EDMONTON — The weather in Alberta might be beginning to get cold, but the Golden Bears are just starting to heat up.
Alberta took down UBC 38-18 at Foote Field Friday night in a dominant fashion to win their first game under new head coach Stevenson Bone.
The Golden Bears were in search of their first win of the season after dropping to 0-4 in a 34-7 loss to the Manitoba Bisons last week. Meanwhile, the Thunderbirds were looking to win their second consecutive game after squeezing out a 23-22 win over Calgary in Vancouver last week.
However, it was all green and gold in this one. Alberta QB and CJFL transfer, Trey Reider, nabbed his first career U SPORTS win as a starter for the Golden Bears and did so in dramatic fashion.
Reider threw for 284 yards and two touchdowns on 20 of 27 completed passes while racking up 114 and 112 receiving yards for Carter Kettyle and Chevy Thomas.
UBC struggled to get their offence going, especially in the second half. Quarterback Drew Viotto started over Derek Engel and finished with 196 passing yards and one touchdown on 16 of 27 completed throws.
A win to keep Alberta's season alive
The Thunderbirds came out of the gate with a lot of fire and struck early. Running back Toluwalope Ayedegbe capped off an eight-play drive that started at their 54-yard line after recovering a fumble from the Alberta offence with a rushing touchdown from five yards out.
UBC carried the lead through the first quarter until Alberta marched down the field and landed their first points of the game. Quarterback Eli Hetlinger snuck it in from the one-yard line in the first minutes of the second quarter and gave the Golden Bears life.
Things would only get worse from there for UBC.
The Thunderbirds were forced back to their own one-yard line after four penalties on a punt return and conceded a safety three plays later to put Alberta up 9-7.
The Golden Bears followed up with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Carter Kettyle from Trey Reider on the ensuing drive and a rouge on the kickoff to extend their lead to 17-7 in the final minutes of the half. UBC would respond by connecting on a 15-yard field goal to close out the half and trim the Golden Bear lead to seven.
UBC was within striking distance at the half, but never were able to finish drives to collect points. Alberta took advantage of this and scored two touchdowns in the third. One from wide receiver Carter Kettyle, who threw a 37-yard pass to Chevy Thomas on a fake jet sweep, and the other coming from Trey Reider, nine yards out to find Carter Kettyle in the endzone.
Up 31-10, it was all Golden Bears in the final quarter. Alberta tacked on another touchdown in the final minutes courtesy of Eli Hetlinger under center and put the game out of reach. UBC added on a touchdown and a rouge with two minutes left, but it was too little, too late as the Golden Bears sailed to victory.
A special night for Stevenson Bone
The victory was a special one for the Golden Bears. Not only was it the team's first win of the season, but it was also Alberta head coach Stevenson Bone's first career win with the program.
Bone called playing against the team he was the offensive coordinator for just last season "difficult" in a post-game interview with OB.SESSED.
"You see a lot of familiar faces, and I think the world of that program," he said. "Coach Nill hired me a few years ago and really opened up his arms and trusted me, and that's why I'm here. So I have a lot of respect for that university, the coaching staff [and] all those players. I know that it's difficult that they lost tonight, but that's a good team that we beat across the way."
A noticeable difference for the Alberta offence was at quarterback. Trey Reider was named the starter this week over Eli Hetlinger. Bone said the change doesn't mean the Golden Bears might not move back to Hetlinger down the road. He stated he was not going to name a starter for next week against Saskatchewan, but named "consistency" at the quarterback position as a reason for making a change.
"Whenever you are 0-4, you have to look at everybody on the roster," Bone said. "Eli handled the tough coaching decision in a way that only enhanced his stature amongst his teammates. He's still a captain for us. We might still need to rely on him down the stretch ... he's still a very big piece of our team moving forward."
Trey Reider came away with his first win in his U SPORTS career tonight and told OB.SESSED post-game, he felt "a bit of nerves" ahead of taking the helm of the 0-4 Golden Bears.
"It's a new program for me, new team, right. I'm just trying to figure it all out and trying to get a lot of chemistry with all the players," Reider said. "But today, the guys had my back and I really appreciate that ... this one feels good. It feels good to finally win now."
Bone is hoping his Golden Bears can use the win to "catapult" them through the remaining games of the season, starting with Saskatchewan next week.
"I have yet to win there yet [Saskatoon]," he said. "It's going to be a tremendous challenge for us, but one that I'm here for. I think that our players are going to be eager for it."
Up Next
The Golden Bears (1-4) will head to Saskatchewan for a matchup with the #5 Saskatchewan Huskies (3-1) on Saturday, Oct 4.
Meanwhile, the #11 Thunderbirds (2-3) head to Winnipeg to take on the #9 Manitoba Bisons (2-2) on Saturday, Oct 4.