The UBC Thunderbirds took a giant step back towards a playoff berth with a 20-10 victory over the visiting No.-8 Saskatchewan Huskies in Week 8; Blake Nill’s squad scored the key victory despite being out-gained by nearly 100 yards by the visiting Huskies.
With the win, UBC rocketed into a three-way tie for second place in the Canada West conference, and the T-Birds — who lost three of four prior to Friday’s big win — could clinch a playoff spot with a win at home against Alberta (2-4) next week.
In Ontario, the No.-1 Western Mustangs continued their dominant form with a 33-0 blanking of the No.-5 uOttawa Gee-Gees in the nation’s capital. Week 1 scare at Carleton aside, Western has looked virtually untouchable this season; the Mustangs have the best offence (48.2 points-per-game) and defence (10.9 points allowed per-game) in Ontario by a wide margin.
Out East, the No.-6 Saint Mary’s Huskies secured home-field advantage for the duration of the AUS playoffs with a 28-16 win over Mt. Allison.
Who’s Hot: The Saint Mary’s Huskies aren’t flashy, and certainly don’t have the offence to blow anybody out of the water, but their 7-0 record cannot be ignored. Whether an AUS team can seriously compete in the final four is another question, but SMU’s perfect season thus far speaks for itself.
Who’s Not: The McMaster Marauders had their lunches handed to them by unranked Waterloo this week, and the numbers don’t lie: McMaster’s put up the second-fewest points (134) in the OUA this season — worse than the likes of Windsor (1-6, 163) and York (2-5, 141) — and still needs a result on the road at Windsor in Week 9 to clinch a playoff spot. Not an ideal position for the conference’s third-best defence (22.5 points against per-game) to be in.
#UniversityBlitz
A perfect week for Ottawa’s J.P. Bolduc has slimmed the lead of Toronto Argos receiver Anthony Coombs atop the #UniversityBlitz standings.
Week 8 Scores
Windsor 24, #7 Laurier 39
Carleton 35, York 20
Alberta 17, Regina 32
#8 Saskatchewan 10, UBC 20
Manitoba 16, #3 Calgary 34
Mt. Allison 16, #6 Saint Mary’s 28
#9 McMaster 16, Waterloo 34
Toronto 8, #10 Guelph 46
#1 Western 33, #5 Ottawa 0
#2 Laval 57, McGill 13
Bishop’s 9, Acadia 31
Concordia 0, #4 Montreal 24
