CALGARY – Two 70-yard scoring plays in the first half proved to be the difference as the University of Alberta Golden Bears opened the 2023 season with a 33-9 win over the University of Calgary Dinos Friday afternoon in front of 6,762 fans from inside McMahon Stadium.

Eli Hetlinger led the Bears, completing 21-of-31 attempts for 380 yards through the air. 141 of those yards came on two plays, where Hetlinger connected with Carter Kettyle on a pair of short passes that resulted in 70 and 71-yard touchdowns.

"It was the story of giving up big plays, again," Dinos head coach Wayne Harris said after the game. "That's what hurt us in the exhibition game. We cut down on the number of them (tonight), but you have to eliminate them altogether. Two big touchdowns on short throws and long runs – we've got to stop that if we're going to be successful in Canada West. You can't give easy points to teams. 

"Give Alberta credit. They played well. They played hard and physical. Our guys have to learn how to match that intensity."

After taking a 2-0 lead early, it was the Bears offence that registered the first big play in this one when Hetlinger floated a bubble screen to Kettyle who did the rest himself, turning on the jets and using his blocks well for a 70-yard score with 1:59 left in the first quarter.

After a nice Dinos drive that saw them get on the board with a 37-yard Vince Triumbari field goal, Alberta answered right back. It was a similar play with a similar result for the Bears, as Kettyle this time caught the ball at the 47 and again sprinted over half the field for a 71-yard TD to make it 17-3. 

Calgary forced a safety to cut the gap to 17-5 late in the first half and then put together their best drive of the night. Starting at their own 35-yard line, new quarterback Dom Britton led the offence all the way down to the Alberta 22-yard line. With less than 20 seconds left on the clock, Britton scrambled and got inside the Bears' 10-yard line. But a big hit from Reiss Flunder jarred the ball loose in the first of three Alberta takeaways in a real momentum killer for the Dinos.

In the second half, Matthew Peterson scored from 15 yards out and Justin Giustini connected on three field goals as Alberta finished with 528 total yards of offence in the win.

Newcomer Nick Sua led the ground game in his Dinos debut, finishing with 55 yards on 12 carries, while Britton finished his first game in the Scarlet & Gold going 14-27 for 118 yards.

"We showed signs of being able to move the ball," Harris said. "I thought we had some good plays, but just not enough of them. We, as a coaching staff have to do a better job of making sure we're putting our players in better spots to have success."

Both squads will square off nationally ranked foes next weekend, as the Bears host No. 10 Manitoba on Friday, before the Dinos travel to No. 9 UBC on Saturday.

-UC-