PREVIEW: RAMS HOST GOLDEN BEARS SATURDAY

GAME INFORMATION
KICKOFF: Saturday, Sept. 16 (2:00 PM)
SITE: Mosaic Stadium (Regina, Sask.)
CAPACITY: 33,000
RANKINGS: Alberta NR, Regina #6
TELEVISION: Canada West Football Showcase - SaskTel maxTV 48/348 & TELUS Optik TV (Dan Plaster/PxP, Jason Clermont/CC, Darren Dupont/host)
REGINA RADIO: 620 CKRM (Michael Ball/PxP, Marco Ricci/CC)
LIVE VIDEO: www.canadawest.tv ($)

HEADLINES
• Coming off a 46-26 road loss to Calgary, the Rams slipped one spot in this week’s U SPORTS Top Ten and come into Saturday’s game ranked No. 6 in the nation.

• The Rams will face Canada West’s leading rusher this week - Alberta’s Ed Ilnicki piled up 199 yards last week against Saskatchewan and has a conference-leading 295 rushing yards this season.

• Alberta and the Rams will meet for the first time since the Golden Bears toppled Regina by a 19-18 score last year in Edmonton for one of the U of R’s two losses in conference play - though the Rams outgained Alberta 532-319 that game, the Golden Bears surrendered only one touchdown and hit a field goal with 18 seconds left to win.

TIGHT GAMES: The Rams and Alberta have made a habit of close contests in recent years – each of the last five games between the two teams have been settled by seven or fewer points, including last year’s game which saw the Golden Bears take a 19-18 win over a Rams team that was ranked No. 4 in the nation at the time. Alberta has won three of the last four meetings over the Rams dating back to the 2014 season, though the Rams hold an 18-8 all-time edge in the 26 times they’ve met in Canada West action.

TOUCHDOWN KING: Already the University of Regina’s all-time leader with 18 rushing touchdowns, RB Atlee Simon is closing in on the school’s career record for touchdowns scored overall. He’s currently tied for second in U of R history with Neal Hughes with 24 touchdowns scored and is just two behind Jason Clermont’s record of 26.

THE PICTON FILE - NOAH EDITION: The 2016 recipient of the Hec Crighton Trophy as the U SPORTS Player of the Year, QB Noah Picton set a national single-season record last year after compiling 3186 passing yards. Picton, who has the rest of this season and 2018 left with the Rams, is still well back of Teale Orban’s school and Canada West records in the three major passing categories – for now. Orban, who starred for the Rams from 2004 to 2008, leads Picton 685 to 561 in career completions, 9449 to 7984 in passing yards, and 76-51 in touchdown passes.

THE PICTON FILE - MITCHELL EDITION: SB Mitchell Picton (Noah’s first cousin) is off to another solid start for the Rams with 13 catches for 206 yards in the team’s first two games. He’s only three receptions and 28 receiving yards from moving past Brenden Owens into sixth place in school history in those two categories, and also enters Saturday’s game tied for third in the U of R record book with 17 career touchdown catches.

CROSS CHECK: After being named Canada West Defensive Player of the Week after the UBC win, Rams rookie LB Nick Cross continues to impress. He leads not only the Rams, but all of Canada West with 15½ tackles (12 solo, seven assisted) and also has a sack and a pass breakup this season.

INJURY NOTES: Two starters in, two starters possibly out for the Rams on the injury front this week. The team expects to have DB Jeff Propp and SB Ryan Schienbein back into the lineup on Saturday, but DL Grey McKen and WR Mitch Thompson were both injured against Calgary and are considered day-to-day.

DEBUTS: A total of 15 Rams have already played their first career U SPORTS game this season, and four more will make their debut on Saturday against Alberta - TE Blake Draper, K Kealey Heintz, WR Kasim Ocaya, and DL Travis Pelletier are all expected to draw into the lineup.

THESE BEARS CAN RUN: Though Alberta has opened the season with 55-26 and 43-17 losses to Calgary and Saskatchewan, respectively, the Golden Bears are the top rushing team in the conference. They enter Week 3 averaging 217 yards per game on the ground, mostly due to the efforts of veteran RB Ed Ilnicki who leads Canada West with 295 rushing yards – 199 of which came in last week’s game at Saskatchewan.

DAWSON RETURNS: After 15 seasons as the Rams’ defensive coordinator, Paul Dawson will be on the sidelines at the new Mosaic Stadium for the first time – but in enemy colours. Dawson, in his first season with Alberta’s staff, is the linebackers coach for the Golden Bears.

SCRAMBLERS: Besides his gaudy passing numbers, Noah Picton is also about to move into second place in school history in rushing yards by a quarterback. Picton enters Saturday's game with 583 rushing yards, just two back of second-place Darryl Leason's two-season total of 585. The school's all-time leader in the category is Mark Anderson, who played in 1999 and from 2001 to 2004 with the Rams and finished his five seasons with the team with 721 rushing yards. Teale Orban (459) and Marc Mueller (315) round out the top five in the category.

(Courtesy Braden Konschuh/U of R Athletics)

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