By Chris Cariou,
Winnipeg Free Press
They emerged almost sight unseen from the windswept prairie to lead the nation in the race to the Vanier Cup, but the University of Manitoba Bisons football team fell far short of all the hype when it counted most.
Head coach Brian Dobie’s club was the only Canadian university squad to go undefeated during the regular season and moved up the CIS rankings all the way to No. 1, finishing 8-0 behind the country’s highest-scoring offence under quarterback John Makie and led by a brick wall of a defence anchored by linebacker Cory Huclack.
But Manitoba had to come from behind to beat a 4-4 Regina team in the Canada West semifinal at University Stadium, then lost 32-15 to the 6-2 Saskatchewan Huskies in the conference final at home to see their best shot at returning to the Vanier Cup since 2001 evaporate.
With most of last season’s main cast of characters returning for the start of training camp on Saturday, Dobie said Tuesday that it was a long, painful off-season that involved a lot of questions asking why and how. But now, he said, it’s time to look ahead to 2007 and trying to meet some very high expectations.
“It was frustrating last year,” Dobie said. “We rolled. We started to roll. We were the only undefeated team in the country. We certainly didn’t go into the season expecting that, you take it one game at a time, and it just continued… (losing to Saskatchewan) was a tough loss, a real tough loss, after having accomplished everything we had on a week-to-week basis.
“So the winter left a pretty sour taste, I think, with all of us.”
The Bisons will have Mackie back. They’ll have veteran offensive tackles Darryl Conrad and Ryan Karhut back from the Montreal Alouettes training camp, plus fullback Neil Fulgueras, who tried out for the Bombers but suffered an injury. The only offensive starter they’ve lost is centre Terry Watson.
And Dobie said that puts pressure on Makie and Co. to excel again “because this is an offence that led the nation in scoring. It’s going to be hard to repeat that, it isn’t an automatic, just because it was done last year and the same group is back.”
More changes will come on defence, beginning with Huclack, who’s now with the Alouettes. Manitoba has also lost its two starting defensive tackles from 2006 and Jon Hooton, who didn’t play last year, is going to try to make the switch from quarterback to defensive back.
Conrad said attending Montreal’s camp was a great experience, but he’s focused now on the Bisons.
“Because we only lost a few players and everyone’s back that went to camp, it’s pretty exciting,” he said. “We had that 8-0 season, we got to the big game for us and we didn’t quite get it done in that game. Saskatchewan’s got more experience, they came in and beat us and that was fine.
“We’ve been there. Now we have to take that big step beyond that big game, hopefully get ourselves out of our conference and on to a Vanier Cup, that’s our idea goal. But you have to be excited… Everyone’s a year older, a year better, a year more experienced.”
Also fortifying the Bisons is former star slotback Blair Atkinson, recently released by the Bombers. He’s going to be the assistant receivers coach unless he’s picked up by another CFL team. About 90 players are expected for the two- week training camp starting Saturday.
