VANCOUVER— Blake Nill has never pulled punches, and the UBC Thunderbirds head coach wasn’t about to start a new trend Friday.“You can call it what you want but it was an ass-kicking,” Nill said following his team’s 31-17 loss to the Calgary Dinos at Thunderbird Stadium. “When we had momentum, we were stopping the run […]
University Football
Will Maxwell: A year ago, UBC cornerback had never made a tackle… now he leads the team
VANCOUVER — The leading tackler on the best defensive team in the Canada West has a confession to make. “Up until the end of last season, I had never played a down of defence in my life,” says Will Maxwell. “Until last year, I had never even made a tackle.”
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 […]
Gavin Cobb: Fleet feet, fearless flow makes him SFU’s King of the Return Engagement
BURNABY — Gavin Cobb is back for his second season with the Simon Fraser Clan, and this time around, there is no better way to describe him than to call him the king of the return engagement.
My Top 6 UBC football takeaways, highlighted by huge crowd numbers and Prez Santa’s presence
My biggest takeaways from Saturday evening’s UBC football game which featured the biggest crowd I have seen for a university sports event in the 16 seasons since I got off the NBA beat:
Pinto-powered ‘Birds roll Huskies, UBC coach Nill: “I think he could be the No. 1 pick of the CFL draft”
VANCOUVER — Trivel Pinto is playing football like he is the best university player in country and on Saturday, one of the largest and most appreciative crowds in the history of Thunderbird Stadium headed to the exits convinced of the fact.For over three hours, in front of a UBC Homecoming crowd announced at 9,542, the […]
Tsumura: My Top 4 takeaways from UBC football’s 32-18 victory over Manitoba
VANCOUVER — How do you flush the feeling of last week’s season-opening 36-20 loss at Regina?If you’re the UBC Thunderbirds (1-1), you usher in the home portion of the 2017 Canada West season Saturday with a decisive 32-18 win over the Manitoba Bisons (0-2) at Thunderbird Stadium.Here’s my four biggest takeaways from Saturday’s win:
The Man of Steele: UBC running back Glenn Steele picked No. 1 on list of ‘Birds all-time 100 players
VANCOUVER — The greatest player in the history of UBC Thunderbirds football is asked to remember his favourite moment from the game which propelled his team into the 1982 Vanier Cup national final.All these years later, Glenn Steele remains the ever-humble ‘Bird, yet even his best attempt at a simple recollection winds up sounding a […]
SFU’s makeshift O-line, QB Richardson impress, but Clan football falls in season opener
In keeping with the theme of last-minute school supply shopping, you could say that the offensive line that the Simon Fraser Clan debuted Saturday night in Phoenix was being held together by paper clips and scotch tape.Except when Clan head coach Kelly Bates marched out two pure freshmen and two converted defensive linemen, the makeshift […]
‘Birds boss Nill pulls no punches, announces gut-check time after UBC falls in penalty-fest fashion at Regina
It was a conference-opening effort that tried to dispel the notion that the UBC Thunderbirds had actually held practices before they took to the field on Friday night at Regina’s new Mosaic Stadium.Of course they had, and of course they remain one of the nation’s most talented teams.Yet the No. 7-ranked ’Birds (0-1) can’t exactly […]