VANCOUVER – With six wins to their name, the 2015 edition of the UBC Thunderbirds can already deem their Canada West season a success, as the program looks to build into a national contender.
But with a Hardy Cup Semifinal matchup with the Manitoba Bisons on tap this Saturday (12 p.m. PT, Global Television), there’s the potential for head coach Blake Nill‘s squad to make 2015 an even bigger step in the right direction.
“You can have a good year, but it’s always what you do in the playoffs,” Nill pointed out. “It would mean a lot to this program. We’re trying to garner traction here for the future – for the recruiting effort that’s going to be needed, the sponsorship effort that’s going to be needed, the marketing effort that we’re trying to have on campus. All of that would take a big step forward with a playoff victory.”
Nill, who engineered the Calgary Dinos’ run of six Hardy Cup championships over the last seven seasons before leaving for UBC in the offseason last year, has already put the T-Birds back on the map.
Major recruits out of US colleges, like quarterback Michael O’Connor (Orleans, Ont.) from Penn State and defensive back Taylor Loffler (Kelowna, B.C.) from Boise State, helped UBC go from a 2-6 team in 2014 to a 6-2 squad this season.
The team’s four-win improvement from 2014 marks the first time a Canada West team has improved by four wins in just one season since the 2006 Manitoba Bisons, who went 8-0 after a 4-3-1 season in 2005.
UBC also became the second team in Canada West history since the conference went to four playoff teams in 1999 to go from outside the playoffs one year to second the next, joining Simon Fraser who did it in 2003.
Now, Nill and company have the chance to showcase their newfound confidence in front of a national television audience on Global, in a three-hour television window that could truly announce the ‘Birds are for real.
“This is a three-hour commercial for both teams,” Nill explained. “I’ll go way back to 1996 at St. FX – our president commissioned a study that year to determine the value of St. FX playing in the Vanier Cup that year, and it was deemed to be almost $800,000.
“Anytime you’re on national TV it’s a commercial for your program, your school and it’s very valuable.”
While the major story heading into the weekend is UBC hosting its first home playoff game since 2011, which is airing on national TV to boot, and the Thunderbirds remarkable turnaround, the hosts are in for a fight from a gritty Manitoba team that went 5-3 in the regular season.
The pair played last week with second place on the line; the T-Birds emerged victorious 24-10, but without Manitoba starting quarterback Theo Deezar, who didn’t make the trip due to a concussion, it was hardly a test of best on best.
That, however, won’t be the case this weekend, as Deezar is back in the lineup for the Bisons, looking to replicate his 519-yards, four TD performance from earlier in the season against UBC in a wild 51-48 loss back on September 19.
“He’s our quarterback, it’s no different than O’Connor at UBC – he’s their guy and their guys believe in him,” Manitoba head coach Brian Dobie said. “Our guys believe in our quarterback and I think getting him back is certainly a boost for us on a practical level, but it’s a big emotional boost.”
With Deezar back in the fold, Manitoba hopes the third time’s the charm against a UBC team that has already had their number twice this season.
The semifinal matchup is part of UBC Thunderbirds Super Weekend.
Source: Evan Daum, CWUAA
Dinos, Dogs set for first playoff meeting since ‘09
CALGARY – For all the history in the longtime rivalry between Calgary and Saskatchewan on the football field, the University of Calgary Dinos and the University of Saskatchewan Huskies rarely meet in the post-season.
The Dinos have faced the Huskies just four times ever in the playoffs, easily the lowest total against any other team in the conference. They’ll write another chapter in what has been a heated historic rivalry on Saturday afternoon when the top-ranked, 8-0 Dinos play host to the 3-5 Huskies for a Hardy Cup semi-final at McMahon Stadium. Kickoff goes at 1 p.m. MT, live exclusively on CanadaWest.tv.
While the two squads haven’t met often in the playoffs, they have certainly put on a show when they do. All four previous match-ups came in the Hardy Cup, the most recent in 2009 – a 39-38 shootout won by the Dinos on a missed last-second field goal by the Huskies. Two of the previous Hardy Cups – 1988 and 1995 – went to overtime, with Calgary winning both those conference titles and the Vanier Cup in both seasons. In fact, every time the teams have met in the playoffs, the winner has gone on to play in the national championship game.
The winner advances to the 79th Hardy Cup live nationwide on Global TV Saturday, Nov. 14 against the winner of the other semi-final between UBC and Manitoba.
HEADLINES
- Calgary went 2-0 against the Huskies in the 2015 regular season, winning back-to-back games 59-19 at home and 44-15 on the road
- The Dinos own an eight-game winning streak over the Huskies, stretching back to the 2010 season
- Calgary is 3-1 all-time in the playoffs against Saskatchewan, with wins in 2009, 1995, and 1988 and the lone loss in 1994. All previous playoff games have been in the Hardy Cup
- The four playoff meetings against the Huskies marks the fewest against any Canada West opponent. In fact, the Dinos have faced both Western (OUA) and Saint Mary’s (AUS) five times each in Bowl games and Vanier Cups.
No. 1 CALGARY DINOS (8-0)
Last week: defeated Alberta 64-28
- The Dinos roll into the playoffs undefeated for just the second time in their history, setting seven team offensive records (see below) en route to an 8-0 record
- Calgary has been ranked No. 1 for eight consecutive weeks, the longest span since the mid-1980s
- QB Andrew Buckley recorded the best single-season passing performance in CIS history with 3,162 yards in eight games. His top target, Rashaun Simonise, put up just the second 1,000-yard season in school history with 1,079 – just 33 yards behind Don Blair’s school record from 1995, when he won the Hec Crighton Trophy
- Defensively, Calgary surrendered just 149 points in the season while scoring 471 – an average margin of victory of more than 40 points
- The Dinos led the conference in every offensive team statistic except red zone touchdowns and time of possession (both second), and in all defensive categories except sacks (third)
- After being banged up for the last few weeks of the season, the Dinos will look to get some healthy bodies back heading into the playoffs. Mercer Timmis’ touches were managed down the stretch, while Calgary will hope to welcome back the likes of Austen Hartley, Brad Friesen, and Will Maxwell.
- Head Coach Wayne Harris: “It comes down to execution on the field and how we focus on executing what we anticipate seeing out of Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan’s going to prepare to stop that and we just have to be focused on playing our type of game and doing what we need to do to be successful.”
SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES (3-5)
Last week: defeated Regina 38-37
- The Huskies needed a 23-point comeback at winless Regina last week and squeaked into the playoffs thanks to Calgary’s 64-28 win over Alberta
- Saskatchewan went 1-3 at home and 2-2 on the road, including their most impressive victory of the season, a 45-29 win at UBC in late September
- Kyle Siemens took over for Drew Burko at QB in the second half of the Calgary game Oct. 16 and has gone wire-to-wire since, recording a 1-1 record and 942 passing yards in two starts against UBC and Regina – including a conference record 44 completions against UBC
- Mitch Hillis joins Simonise as the only 1,000-yard receivers in the conference and was the most-thrown-to player in Canada West, hauling in 66 passes on the year
- Tyler Chow led the Huskies’ running attack this year, averaging just under 97 yards per game in the six contests he suited up for
- Dane Bishop, Donovan Dale, and Chris Friesen are players to watch on defence, leading Saskatchewan in tackles, sacks, and interceptions, respectively.
- Head Coach Brian Towriss: “Some of the same problems we’ve had all year kind of reared their head earlier in [the Regina] game, but we did put together a pretty good second half, certainly offensively. We’ve got to do a better job of protecting the football. We can’t turn it over in any situation if we’re going to be successful in the playoffs here. We’ve got to hold our own there and that’s a battle.”
RECORD-SETTING SEASON
The Dinos set seven team single-season offensive records over the 2015 campaign, recording numbers even better than those achieved in the phenomenal 2012 and 2014 seasons:
Category 2015 Record Previous Record Year
Points 471 419 2014
Touchdowns 53 51 2014
Passing yards 3695 2997 2012
Passing pct. 72.5 71.7 2012
Total offence 5606 5082 2014
PATs 53 51 2014
Field Goals 26 22 2012
It was also a banner year for individual accomplishments. Among the feats recorded:
QB Andrew Buckley
- Set a CIS record for passing yards in a season with 3,162, breaking a 32-year-old school record in the process
- Set a Canada West record for passing accuracy at 72.0% and is the Dinos’ all-time leader in the category with a career 66.8 pass percentage
- Finishes his illustrious career at No. 2 on the Dinos’ all-time completions and passing yards lists, despite starting for just three seasons
- Threw for more than 400 yards on five separate occasions, with game totals of 478, 468, 463, 452, and 427. He now owns six of the top 11 passing games in school history
K Johnny Mark
- Set a CIS record for the most points scored in a career, finishing with 535 over his five years
- Is the all-time CIS leader in field goals with 91
- Tied the CIS single-season record with 26 successful field goals
Source: Ben Matchett, Calgary Dinos Sports Information
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