BURNABY — The Simon Fraser Clan may be young, but they are starting to show enough signs of forward progress that head coach Thomas Ford, after the team’s 2019 home opener, refused to use their overall inexperience as a crutch.That was the story as the Clan (0-3) allowed the offence of the visiting South Dakota […]
University Football
UBC Football: ‘Birds hit midway mark of Canada West season plagued by giveaways, penalties in 37-19 loss at Manitoba
The UBC Thunderbirds spent the week leading up to Saturday afternoon’s key Canada West clash in Winnipeg against the Manitoba Bisons building the good vibes they hoped would bring about a sharp turn in their road as the 2019 Canada West season reached its midway mark.Instead, a fumbled hand-off on its first series, a surrendered […]
Varsity Letters PODCAST welcomes a football coaching trio: SFU’s Thomas Ford, UBC’s Taylor Nill, Langley’s Ryk Piche
Welcome back to Varsity Letters — The Podcast! You’ll find an embedded player below to listen to this week’s episode! As mid-September hits, footballs are in the air everywhere, including the respective home bases of our three gridiron guests this week. Off theta, Simon Fraser head coach Thomas Ford takes us from fall camp through […]
Football gods frown on UBC: Dinos drub winless ‘Birds as 2019 Homecoming game goes awry in second half
VANCOUVER — In the Canada West football world, there is only one magic pill… one way to turn a down-trodden season around in one afternoon.Beat the Calgary Dinos.For most of the first half Saturday, the UBC Thunderbirds (0-3) looked like they had Houdini on their side.A blocked punt and ensuing touchdown by the UBC special […]
Patten pending: ‘The Catch’ might be his trademark, but there’s so much more to UBC wide receiver Jacob Patten
VANCOUVER — Precious little has gone right for the struggling and winless UBC Thunderbirds over the first two games of the Canada West season.Yet in a figurative sense, as UBC (0-2) gets set to welcome its undefeated, conference-leading nemesis, the Calgary Dinos (2-0), for Saturday’s crucial Homecoming Game (3 p.m., Canada West TV) at Thunderbird […]
Football Clan will huddle Saturday in Texas without QB-1 Seiber, reserves at the ready as SFU awaits further test on pivot’s injured ankle
BURNABY — The Simon Fraser Clan football team will play this weekend in Texas without its regular starting field general in the huddle.Clan head coach Thomas Ford confirmed Wednesday morning that sophomore quarterback Justin Seiber would not play in the team’s Saturday clash in San Angelo, TX (4 p.m.) against the Angelo State Rams of […]
Clan’s lopsided loss at Portland State a tale of two halves, now Simon Fraser awaits word on health of injured starting QB Justin Seiber
If you are going to judge a football game solely by its final score, then you didn’t need to watch Portland State’s 70-7 victory Saturday afternoon against the visiting Simon Fraser Clan.Yet if you did watch, at least for the first half anyways, you had to admit that SFU was playing a game which was […]
Saskatchewan 40 UBC 7: Thunderbirds’ first 0-2 start in the Blake Nill-era leaves plenty of questions with Dinos up next
Sometimes clichés are unavoidable, and in the case of the UBC Thunderbirds football team, there is no better way to paint their predicament than to say they are caught between a rock and a hard place.Friday’s 40-7 drubbing in Saskatoon at the hands of the defending Hardy Cup champion Saskatchewan Huskies not only leaves the […]
SFU’s football mojo is Rysen! As new season dawns, senior wideout Rysen John wants to take Clan to its loftiest NCAA heights yet
BURNABY — You can’t say there are a ton of certainties for a rising football team striving to establish both winning credentials and recognizable identity within the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.Yet Simon Fraser Clan head coach Thomas Ford is willing to put it all on the line when asked about one member of his 2019 […]
Nightmare at Thunderbird Stadium: Regina’s Magic Man QB Donnelly holds UBC under his spell in Rams’ 46-16 win
VANCOUVER — Two young teams came into Saturday’s Canada West opener at Thunderbird Stadium looking to discover new identities, but only one was able to leave with the answer and it likely enjoyed a raucous flight back to the prairies.The Regina Rams looked like anything but the team picked to finish last in the preseason […]