WINNIPEG – The UBC Thunderbirds fell behind early and never fully recovered in a 51-38 loss to the Manitoba Bisons to close out the 2024 Canada West regular season.

The loss snaps the T-Birds' five game win streak to finish the campaign with a 5-3 record as UBC failed to secure what was admittedly a long shot attempt at claiming first place in the conference for the second straight season.

UBC would have needed to win by at least 23 points Saturday at Princess Auto Stadium in order to secure the tie-break with the Bisons and earn home field advantage throughout the Hardy Cup playoffs.

As it stands, the 'Birds were never even close of attaining that margin as the blue and gold are locked into the second seed and will now host the Saskatchewan Huskies next Saturday, November 2 for a semifinal battle at Thunderbird Stadium.



"We got within seven but we didn't get the stops we needed," said UBC Head Coach, Blake Nill, following the barn burner in Winnipeg. "We're going to have to look at the film and figure out why that was and try to be better when the playoffs start next week against Saskatchewan."

The Bisons racked up a mammoth 436 yards of rushing offence Saturday, led by running back Breydon Stubbs who put up 244 alone, along with four touchdowns.

Manitoba pivot Jackson Tachinski didn't need to throw the ball much – and he didn't – completing the game with 158 yards, one touchdown, and one interception on 10-of 14 passing.

Garrett Rooker was far busier with his arm throwing for a career-high 426 yards on 25-of-35 passing with two touchdowns and two picks.



Shemar McBean and Sam Davenport both went over 100 receiving yards on the day, with 138 and 137, respectively.

After a slow start on both sides of the ball for UBC that saw the T-Birds trailing 24-3 after 15 minutes, the 'Birds scored a touchdown on three consecutive drives in the second frame to cut Manitoba's lead to 31-24 at halftime.

A Jerrell Cummings interception led to a one-yard Isaiah Knight major, while Rooker completed passes to four different players, going 100 total yards to cut Manitoba's lead to seven on UBC's final drive of the first half, capped off by the Texas pivot calling his own number, an eight yard score for his first rushing major of the season.

But Manitoba's rushing attack was too powerful in the second half. Two timely interceptions, one from Jarrett Alcaraz and one from Dario Macchia, as well as a third down stop, gave momentum to the hosts, as both defences turned up the volume.

Ultimately, UBC's defence stayed on the field too long, the Bisons holding the massive edge in possession time to the tune of 38 plus minutes with the ball.



"We were confident going in and we understand they have a formidable run game," Nill added. "We needed to deal with it better than we did and we just weren't able to fill the gaps when required, we weren't able to contain their backs when required; that ended up hurting us very significantly."

"Right now I'm very frustrated because I felt going into the game we had a good game plan. We executed on part of it but not fully and we need to be able to do a better job in all areas of the game."

The T-Birds will battle the Huskies for a berth in the 2024 Hardy Cup Final on Saturday, November 2 with kickoff at Thunderbird Stadium set for 1:00 p.m. It marks the third time in the last four seasons the two teams will meet in the post-season, but the first time since 2018 in Vancouver. Tickets for the Hardy Cup semifinal are on sale now!