EDMONTON – Entering a week with a losing record for the first time in 740 days, the U SPORTS #9 ranked Alberta Golden Bears return to Foote Field to host the Regina Rams.
 
Following a hard-fought — and ultimately heartbreaking — 24-23 loss to Manitoba last weekend, the 1-2 Bears will look to get back to .500 against the 2-1 Rams.
 
A tight loss to Manitoba, which followed a 14-point loss to Calgary has the Bears sitting in a four-way tie with Saskatchewan, UBC and Calgary with 1-2 records. Regina enters Week 4 owning a 2-1 record, which included wins over Calgary and Saskatchewan, before suffering a 14-12 loss to UBC last week.
 
If history is any indication, Friday night's tilt should be highly competitive. The Bears and Rams have split their last six meetings, with Alberta winning three of the last four. Three of their last six meetings have been decided by 10 points or less, including a 19-14 Regina win in 2022, and a 23-22 Alberta win in 2021.
 
En route to a Hardy Cup appearance last fall, the Bears picked up a 46-27 home win over Regina, a game in which Alberta ran for 219 yards and three touchdowns. Matthew Peterson rushed for 167 yards on just 11 carries, adding 47 receiving yards in the blowout win. Putting up 40+ points again may be a tall task, as Regina heads to Edmonton sporting the second best defence in Canada West, allowing just 19.3 points per contest through three games.

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GAME INFO

Golden Bears Football (1-2 Conference, 1-3 Overall)
Conference
Friday, September 20
Alberta vs Regina Rams (2-1), Foote Field, 7:00 p.m. MT

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KEY STATS

• Friday's matchup may very well come down to the Alberta offence against the Regina defence. The Bears rank second in points per game (29.0), third in yards per game (422.7), and first in rushing yards (223.3) and touchdowns (6). Regina leads Canada West allowing just 329.7 yards per game.
• Regina boasts a pair of top pass rushers in Tarick Polius and Cameron Mah. Polius sits second in the conference with 2.5 sacks, with Mah adding 2.0. The duo has combined for 4.5 of the teams 5.0 sacks this season.
• Alberta counters with a pair of elite rushers of their own; linebacker Chase Tataryn leads Canada West with 3.0 sacks, with six others having at least 0.5 sacks. Alberta leads the conference with seven.
• After struggling against Calgary, Alberta's offensive line performed much better in Winnipeg. The Bears ran the ball 45 times for 311 yards, averaging 6.9 yards per carry to go along with three rushing scores. Bears QB Eli Hetlinger was also sacked just once on 18 dropbacks.