BUCS Big Wednesday Preview: Touchdown Tuesday is upon us
- Isaac Oldcorn
- Mar 17
- 7 min read
Photo: Andy Watts
It’s here! The big day is finally upon us, three blockbuster games in one day. BUCS Big Wednesday (on a Tuesday), which we are referring to as Touchdown Tuesday, is going to generate intense drama across all three games as the best of the best take on each other to claim their trophy.
You can watch all the action on the BUCS YouTube channel:
National Trophy
Brunel (2) vs Northumbria (2) 10:30 AM
The “home” team for the National Trophy is the Brunel Burners and what a season it has been for the now only London team in the BUCS Premier Tier. They came out the blocks well with an impressive 54-0 win over the Reading Knights. The win started a run of three consecutive victories, as they beat Hertfordshire and Oxford convincingly. Before the Christmas break, we started to see the Burners stop burning teams and a close 11-8 victory over Brighton and an 8-0 win against Reading showed their toughness and ability to grind out a victory.
After the break, they carried on in the same way with close victories over Oxford and Hertfordshire before ending their season with a 45-8 win against Brighton and the Burners who started the season were back. The first round of the playoffs saw them host the UEA Pirates where they rounded out 42-0 winners before hosting Bristol where the Barracudas were burnt 58-6, leading to this past weekend’s result where they took on a tough test in the Bournemouth Bobcats, they defeated the Bobcats 13-6 away from home and now look to Loughborough to take on the Mustangs.
Player to watch:
Davide Pinto (Running Back)- To be successful in BUCS you need a strong running game, and this is exactly what the Burners have 20 carries for 112 yards against Bournemouth shows his dominance, one to look out for on Tuesday morning.
Speaking to the Burners they had this to say:
“We had a complete overhaul of the coaching staff, which brought with it a drastic culture change, in addition to an influx of new talent we knew we had something special in October when the pads came out. We are undefeated but there were games where we could’ve scored more points, including the south final.
“We’re expecting a hard-fought game from start to finish. Northumbria are a great side, and they have accomplished a rare feat in going back-to-back promotions, so they know how to get it done in the big games. Hopefully, it’s a show for everyone watching!”
The Northumbria Mustangs, reigning Tier 2 North Champions came into the season looking to make their mark and what a mark they made, an opening week win against Manchester showed their power, beating Manchester Met before their first showdown with UCLan a 26-13 Mustangs win meant they remained unbeaten. With a win against Manchester before their rematch against the UCLan Rams, the Lancastrians came out on top. The Mustangs then went the rest of the season unbeaten with wins over LJMU and Manchester Met earning them the number two seed. They would first take on Leicester beating the Longhorns 28-6, before welcoming the Sheffield Hallam Warriors who they handled beating them 21-15. They then travelled north of the border to take on the Edinburgh Napier Knights, a tough match was in store, but the Mustangs came out victorious again beating the Knights 32-13, leading them to back-to-back promotions and the shot at more silverware.
Player to watch:
Aaron Aucoin (Quarterback)- Aaron has had two dominant seasons for the Mustangs and does not look like slowing down, he can either beat you in the air or on the ground.
The Mustangs are eager to show what they can do, speaking to the Newcastle-based side they had this to say:
“The season’s been amazing so far, we are very proud of the team. At the start of the season, we had an amazing buy-in from everyone, everyone has given their all on and off the pitch to push for back-to-back promotions.
“Brunel looks to be a great side, reaching the Prem after 7 playoff runs is no small feat. We are sure it’ll be a great game displaying two great tier one teams.”
The Mustangs have scored 50 points in two games already this season whereas the Burners have had the same record. Defensively the Burners come out on top only conceding 54 points all season long whereas the Geordies have conceded 79 total points. This, no matter what is going to be an exciting game and one that will whet the appetite for a day of football.
National Vase
Warwick (1) vs SGS (1) 2 PM
The Wolves will go into Touchdown Tuesday beaming after this season. A week one 40-28 loss to the Leeds Gryphons perhaps made everyone think about what the Wolves could achieve this year with the Gryphons and the Renegades being favourites. They put the doubters to sleep two weeks later after 7-6 win against the Renegades and showed the mental and physical toughness of the side, two wins against the Newcastle Raiders before Christmas meant they were in a three-horse race with Leeds and Nottingham Trent.
Returning after Christmas the Wolves took on the Renegades away from home and ran away from Nottingham with a 42-7 win, the remainder of the season saw the Wolves remain on their incredible run, two wins against Liverpool followed by a home victory against the Gryphons meant the Wolves were top dog in the North. The playoffs saw the Cobras travel to Birmingham to face the Wolves, Cardiff lost 33-0 to Warwick and the wolfpack welcomed Portsmouth as number one in the north took on number two in the south, a tight cagey affair took place and the Wolves took the 20-13 victory which sees them in the final and a chance to win the tier at the first time of asking.
The Wolves will look to win their first championship on Tuesday, and this is what they had to say:
“We’re really pleased with our season so far as we’ve really developed as a team throughout the season. Since our first game, we’ve really come back with more intensity and a different mindset however, it’s still not over.
“It will definitely be a very tough and physical game, but we’re up for the challenge. We believe that if we focus on our game, we’ll win the game”
Players to watch:
Alex Marin (Offensive Line)- A standout player on the offensive line against the Portsmouth Destroyers and really showed his strengths against a side who relies heavily in the Defensive line, Alex could be a big reason as to why the Wolves come out victorious on Tuesday.
The Pride, what an incredible season this team has had. We knew they would be dominant this season, but I think they have exceeded expectations. The Destroyers were the main threat to the Pride and SGS handled them each time a 21-6 win in week two followed by 14-3 win in week 12. Birmingham and Cardiff posed little threat to the Bristol-based outfit, easing to victories against the Exeter Demons too led the Pride to an unbeaten regular season scoring 241 points and conceding only 28. The playoffs saw the Raiders make the gruelling trip from Newcastle and the Pride brushed them aside 44-0 before they faced Leeds, they knew it would be a tough test before the match and the 17 points conceded were the most all season, after their win, they now go back to Finals day after their success in the Division One final in their first BUCS season.
Player to Watch:
Scott Oscarson (Quarterback)- Just one of the names we could have picked, Scott all season long has shown how good their offence is, a constant threat to any secondary the QB knows how to find his targets and will look to perform against the Wolves in Loughborough.
Tuesday afternoon is going to be a blockbuster event, two offences who know how to score Warwick 258 points all season only topped by SGS’s 313, this could be a match where the two sides just outscore each other, with the defences being relied on massively to stop the other, and it all builds up to the National Championship.
National Championship
UWE (1) vs Nottingham (2) 8 PM
The Bullets came into the season as favourites and after their week one loss to the Gold it showed that they were not firing just yet, until they travelled up north to Leeds Beckett and beat the Carnegie 104-0, only the third time a hundred points have been scored in BUCS American Football, (The other two times being from the Bullets and the Bradford Bears).
Wins against the Durham Saints and Loughborough Students followed their monumental win, meaning they were 3-1 and second in the standing going into the festive break. Returning in January with an 82-0 win against Leeds Beckett, smashing Durham and Loughborough before their huge rematch with Nottingham where a single score was the difference. The Playoffs meant they would host Loughborough at Hillside Gardens, a 44-7 victory showed the strength and relentlessness of the Bullets and fired them into the National Championship again to win their fifth as a programme and their fourth in a row.
Player to Watch:
Justin O’Neil (Wide Receiver) As a team that relies heavily on their aerial attack the Bullets need a star receiver to fire to and Justin has been that all season long, the Trinity College Alum showed his strength all season long and will look to perform again and bring the National Championship back to Bristol.
On the other side of the field is a Gold team looking to roll their way into history and win their first National Championship. A huge win on opening day against UWE showed the potential and the grit of this team. Going into Christmas unbeaten with wins over the Durham Saints and beating both Loughborough and Leeds Beckett twice led them into the new year unbeaten. Week 10 showed a weak spot for the team as a close 14-17 loss at home against Durham ended their unbeaten run.
The final day of the season saw the Bullets travel to the David Ross Sports Village and win against the Gold finishing their season 6-2. Heading into the playoffs the Gold needed to “Right the Wrongs” as they say against Durham who they lost to in this fixture last season, a 33-14 home win for the Gold sees them in the spot they are in now and challenging for their first National Championship.
Ahead of Tuesday's headliner UON Head Coach, Jason Scott, had this to say:
“We are really excited for the opportunity to compete, all our games against UWE have been tight, one-score affairs and we know that we will have to play our very best to overcome a formidable team.
“The preparation has been excellent, our players have really bought into the challenge, and we can be really confident that we’re heading into Tuesday in a position to win our first National Championship”
Player to watch:
Jack Redhead (Linebacker)- Much like UWE this side is packed with talent on both sides of the ball but the GB Linebacker gives the Gold a threat in the run and the passing game, Jack will need to be an immovable object on Tuesday and give his side something to build from if they are to stop the unstoppable UWE offence.
Okay, I said this before, but this could be the best game that BUCS American Football has ever seen, two sides who know how to win, two sides who want to win, and two sides who have been on-field rivals for years. Can Nottingham end their National Championship drought? Will UWE with the 4-peat? It is all set to be an incredible match-up. One we have seen twice already this season and the third could be the best by far.
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