No doubting Bisons’ Thomas

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/09/2024 (619 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nick Thomas was in an unfamiliar role as a spectator last Saturday.

Manitoba’s MAC linebacker was multi-tasking — watching online as his Bisons did battle with the Alberta Golden Bears while also preparing to walk his sister down the aisle at her wedding in Abbotsford, B.C.

Fortunately for Thomas and his teammates, Manitoba escaped with a 24-23 win to improve to 3-0 and sole possession of top spot in Canada West university football.

The wedding went off smoothly but his original plan for 2024 didn’t include a scheduling conflict.

Thomas, a seventh-round pick of the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2023, was angling to make a permanent jump to the pro ranks before being released from the CFL team’s training camp.

“The wedding had been planned and since I was on the Riders, I was like, ‘Oh, this is perfect. We have our bye week that week,’” said Thomas, now a CFL free agent.

Thomas’s subsequent return to the U of M campus was one of the big reasons for Manitoba’s improved title hopes.

His one-game absence was felt. With a veteran offensive line cracking open holes, Alberta’s all-Canadian running back Matthew Peterson rushed for 201 yards on 28 carries against the Herd.

“I think it had a massive impact,” said Bisons defensive co-ordinator Stan Pierre of Thomas’s absence. “The one thing about our football team right now is our depth is all quite young, so you definitely see dropoffs when when people go down and new people come in. So that all has to be managed. But I think it definitely showed up in the game.”

Thomas, who has seven solo tackles and eight assisted tackles in his two starts this season, is returning to the form that earned him first-team all-Canadian honours in 2021.

Two games into 2022, he sustained a Lisfranc injury that was season-ending. In Thomas’s case, he tore the ligament that connected his big toe to his middle toe and an avulsion fracture to his right foot. It was a painful recovery that he is reminded of to this day.

“That first season back I didn’t feel exactly the same as I did before,” said Thomas. “It’s almost like a mental thing. I couldn’t put full force of my foot on the ground. I had gained a bit of weight, so it’s just like I was battling two things.”

On Saturday, the Bisons travel to Calgary for a date with the 1-2 Dinos at McMahon Stadium (3 p.m., Canada West TV) and their host should be all they can handle.

“They look like they run the ball a lot, too,” said Thomas. “Their O-line is not as experienced as Alberta is but they play two fullbacks at a time sometimes. So it’s gonna be another battle. We just want to kind of have a good practice week this week, get a good to get some good looks. We know what to expect.”

Calgary’s passing game, led by the dynamic brother duo of quarterback Dom Britton and wide receiver Ben Britton, should be more prominent than Alberta’s aerial attack.

“They were definitely the hottest team at a conference at the end of the year last year and they still have a lot of those pieces,” said Pierre. “So, first of all, this is the Canada West and every team is good. There are no weak teams. Any team can beat anybody, as I think everybody has seen. So this is a very good football team, and if we don’t play our best we’re not going to win.”

Defensive back Nick Conway is another veteran building all-star credentials in 2024.

He contributed a key interception in a season-opening win over the Saskatchewan Huskies and on Saturday, made a crucial knock-down a pass on Alberta’s two-point convert attempt that could have been the winning margin with 53 seconds left in the game.

“He was a little banged up last year but, I mean, two years ago, he was a Canada West all-star,” said Pierre. “He’s one of the best players in our conference. He’s playing extremely well right now. Conway, Steven (Adamopoulos), Nick Thomas, Collin (Kornelson) and Kaleb (Mackie-Mcleod) are our best players right now, which is important.”

Conway, who missed three games with a hamstring ailment in 2023, said the team is more committed in 2024.

“We’re just kind of taking it more day-by-day and really not getting too ahead of ourselves,” he said. “And honestly, everyone’s just a lot more hungry. A lot of guys are graduating (after this year) and they kind of realize if there’s a year to have anything happen, it’s this year. Everyone’s pretty committed to trying to succeed.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca