EDMONTON – In what should be a throwback, old school, smash-mouth football game, the Alberta Golden Bears host the #9 ranked Manitoba Bisons at Foote Field on Saturday afternoon.
 
The 2-4 Golden Bears are tumbling down the conference standings; having lost consecutive games and fallen to fifth in Canada West. Manitoba leads Canada West with a 5-1 record, with one of those wins being a 24-23 home victory over Alberta in Week 3. Stakes are high for both teams in Week 7 — the Golden Bears are fighting for their playoff lives, while Manitoba is eager to lock up a home playoff game and perhaps the No. 1 seed in Canada West.
 
A win for Manitoba will secure a top-two seed and a home playoff game at Princess Auto Field in two weeks. A win coupled with a UBC loss against Calgary would lock up the No. 1 seed.
 
Both teams have nearly identical formulas for success; running the ball, controlling the clock, and dominating time of possession. Manitoba and Alberta are the top two rushing offences in Canada West; Manitoba ranks first with 211.3 ground yards per game, while Alberta ranks second with 209.0. The Bisons are also third in U SPORTS, with the Bears fourth. The dominant ground games have led to both teams controlling the ball in their six games this season; Alberta ranks second in Canada with 33:37 of average time of possession, with the Bisons sitting sixth at 30:54.
 
The teams combined for 478 rush yards in their Week 3 meeting, with 311 of those coming from Alberta. In what was one of the more exciting games this season in Canada West, Manitoba negated an Alberta two-point conversion in the final minute to sneak out the 24-23 win.

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GAME INFO

Golden Bears Football (2-4 Conference, 2-5 Overall)
Conference
Saturday, October 19
Alberta vs Manitoba Bisons (5-1), Foote Field, 1:00 p.m. MT

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KEY STATS

• Leading Canada West in rushing for almost the entirety of the season, Alberta was surpassed by Manitoba last week. The Bisons have three-straight 200+ yard-rushing performances, averaging 39 carries and 211 yards per game.
• Week 7 features two MVP candidates in Alberta running back Matthew Peterson, and Manitoba QB Jackson Tachinski. Peterson — the 2023 Canada West MVP — leads the nation with 133.0 rush yards per game, adding 41 receiving yards to his total. Tachinski, meanwhile, ranks sixth in rushing yards (366), fourth in passing yards (1,237), having 11 total touchdowns in six games.
• Contributing to the Bears two-game losing streak has been their absence of a consistent pass rush. Alberta recorded seven sacks in the first two games, but haven't sacked a QB in the four games since. UBC gashed the Bears defence for 370 yards on just 18 completions in their 35-25 win two weeks ago.
• The Bears and Bisons have split their last six meetings, with the home team winning five of those six meetings. The Bisons head to Edmonton looking for their first win at Foote Field since October 1^st, 2021.