The University of Regina Rams trucked their way to a 30-8 blowout win over the University of Manitoba Bisons on Saturday.
Canada West-leading rusher Marshall Erichsen galloped for another 165 yards and two touchdowns to go along with a third score caught through the air in driving the Rams to a 4-1 record, good for second-place in the conference. Past the midway point of the season, head coach Mark McConkey knows there's no getting around how heavily reliant his offence is on the running back who wears No. 35.
"We struggled early, I think everyone could see that and the stats would show that," McConkey said post-game. "Then we got rolling into a groove, got (Erichsen) rolling, got the the O-line rolling, got the pass game rolling a little bit and then we started to execute."
Reigning Canada West player of the year, Jackson Tachinski, was expected to quarterback the Bisons but instead started the game from the sideline with a bandaged up right throwing hand before eventually seeing some limited action and leaving early with injury. McConkey heard rumblings the star QB might not be healthy enough to play but then saw mixed signals before kickoff.
"Then I saw him warm up and thought, 'Oh my god, he's going to play.' But he's a little banged up. He's such a great player. We want to compete against the best and it's too bad he didn't get in there for too long today."
Speaking of quarterbacks, 2023 Canada West Rookie of the Year Owen Sieben saw his first real game action under centre since being injured with a concussion in the Rams 2024 season opener in Calgary. Sieben entered the game to start a Regina drive late in the third quarter with the Rams already leading 17-8 and carried it the rest of the way.
Like he does with his two running backs, Erichsen and Christian Katende, McConkey wanted to change the pace with his quarterbacks.
"It wasn't always part of the plan. We were lulling a little bit offensively and we've got to get something going so we made a quick change to put Owen in for one drive then he did pretty well. It looked like he gave us a little bit of juice and then we kept rolling with it. It had nothing to do with how [Noah] Pelletier played," McConkey said.
"Owen provided a bit of a spark but Pelletier is still our guy."
For his part, Sieben was surprised to be tapped on the shoulder.
"It was fun to be out there helping the boys in any way I can. On the first completion I took a shot to the face and thought, 'Yeah I'm playing football,'" Sieben chuckled after his first few offensive series in 13 months. In regards to staying ready with such little game action in so long, the third-year quarterback knows it comes with the territory.
"That's part of the job. When you go into the week as the backup quarterback, we help out the starter any week you can and stay ready on the sidelines."
Sieben went 7-of-10 passing for 105 yards, including a 30-yard hookup with rookie Kaleb Senz in the receiver's first ever Canada West game.
The win not only matches the best five game record in U of R football history which has now been achieved on eight different occasions, but the 4-1 mark also keeps pace with the first-place U of S Huskies who blasted the Calgary Dinos 45-22 on the same afternoon. The Rams are two wins ahead of the rest of the conference but have opened up a two game edge over the bottom four teams and own the head-to-head tiebreaker with Manitoba.
Now that Regina has captured their first win at Mosaic Stadium in more than a year, the U of R can clinch a playoff spot on Saturday, October 4th when the Rams host the Calgary Dinos on 620 CKRM. The pre-game show starts at 1:45 p.m. with kickoff at 2 p.m.
