The Herd look to dig in hooves in home finale

Don’t tell Stan Pierre that a win is a win.

The University of Manitoba Bisons football team squandered a 28-3 advantage over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds two weeks ago before securing a 35-31 victory with a late touchdown to avoid disaster.

“It didn’t feel much like a win, to be honest,” said Pierre, the first-year Bisons head coach.

“It was really disappointing the way we played in the second half of that game.”

His feelings are justified considering how UBC scored on four consecutive drives after halftime en route to taking a 31-28 lead with 5:55 left in the game.

“All our bad habits kind of came out in one half,” admitted fourth-year defensive back Daniel Conway.

“Basically, lots of little things that have killed us throughout the year we just let happen over and over again. We weren’t able to make adjustments, our communication was really bad, and I just feel like we may have gotten a little comfortable with how big the lead was and kind of relaxed. And once they got in a rhythm, they were coming downhill. I think it had to be easily our worst half of the year.”

The Herd made just enough plays at the end to improve to 3-3 on the year. Once UBC, now 2-4, jumped in front, quarterback Jackson Tachinski led the U of M on an eight-play, 90-yard drive — highlighted by a 43-yard strike to leading receiver Nathan Udoh — that was capped off by a rushing score by the veteran passer.

Tachinski had three rushing TDs on the day to give him 21 in his career — which is a new Bisons record for most all-time by a quarterback.

“We had some guys make plays and that was important, obviously, but I don’t think the offence is going to take a bow,” said Pierre.

“It’s a 30-minute half and, for 25 minutes of it, they did nothing and that’s not who we want to be. And the defence didn’t do much better.”

UBC quarterback Drew Viotto tossed for 473 yards — most of which came in the final two quarters — which is the third most by a Thunderbirds pivot in school history. It looked liked Viotto’s performance was going to have a happy ending, too, as he marched the visitors down to Manitoba’s 34-yard line with a minute left on the clock before Conway — who was filling in for injured starters Maxwell Grieman and Marcus Wahl in the secondary — ripped the ball away near the sideline on a deep pass for the game-sealing interception.

“I know it’s easy to say now but, in all honesty, I never felt for a second that we were going to lose that game,” said Udoh.

“For me, it was just more frustration with how things were going for our team. I won’t speak for anybody else, but I knew a loss wasn’t in the question. It was more just, ‘Will our offence get it going? Will our defence make a stop when we need to?’ And we did, on both sides of the ball, and that was huge.”

Conway’s first career interception couldn’t have come at a better time.

“They were driving on us, and it definitely gets a little nerve-racking especially when that ball was in the air and they’re throwing that corner,” said Conway.

“I didn’t want to be the one that the play was made on but, thankfully, I was the one that made the play — and that was an amazing feeling.”

The Bisons have had some time to think about the close call since they were off last week for the Thanksgiving break. They’re back at work now and will host the Calgary Dinos (2-4) on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Princess Auto Stadium in their final home game of the year. They close out the season the following week on the road against the Saskatchewan Huskies.

“It was a good time for the bye week because we were severely banged up. We kind of just survived through that football game so our guys really needed some rest,” said Pierre.

“Our season is still very much in jeopardy. That’s our only focus, winning this game this week.”

The U of M, currently residing in third place behind Saskatchewan and Regina who are both 5-1, can clinch a post-season berth with a win over Calgary. The top four teams qualify for the playoffs.

The Bisons were the No. 1 seed last year before being upset by Regina 28-25 in the Hardy Cup semifinal.

“It’s a good feeling considering we started the year on the road in back-to-back weeks and went 0-2. And then our home opener, we came out and we were down 17-0 at half (before coming back to win),” said Conway.

“If you look from that point, our quarterback got injured, we had tons of injuries and we’re 3-3 so it’s a good feeling, but at the end of the day, we’re just .500 so it’s nothing to write home about. But it’s good to control our destiny at least. The regular season hasn’t been as smooth as last years, but I still think we’re in a pretty good position to make a run here.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca