UBC offensive tackle Giovanni Manu and his teammates hoist the spoils of victory after the 86th Hardy Cup game won 28-27 by UBC on Saturday afternoon at Thunderbird Stadium. (Photo by Rich Lam property of UBC Athletics 2023. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

A SUNDAY READ: It’s a Hardy Cup instant classic quiz: What’s 95 yards long and 52 seconds long? For UBC Thunderbirds, it’s the measure of a most historic moment! Comeback win over Alberta keeps Vanier Cup dreams alive!

VANCOUVER — It is already being talked about as one of the greatest single minutes in the history of UBC Thunderbirds football.And if you were one of the 1,966 who gathered Saturday at Thunderbird Stadium for the 86th edition of the Hardy Cup championship game, then you can count yourself among the fortunate few able […]

UBC's huge class of incoming players gathered Thursday on the Point Grey campus in advance of its 2018 fall camp. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics)
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UBC FOOTBALL: How the ‘Birds new 2018 class can lean on and learn from 2015’s rookie class of Vanier Cup champions

VANCOUVER — His imprints may still seem fresh, yet with his fourth fall training camp at the helm of UBC football officially set to open today, you could say that Thunderbirds’ head coach Blake Nill has finally got some blue-and-gold tradition of his own to lean on.On Thursday afternoon, 16 sleeps ahead of its Canada […]

UBC's power trio of (left to right) Ben Cummings, Trivel Pinto and Alex Morrison, had plenty of celebratory moments in Saturday's 81st Hardy Cup clashing Calgary, but in the end, the 'Birds fell victim to the longest field goal in Canadian university sports history. (Richard Lam, UBC athletics)
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“It just rips your heart out” — UBC season ends on longest field goal in Canadian university history

It was a game whose conclusion would have defied the logic of a thousand seasoned bettors. It came on a field goal attempt the football gods, 999 times out of that 1,000, would have pushed wide or pulled up short based solely on its audacity.

Ben Hladik may be a tue freshman at the tender age of 18, but he was picked the Canada West's Defensive Player of the Week this week for plays like this one, sacking reigning Hec Crighton award winner Noah Picton of the Regina Rams last week in Vancouver. (UBC photo by Richard Lam)
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Hints of greatness: Big Ben begins blue-and-gold career looking like a potential UBC all-timer

VANCOUVER — Ben Hladik is so attuned to everything he does as a football player, that even a discussion of his jersey number with the UBC Thunderbirds is important enough to provide a most thoughtful answer.

Not the gentle falling of snowflakes, nor the impending pass rush of the Regina Rams could prevent UBC quarterback Michael O'Connor from extending his pass efficiency streak to three games... and four wins and counting. (Richard Lam, UBC athletics)
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TSUMURA: My 5 Big Takeaways as UBC football edges Regina for Hardy Cup and national Final 8 berth

VANCOUVER — Blake Nill said it in the aftermath of of his team’s defeat back on Sept. 29 to the visiting Calgary Dinos: Everything his UBC Thunderbirds wanted to accomplish this season wouldn’t happen without first going through Calgary and finding a way to beat the Dinos.

UBC's fifth-year receiver Alex Morrison celebrates some heavy lifting accomplished, striking a pose in the end zone last Saturday, following the first of two touchdowns in a win over the Regina Rams. (Richard Lam/UBC athletics)
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Q&A: UBC’s big-play receiver Alex Morrison on getting wide, going deep and loving his football journey

VANCOUVER — Take a chance, head west young man. Alex Morrison did just, packing his bags in the fall of 2012 and leaving home in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., for a brand new adventure in Vancouver. All these years later, he is the collegiate version of the pro’s pro.

UBC head coach Blake Nill, pictured with offensive coordinator Paul Orazietti, says Calgary has set the Canada West's gold standard. (Richard Lam/UBC athletics)
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UBC’s Nill on Friday foes from Calgary: “They are the ones we have to measure ourselves against.”

VANCOUVER — The last time the UBC Thunderbirds won four straight Canada West conference football games was back in 2015 when Blake Nill was the team’s first-year head coach. History tells us, of course, that the ‘Birds parlayed that quartet of regular season-ending games into an eventual seven-game win streak that culminated with a Vanier Cup […]

UBC's Michael O'Connor has ridden both sides of the emotional roller-coaster over his first two seasons as the Thunderbirds' starting quarterback. (Richard Lam/UBC athletics)
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Michael O’Connor: UBC’s QB-1 on how his humbled ‘Birds prep for redemption in 2017

VANCOUVER — In those on-field moments, when he breaks contain and puts his feet to work, UBC Thunderbirds’ quarterback Michael O’Connor is a guy that can make you miss.