The dogs came out to feast tonight in Saskatoon.
It was a complete display of domination for the Saskatchewan Huskies, who earned their second victory of the season by dismantling the UBC Thunderbirds 51-14 at Griffiths Stadium on Friday night.
UBC came in hot off a 21-9 win over Manitoba in Week 1 and were looking to make it two in a row, but struggled to find momentum on offence against the Huskies.
The same cannot be said for Saskatchewan, though. The dogs lit up the skies and picked apart the Thunderbirds' defence almost at will.
Saskatchewan quarterback Anton Amundrud finished with a staggering 443 passing yards and four passing touchdowns as he had no problem finding open receivers tonight — especially Daniel Wiebe, who clocked in a team-leading 195 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns.
And for UBC, quarterback Drew Viotto registered 234 passing yards, one passing touchdown, and one interception in the loss while completing 18 of 30 pass attempts before giving way to Derek Engel.
Thunderbirds rookie wide receiver Trey Montour stood out with 118 yards receiving yards on seven receptions, but outside of Montour, Shemar McBean and Jaden Phillips (McBean and Phillips recorded 77 and 75 receiving yards) there wasn't much going for UBC.
They struggled to move the ball on the ground and three rushers (Jaxon Allan, Toluwalope Ayedegbe, Engel) combined for just 10 yards on seven attempts in a pass-heavy game script.
"We haven't been able to muster much of a run game and we're trying to figure out how we're going to do that," Nill told gothunderbirds.ca's Jeff Sargeant following the game.
"There just wasn't much going our way – it was mostly our own demise, our own inability to execute. It's obvious that we didn't show up and play the kind of football we felt we had the potential to."
A dream homecoming
This one got out of hand quickly, and it all started when Saskatchewan got out to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter after a pair of field goals from Huskies kicker Lukas Scott. But that lead would quickly turn into a 13-0 lead thanks to a 79-yard touchdown from Amundrud to Wiebe in the second quarter.
The Thunderbirds would respond, though. Viotto hit wide receiver Mark Webb on UBC's best offensive play of the night for a 33-yard touchdown with less than six minutes left in the half to bring it to 16-7 for Saskatchewan.
But that would be the only momentum the Thunderbirds generated on offence the entire night. The Huskies nailed another field goal to go up 19-7 at halftime and found themselves up 28-7 in the third thanks to a UBC safety and Wiebe's second touchdown of the night.
It did not get much better for the Thunderbirds from there as the Huskies continued to keep their foot on the gas.
Running back Javin Boynton, wide receiver Dawson Lennea, and rookie running back Aulain Penner all found the endzone — with Penner's score being his first ever Canada West touchdown — as the Saskatchewan lead hit 51-7 with five minutes left in the game.
UBC would insert backup quarterback Derek Engel into the game late, and he led a drive down to the Huskies' red zone before running back Toluwalope Ayedegbe punched it in on the ground for six.
However, it was far too late for a comeback, and Saskatchewan would cruise to the finish line to pick up a dominant win in their home opener.
Frank continues chasing Rozon
While it was the Daniel Wiebe show tonight at Griffiths Stadium, it was also another great night for running back Ryker Frank.
The Regina product collected 98 rushing yards on nine attempts and 57 receiving yards on four receptions. It was a different look in the Huskies' backfield as three tailbacks in Frank, Javin Boynton and Aulain Penner lined up around Amundrud tonight.
Frank saw more usage in the passing game than usual as a result. Could this be a part of new offensive coordinator Mason Nyhus's plan at running back? It certainly seemed so tonight.
With 191 yards over the Huskies' first two games, Frank needs 841 rushing yards across six more regular season games and any postseason games to break Doug Rozon's longstanding program record.
With that being said, the Huskies may need to rely on Frank in the passing game more with wideout Rhett Vavra going down early in the game. Vavra did not return to the game, and there was no update on his condition throughout the game.
Without the fifth-year veteran, Saskatchewan pivoted to third-year receiver Daniel Kubongo to step up, and he did not disappoint. Kubongo collected a second-best on the team, 75 receiving yards on four receptions in his first game this season.
With Ethan Clazie getting off to a hot start in Week 1 and now Daniel Kubongo taking the spotlight tonight, this Huskies wide receiver core seems to have plenty of depth. That will be tested if Vavra misses any time.
Phillip, Soriano, Goldstone highlight defensive performances
For the second game in a row, U of T quarterback-turned UBC linebacker Kinsale Phillip led his new team in tackles, with 8.5.
Defensive back Jason Soriano wasn't far behind with seven tackles and recorded a forced fumble.
On the other side, linebacker Jacob Goldstone picked up a team-leading five tackles, an interception, and a sack.
Up next:
Up next, the #6 Saskatchewan Huskies (2-0) visit the #8 Manitoba Bisons (0-2) on Friday, while the #5 UBC Thunderbirds (1-1) host the #10 Regina Rams (2-0) the same night.