By Howard Tsumura
For the UBC Thunderbirds, it’s been a season in which its ‘ups’ have been doing their brave best to battle a plethora of ‘downs.’
And perhaps that’s why after answering one of its most listless opening-half performances in a decade with a second half that seemed to come out of nowhere, it became almost unthinkable that anything was going to be able to stop the ‘Birds from completing a rally for the ages on the road in Winnipeg against the host Manitoba Bisons.
Alas, such is the depth of a sinkhole which accompanies a 28-3 halftime deficit.
Despite the third-most productive passing performance in UBC football history, one which saw freshman quarterback Drew Viotto go 26-of-42 for 473 yards, with three touchdowns and one interception, the ‘Birds (2-4) dropped a 35-31 loss to the Bisons (3-3) and head into the Canada West’s league-wide bye week knowing that the only mindset they can carry if they envision a life in the Canada West postseason is to win their remaining two games, then hope the rest of the chips happen to fall their way.
“To be honest, the game went the way that our season has gone,” said UBC head coach Blake Nill, who watched his young, talented and inexperienced team obliterate its 25-point halftime deficit by scoring on its first four possessions of the second half to, against all logic, take a 31-28 lead with six minutes left in the game. “We play part of a game, we show signs of being able to play very effective football, but ultimately make the kinds of mistakes a young team makes.”
Saturday’s game in Winnipeg, which featured two time zones of travel and a rare 10 a.m. Vancouver kick0off time just fed into that script.
UBC looked certain to be on pace to give up 50 points-plus to the Bisons, who over a five-possession span between the opening quarters scored three touchdowns and booted field goal which, topped off by a pair of conceded safeties, seemed to do more than suggest that the Birds had flown east to Winnipeg without a shred of fight in their feathers.
Yet the contrast between the the UBC team which came out to start the contest versus the one which emerged from its second-half locker room has never been greater than at any time over Nill’s 11-year tenure at the helm.
“I told them ‘Look man, everyone take a deep breath,’” Nill recounted. “There’s no pressure on anyone. We’re down 25. So let’s go out and play each play the way the game is supposed to be played.”
Too simple?
No. Just effective.
Viotto, the freshman from Sault Ste. Maire who had made previous stops at NCAA Division 1 Minnesota and later Eastern Michigan and had been nicknamed the Canadian Cannon during his U.S. high school days, played like the second coming of Michael O’Connor, the 2015-18 Penn State transfer who went on to become the program’s all-time passing leader.
On the Birds first possession of the second half, Viotto engineered a 57-yard scoring drive capped by running back Tolu Ayedegbe’s two-yard TD run. That drive was highlighted by two big plays by pure freshman receiver Colby Johnson, the Abbotsford native who first snared a 26-yard pass, then a 33-yard gainer to the Bisons’ two-yard line.
UBC came back on its second possession of the half with Viotto leading his team on a 69-yard scoring drive that finished with a takeaway touchdown by receiver Shemar McBean.
Viotto had thrown a 10-yard completion to receiver Trey Montour, but the hard-nosed, sure-handed Montour was unable to hang on to the ball and it was recovered at the one-yard line by Manitoba defensive lineman Kaleb Mackie-Mcleod.
McBean, however, ripped the ball away and his takeaway TD helped pulled the ‘Birds to within 28-17. On that drive, fullback Riley Michaud made his return from injury complete with three carries for 36 yards, including a 24-yarder, all of which helped bring balance to the UBC offence.
Quite suddenly, the road team had all of the momentum, and in a drive which stretched between the quarters, Viotto capped a 95-yard drive with an 11-yard scoring strike to Montour. The rookie Johnson played a huge role with a 52-yard reception down to the Bisons’ 11-yard line as UBC pulled to within 28-24 on Alexander Hillyard’s point-after.
McBean, Michaud, Jaden Phillips and Mountour all contributed to a five-play 85-yard scoring drive which culminated with Viotto’s 15-yard TD pass to Mountour, and with about six minutes remaining, UBC had come all the way back to lead 31-28.
UBC has played both Viotto and fifth-year vet Derek Engel as its starters at the pivot position and after the Thunderbirds’ tepid offensive effort in the first half Saturday it was anyone’s guess who would start the second.
“Absolutely full credit to coach Khari for having the instinct to keep him in there,” said Nill of the team’s first-year offensive coordinator, none other than the decorated CFL quarterback and head coach Khari Jones, who marched Viotto out to start the second half. “It was 100 per cent his call. I was really happy to see (Viotto) throw the ball the way he did. He looked the way he looked in training camp and he still has a lot of ceiling to improve.”
The Bisons, however, who fell 21-9 in Vancouver in both team’s season-opener back on Aug. 28, were determined to have the last say.
Manitoba quarterback Jackson Tachinski, who wound up rushing for three majors on the day, led his team on a 90-yard drive he capped himself from two yards out. Also a huge part of the drive: A 43-yard completion to receiver Nathan Udoh for a 35-31 lead.
And that’s when the resilient road team found its 11th-hour heartbreak.
UBC got the ball back, and Viotto confidently led his ‘Birds down the field. Manitoba defensive back Daniel Conway, however, came up with the play of the game when he made a special, game-changing play to intercept a pass at his own five-yard line, snuffing out the potential game-winning strike to UBC’s Johnson with just 1:03 remaining.
“We were in the lead and we could have won it,” said Nill afterwards.
“We could have won it with our offence and we could have won it with our defence,” he continued, clearly realizing how effective both units were throughout the second half. “So they have to look in the mirror. At some point, they are going to get tired of losing these kinds of games and a switch is going to turn on. And when that happens you are going to see UBC win these kinds of games.”
Viotto’s 473 yards sit behind only Adrian Rainbow who back on Oct. 28 of 1994 threw for 489 yards against Calgary, and the aforementioned O’Connor who threw for 480 yards in an Oct. 27, 2018 game against the Bisons.
Viotto’s bounty produced three 100-yard receivers in Montour (eight catches, 121 yards, two touchdowns), Johnson (four catches, 121 yards) and McBean (six catches for 105 yards).
McBean was credited with a receiving touchdown, however Canada West TV replays seemed to show him scoring at the goal line via his aforementioned takeaway.
The Thunderbirds will take the bye week as an opportunity to galvanize everything that worked over the vast majority of Saturday’s second half as they prepare for their final regular-season home game Oct. 17 (6 p.m.) against the same Saskatchewan Huskies team which punished them 51-14 back on Sept. 5 in Saskatoon.
They will then round out the regular season Oct, 24 in Regina against a Rams team which beat them 37-20 back on Sept. 12 at Thunderbird Stadium.
One bright spot for the Birds: They own head-to-head tiebreakers against both Calgary and Manitoba.
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