GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Oct. 22
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Opponent: UBC Thunderbirds
Location: Vancouver, B.C.
Venue: Thunderbird Stadium
Watch: Sasktel 49, 349 / Canadawest.tv
Listen: HuskieFAN
SCHEDULE | WATCH LIVE
British Columbia bound once again.
The No. 2 Saskatchewan Huskies (6-0) are set to take on the UBC Thunderbirds (3-3) on Saturday afternoon in Vancouver in a battle between two of the top three teams in the Canada West.
Thanks to a narrow 23-20 win last week against the Regina Rams at Griffiths Stadium, the Huskies clinched top spot in the Canada West. The victory guaranteed home field throughout the entirety of the conference postseason, including a potential Hardy Cup in Saskatoon for the second-straight season.
Despite first-place already locked up in the conference, there is still plenty to play for tomorrow afternoon in Vancouver. Huskies head coach Scott Flory was not particularly pleased with his team's execution in the fourth quarter last weekend. A matchup against UBC is yet another tremendous test for a Saskatchewan team looking to peak at the right time.
While playoff positioning may no longer be on the minds of the Huskies — it certainly is for the Thunderbirds. With a win, UBC would move to 4-3 and clinch a playoff spot for the second-straight season.
Despite missing out on being ranked inside the U SPORTS Top 10 this week, all signs point to the T'Birds being a program on the rise. UBC enters the meeting with a two-game winning streak thanks to wins over Calgary and Manitoba. The Thunderbirds were able to withstand a late rally from the Bisons en route to a massive 27-21 win, a victory that gave them the tiebreaker over Manitoba should the teams finish the year with the same regular-season record.
Saturday presents the second meeting of the season between the pair of programs but the first in Vancouver. The Thunderbirds paid a visit to Griffiths back in Week 2, as they played the role of the opponent in the Huskies home-opener. With the game tied 7-7 late in the first quarter, Saskatchewan outscored UBC 22-3 the rest of the way — en route to the 19-point victory.
The Huskies will be looking to prove themselves once again on Saturday afternoon and make a statement in what looks like it could be a potential playoff preview.
5(ish) Things:
- Saskatchewan will take the field Saturday afternoon as winners of five of their last six against UBC. The Huskies have also won 13 of their last 18 games in Vancouver against the Thunderbirds, dating back to the 1999 season.
- Since 2017, which was the first season in which Scott Flory and Blake Nill were both at the helm of their respective programs, the Huskies lead the head-to-head matchup 5-4 — including postseason games.
- This will be Saskatchewan's final conference road game of the season. With the Huskies locking up first-place in the conference and their final regular-season game being at home, should Saskatchewan advance all the way to the Hardy Cup — their next three games will be at Griffiths.
- This is the Huskies first matchup against a non Top 10 ranked team since Week 1 when they met Calgary in their season-opener.
- Saskatchewan is looking to record their third 8-0 regular-season in program history
- Saturday's game presents a showdown between Huskies running back Ryker Frank and Thunderbirds running back Isaiah Knight. Frank and Knight enter the matchup as the top-two producing running backs in the Canada West, with only 40 rushing yards separating their production thus far this season.
- Huskies quarterback Mason Nyhus continues to grab headlines across the country. The fifth-year quarterback enters the week as the nation's leading passer with 335.3 passing yards per-game this season, while also possessing a 12-2 touchdown to interception ratio. Nyhus has been lethal against the Thunderbirds in his last three showings, totalling 1,094 yards and eight touchdowns in the three games combined.
Quotables
Flory on being unhappy with how the Huskies closed out the game on Saturday and if the message heading into this week is another opportunity to improve and match up with a strong UBC team:
"That's a good way to put it — you're right, I wasn't. I don't think I'm alone in that either. I don't think the rest of our coaching staff or our players were either. That's one thing within us, our team and our program — we've got really high standards. We learned a lot, let's not forget that we found a way to win the football game and we learned a lot through that. We've faced a lot of adversity this season — at home or on the road. There's been lots of situations within games that we've been able to persevere and push through.
Going into this week is another opportunity to live up to that standard. That's what we want and that's what we want to do — no bones about it. I've been telling the team from day one, we're going there to win a football game. We're putting our best 45 guys on that plane to go win that football game. That just won't change for us from a program standpoint."
Flory on what he can take away from being battle tested and purely going out and winning football games:
"To me, those moments have often felt like moments of stress or adversity aren't character growers. They're character revealers. I think that we can see the mentality of our football team and of our collective group and the mindset that we have. There's going to be times other teams — we're playing some really good football teams that are well prepared and well coached — make plays. We've got to understand that. But what we have to do is collectively be able to reset, be able to move on and be able to adapt, read, respond and make those plays when we need to. We've done that consistently all season long — but we want It to be cleaner. We want to avoid those stressful situations, but we also understand that we're better for it."
Flory on where he really wants to see improvement from his team on Saturday:
"Offensively; it will be second-down production and staying on the field. I think that we've been pretty decent on first-down — we've got to make sure that we're converting first downs. We're a little bit under where I'd like to be from a first-down per-game standpoint. Finishing drives too , that's another thing.
"Defensively; it's getting off the field. When we've got those opportunities to get off the field and not extend drives, whether it be by mistakes, by penalties or whatever the case, we have to get off the field."
Special teams; it's just situations. We've had all kinds of situations thrown at us. From punts to onside kicks — all that stuff. We've got to be situationally sound with all that and our awareness has to be up. We know that with every team we face that they're going to be throwing the gamut at us and we've got to respond and be ready for it."
Flory on if by clinching first-place, he is able to do anything differently as a coach — like get extra looks for specific players:
"No, ideally we want every game to go like it did in Calgary in Week 1, so we can get every player on the roster in the football game. That's an ideal situation where if we can get that, we know we're playing well, we're producing and we're playing how we should be playing.
Whether that happens or not — I can't control that. What I do know is what we control — our attitude, our performance and whether or not we're winning a football game or not. Our absolute mindset is we aim to win everything that we do."
Flory on UBC winning back-to-back games and if he's seen anything different from them over the two-game stretch:
"No, they're a good team — make no bones about it. I think that they're growing, they're mature and traditionally, teams coached by Coach Nill — who we have a lot of respect for — they've traditionally gotten better throughout the year. You see that here with them. They're improving. They're getting better and we need to make sure we're ready on Saturday to be at our best for three hours."
Head-to-head:
- All-time vs. UBC: Saskatchewan is 64-33
- Last 10 meetings: Saskatchewan leads 6-4
- Huskies 2021 record vs UBC: 1-0 in regular-season, 1-0 in postseason
- Last regular season meeting: 29-10 Huskies win on Sept. 9, 2022 in Saskatoon
Scouting the Thunderbirds:
After a 1-3 start, head coach Blake Nill has led the Thunderbirds back to the .500 mark and right back into the mix of things of the Canada West. With the Thunderbirds program in search of their first playoff win since Nov. 4, 2017, the team will likely need to win their two final games of the season to have the opportunity to host a Hardy Cup semifinal. Regina currently holds the second spot in the conference with a 4-2 record, as well as the head-to-head tiebreaker over UBC, thanks to a 21-13 win in Week 4.
Garrett Rooker is fresh off being named the Canada West offensive player of the week following last weekend's win against the Bisons. The League City, Texas product showed off his dual threat capabilities, throwing for 217 yards and a touchdown on 16-22 passing, while adding on 49 yards and a touchdown on the ground — including a highlight reel hurdle. Rooker will look to improve upon his Week 2 performance against Saskatchewan when he was pulled in favour of Derek Engel with 6:59 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Much of Rooker's success through the air last week came via his connection with second-year receiver Jason Soriano, who has emerged into a go-to pass catcher in this UBC offence. Soriano hauled in seven receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown last week, following up a three reception, 107-yard outing in Calgary.
The Thunderbirds offence relies on Isaiah Knight. Knight, who was mentioned earlier in the piece as being the leading rusher in the Canada West this season, is fresh off a pair of monster games — 122 and 168-yard performances against Manitoba and Calgary, respectively. One area where UBC doesn't involve Knight is the pass game — he has yet to catch a pass thus far this season, despite recording eight receptions in his rookie year last season.
Second-year linebacker Ryan Baker has led the Thunderbirds defence this season. Baker ranks fifth in the nation with 43.5 total tackles — 7.3 per-game, which is third in the nation. The North Vancouver, B.C. product has also chipped in two sacks and two pass breakups thus far this season.
