QUICKLY
• The Rams head to Vancouver with a 2-0 record and ranked No. 4 in the nation, their highest U SPORTS ranking since the 2016 season. Regina is coming off a 23-8 home-opening win over Manitoba last Friday at Leibel Field.
• Friday's game features the top two rushing offences in Canada West. The Rams lead the conference with 228.0 rushing yards per game, while UBC ranks second at 220.5 after Marvyn Larozar rushed for 285 yards in last week's 43-10 win over Alberta. Regina counters with Christian Katende and Carter Ashman, who both surpassed 100 rushing yards against Manitoba.
• The Rams and UBC enter Friday with their all-time series deadlocked at 19-19. The teams split two meetings last season, with Regina winning 37-20 in Vancouver before UBC answered with a 31-29 overtime victory at Leibel Field.
Â
IN THE RANKINGS: The Rams rose two spots to No. 4 in this week's U SPORTS Top 10 thanks to their win over Manitoba along with a Wilfrid Laurier loss to Ottawa in Waterloo. Last time the Rams were ranked fourth in the nation was a decade ago, when they spent four weeks at the No. 4 spot during their 6-2 season which saw them first in the Canada West standings. The last time the Rams were ranked higher than No. 4 was back in 2010, when they hit as high as No. 3 after jumping out to a 5-1 start.
TRIPLE DIGITS: Last week saw RB
Carter Ashman run for 136 yards and RB
Christian Katende pile up 105 as both players scored rushing touchdowns in the win. It was just the second time in U of R history that two Rams have run for at least 100 yards in the same game - the only other time was in last season's home opener at Leibel, which saw RB
Marshall Erichsen run for 171 yards and Katende go for 112.
DEFENCE SHINING: The Rams have conceded just 16 points this season, the second fewest points allowed in the nation to this point behind only Laval, who have allowed just 13 points through two games. The Rams have allowed just 275.5 yards per game this year, which also ranks second in the nation behind a Montreal team which has conceded only 252 yards per game.
TKACHUK NAMED DPOW: DB
Jacob Tkachuk was named the Canada West Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday after playing a key role in two of Regina's three takeaways in the win over the Bisons. Tkachuk's first big play came in the second quarter when he forced a fumble after a completed pass deep in Bisons territory, leading directly to a
Christian Katende touchdown two plays later. Tkachuk then put an end to Manitoba's first sustained drive into Rams territory, intercepting a pass on Regina's 4-yard line on the final play of the third quarter with the Bisons threatening to make it a two-score game.
ON THE GROUND: Through two games, the Rams have registered a total of 456 rushing yards. Their average of 228 rushing yards per game leads Canada West and is third in the nation behind only Western (297.5 per game) and Windsor (244.7). Last week's starters on the line consisted of OL
Ethan Graham at left tackle, OL
Austin Wiebe at left guard, OL William Templeton at centre, OL
Connor Klassen at right guard, and OL
Nnadozie Marendiukobianwa at right tackle. OL
Nate Boyd saw plenty of second-half playing time at left guard.
ON THE GROUND, PART 2: While the Rams sit alone at the top of Canada West and rank among the top three in U SPORTS in rushing, Regina's Week 3 opponent is lurking just behind in that category. Powered mostly by Marvyn Larozar's brilliant 285-yard outing in UBC's Week 2 win over Alberta, the Thunderbirds are second in Canada West and fourth in the nation with an average of 220.5 rush yards per game.
RAMS/UBC SERIES: The Rams will be looking for their second consecutive win in Vancouver after defeating UBC by a 37-20 score in Week 3 last season. The Thunderbirds returned the favour at Leibel Field in Week 8, winning 31-29 in overtime to spoil Regina's chances of finishing 7-1 in Canada West play for the first time in program history. The two teams have met 38 times since the Rams joined Canada West in 1999, with the all-time series deadlocked at 19-19.
1000 CLUB: During last week's win over Manitoba, Katende joined a select group of Rams who have recorded at least 1000 rushing yards in their U of R careers. He's the seventh player to hit that mark, joining U of R all-time leading rusher Atlee Simon along with Neal Hughes, current teammate
Marshall Erichsen, Graham Mosiondz, Adrian Charles, and Kyle Borsa. He now needs just 72 more yards to surpass Borsa for sixth on the school's all-time list.
MORE ON CK: Katende is near the top of the U SPORTS rushing leaderboard in a few different categories. He's third in the nation and leads Canada West with 40 rushes, second in Canada West and sixth in U SPORTS with 117.5 rushing yards per game, and eighth in the country with 235 rushing yards on the season.
GORNIAK OFF TO HOT START: K
Ty Gorniak ranks second in the nation in field goal accuracy among kickers with at least eight attempts this season. Gorniak is 8-for-9 on field goals so far, with his only miss coming last week on what would have been a career-long 48-yard attempt. Gorniak is tied for fifth in the nation with 30 points scored this season and is tied for the Canada West lead in that category along with UBC's Larozar.
RISING: QB
Noah Pelletier now has 5295 career passing yards after completing 12 of his 26 passes for 224 yards in the win over the Bisons. Pelletier needs just 360 more yards to pass Mark Anderson, who piled up 5654 yards in his five-season Rams career, for fourth in U of R history. Noah Picton, Teale Orban, and Marc Mueller hold the top three spots, respectively. Pelletier had one of the biggest passing games of his career in Regina's visit to UBC last season, throwing for 360 yards in the Rams' 37-20 win at Thunderbird Stadium.
Â
