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Rams off to West Coast for Week 4 game at UBC

9/23/2022 11:35:00 AM

#6 Regina Rams (2-1) at UBC Thunderbirds (1-2)
Date	Friday, Sept. 23
Time	7:00 PM PT / 8:00 PM SK
Location	Thunderbird Stadium (Vancouver, B.C.)
Television	SaskTel maxTV 48/348
Webcast	CanadaWest.tv ($)
Live Stats	reginarams.com/stats
Game Notes	Rams
Rams on Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| Instagram

HEADLINES

• The Rams stay at No. 6 in the U SPORTS rankings this week after last Saturday's 11-10 loss to No. 2-ranked Saskatchewan.

• A win for the Rams would move them to 3-1 on the season and, depending on the outcome of the Alberta/Saskatchewan game on Friday in Edmonton, would put the Rams in either sole possession of second place or a three-way tie for first place.

• The Rams are making their first trip to UBC since defeating the Thunderbirds 46-16 on Aug 31, 2019 in Vancouver.

• UBC comes into Friday with a 1-2 record as the Thunderbirds opened up the season with a home win over Alberta but lost two straight on the road to Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Week 2 and Week 3.

MIMBS RISING: SB D'Sean Mimbs has had two big games in a row and now ranks second in Canada West and ninth in the nation in receiving yards. The second-year receiver has caught 13 passes for 242 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a 29-yard catch for a major on the game's first play of scrimmage last Saturday against Saskatchewan. Mimbs' average of 80.7 receiving yards per game ranks sixth in U SPORTS.

WAGG WIZARDRY: An aggressive play call on special teams ended up with LB Brayden Wagg completing a pass to WR Riley Boersma on a fake punt in the fourth quarter against Saskatchewan for a 22-yard gain and first down on the play. It was the U of R's first pass completion by a non-quarterback since Cole Benkic completed an 18-yard pass to Cord Delinte on another fake punt back on Oct. 26, 2018.

MATCHUP NOTES: The Rams hold a 17-15 edge in the 32 Canada West games played between the two teams. UBC has won two consecutive games over the U of R, including last year's game in Regina which saw the Thunderbirds take a 31-30 overtime victory over the Rams.

BENNETT BRILLIANCE: DL Anthony Bennett was held without a sack for the first this season last Saturday against Saskatchewan, but is still Canada West's outright leader with four sacks. Carleton's Shaiheem Charles-Brown is the U SPORTS leader with 4.5 sacks, while Montreal's Nicky Farinaccio and York's Jason Janvier-Messier are tied with Bennett with four. The only other player in Canada West with at least two sacks is UBC's Kyle Samson. Bennett, who has earned Canada West Defensive Player of the Week honours in two out of three weeks so far, is already threatening the U of R single-season record of 6.5 sacks which is shared by Akiem Hicks (2011) and Nicholas Dheilly (2017).

UNDER CENTRE: Rookie QB Noah Pelletier is 50-for-94 for 689 yards and three touchdowns through the first three games of the season. He's on pace for 1837 yards, which would rank as the third most in a single season by a U of R first-year quarterback (Noah Picton holds that record with 2029 yards in 2014, while Josh Donnelly had 1965 yards in 2019).

TOUGH D: The Rams have allowed just 58 points so far, which ranks as the third-lowest total by a U of R team ever through the first three weeks of the season and the lowest since the Rams surrendered just 24 points during the first three games of the 2002 campaign. The 2001 squad, which allowed 57 points in its first three contests, is the only other Rams team to give up fewer points than this year's group.

SACK ATTACK: The Rams lead Canada West with eight sacks this year. Bennett is the runaway leader on the team with four of them, while DL Michael Clow, DL Garth Knitting, DL Tanner Schmekel, and LB Josh White all have one. The U of R record for most sacks in a single season is 23, a mark which current Tampa Bay Buccaneers DL Akiem Hicks and company set back in 2011.

BALL HAWKS: The Rams also lead Canada West with four interceptions as DL Anthony Bennett, DB Jaxon Ford, DB Donovin Small, and LB Ryder Varga have all registered picks this season. Alberta is second in Canada West with three interceptions, while Manitoba and UBC have both registered two.

KATENDE IN: RB Christian Katende got his first career start last Saturday and responded with a career-high 64 yards on just nine carries for an impressive average of 7.1 yards per rush. Katende got the start in place of RB Kyle Borsa, who was injured in the second quarter of the Week 2 victory over Calgary.

QUICK START FOR VARGA: Selected by the BC Lions in the third round of last spring's CFL Draft, LB Ryder Varga is off to another good start for the Rams. The fourth-year mac linebacker is the team's leader with 14.5 tackles and also has two forced fumbles, an interception, a blocked kick, and a tackle for loss.

IRON MAN: The most experienced player on the Rams roster is DB Zach Moore, who (including the postseason) has played in 33 career games and has started 32 consecutive games at halfback. Moore is third on the team with 11.5 tackles and also has a pair of pass breakups this season.

ON THE LINE: OL Parker Hodel returned to last Saturday's game after missing the Week 2 contest due to injury, and the Rams went back to the starting offensive line they had to begin the season. That group consists of OL Matthew Hajewich at left tackle, OL Damon Iron at left guard, OL Maguire Abell at centre, Hodel at right guard, and OL Joel Braden at right tackle.

ALDO UPDATE: K Aldo Galvan punted 10 times for an average of 50.5 yards last week against Saskatchewan, including a titanic 77-yard bomb that's tied for the fifth longest punt in University of Regina history. Galvan now ranks second in all of U SPORTS with an average of 46.3 yards per punt, and is third on the U of R's all-time scoring list with 196 points and needs just 3 more to surpass Jon Ryan for second.

A LOOK AHEAD: The Rams have already signed four Grade 12 players to a U SPORTS Letter of Intent for the 2023 season. That group includes OL Mackenzie Hills-Craig (Moose Jaw/Central), WR Hudson South (Melfort/MUCC), DL Tanner Weir (Balgonie/Greenall), and DL Matthew Zeiler (Regina/Winston Knoll).

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