score a touchdown on the ensuing drive. Despite the visitors clawing back to within three, UBC was able to hold on for the win in the latter stages of the contest.
“We had a special teams meeting right off the bat today, and I started the meeting,” Dobie said.
“Coach [Ryan] Karhut has done an amazing job with special teams, I’m super impressed, but I started the meeting and spent the first fifteen minutes talking and saying that we need to be more focused in the moment, rather than treating it like a special teams rep and I’m on defence next or just finished playing offence.”
“I’m not in their heads, I don’t know what they think, but I do know some glaring problems showed up. Special teams had a real bad start to their season, but I assure you it will only get better.”
Looking ahead to this week, the Bisons will host their home opener at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 7 against provincial rival Saskatchewan. The Huskies got off to a hot start, winning their season opener 42-0 over Alberta.
“We know that Saskatchewan is really good. I don’t care who they beat, they beat a Canada West opponent 42-0. When you’re beating someone 42-0 in this conference, you’re really good,” Dobie said.
“I’m sure they’re like every Saskatchewan team I’ve ever coached against in my career; disciplined, structured and consistent. Sure, they’ve got good athletes, but they’re going to constantly play high end football. You’re not going to see too many chinks in the armour.”
Despite this week’s results, the Bisons are motivated heading into their Week 2 matchup against the Huskies.
“I think this team isn’t happy or feeling good about itself because they lost,” Dobie said. “But I do think they are confident, angry and determined. If that’s the case, we need to prove it.”