You might say that there is a penance to be served when a football team receives the first two games of its eight-game season-long schedule at home, then proceeds to lose them both, and by an average of almost 20 points per game.
That’s what the UBC Thunderbirds did, way back in the early days of September.
And in the eyes of the football gods, the penance for just such missed opportunity?
How about having to play three of your next four games on the road, including the past two just six days apart… including Friday night in Edmonton, where despite the fact that moments of absolute big-play brilliance were muted by moments of pronounced inefficiency, the ‘Birds (4-2) still managed to win 35-25 over the Alberta Golden Bears (2-4).
Afterwards, UBC head coach Blake Nill wasn’t about to paint the victory like it was some kind of van Gogh or da Vinci.
But within the framework of directing a complete about-face from 0-2 to the aforementioned current-four game win streak, one which equals the longest regular-season mark of his 10-year, nine-season UBC tenure, Nill looked at the game through a much more forgiving lens than is normally his post-game custom.
“I don’t think that it was a pretty win by any stretch, but you know, it’s a win, it’s a win on the road, and its back-to-back road wins over a short week” he said. “And that is something that I think a lot of people don’t understand.”
Indeed, it was a show of grit by the ‘Birds, who despite the level of fatigue incurred when student-athletes spend parts of five of their last eight days on the road, still had the wherewithal to get the job done.
And while none of the player will use any of that as an excuse, perhaps it’s part of the reason UBC played a game in which it won despite missing two first-half field goal attempts from inside the 30-yard line, had what looked to be a sure touchdown pass intercepted in the end zone, gave up an average of 30.4 yards per play on five Alberta kick-off returns, then lost a late fumble which allowed the Golden Bears to score a touchdown, giving them a plus-four differential in the season series split and the tie-breaker in the unlikely chance the teams finish the regular season in a two-way tie.
Maybe at this point of the season, such stuff is better dismissed as ‘details, details, details.’

So how do you set the scene for Friday’s win?
UBC flew into Edmonton with the nation’s most productive runner in Isaiah Knight leading the nation’s hottest ground attack.
And before the proceedings were complete, ’Birds quarterback Garrett Rooker proceeded to light up the skies within Foote Field, ultimately finishing with what could well be three of his best deep-ball completions of the season as part of a masterful 370-yard (18-for-27, one touchdown, one interception) passing performance.
So much so that one column in the final boxscore was absolutely eye-popping.
Under UBC-receiving, the ‘Long’ catch of the game by UBC’s top four receivers let you know that Rooker was in a zone.
Dane Kapler had a 64-yard catch, Mark Webb a 57-yard catch, Shemar McBean a 53-yard catch and seldom-targeted tight end Ben Hladik had a 37-yard catch that Nill called “the best catch of his (five-year) UBC career.”
“Our receiver core is exceptional, our quarterback is exceptional, our O line is exceptional, and our run game is exceptional, but we don’t play like that all the time,” said Nill. “I just think we have room to improve still and in Canada West if you don’t improve each week, you typically falter at the end of the year.”
McBean had two catches for 98 yards, Webb four catches for 86 yards and an eight-yard touchdown to put UBC ahead 15-6 in the second quarter, Kapler four catches for 84 yards and Hladik four for 55 yards.
And while we mentioned that McBean made a 53-yard grab, it was another catch he made in the second quarter that was easily one of the most spectacular and unusual of the Nill era at UBC.
On a first-and-15 play from the UBC 50-yard line, Alberta jumped offside and Rooker, with a free play to work with, looked deep and sent a pass downfield to McBean.
Alberta cornerback Romeo Nash looked in perfect position to make an interception but he wound up having the ball deflect of his hands and take a fateful carom.
McBean, who was falling to the ground, somehow had the ball fell right into his chest area where he cradled it for a 45-yard gain.
A few plays later, Rooker hit Webb with a perfect pass at the back of the end zone for an eight-yard TD strike and a 15-6 lead.
Running back Knight was defended as well as he has been all season by the Golden Bears, who in holding him to a net of 66 yards on 19 carries, tackled him for 24 yards in losses on the game.
Nonetheless, Knight was his usual self in the red zone, scoring on a three-yard run early in the second quarter to put UBC up 8-3, then scoring from 10-yards out late in the third quarter to put UBC ahead 25-15.

Afterwards, Nill credited Alberta’s strategy to cool off a UBC run game which had flexed its collective muscle the past few weeks.
“They run blitzed the whole time,” said Nill of Alberta defensive coordinator A.J. Gass’ scheme. “Instead of dying a death of a thousand paper cuts, they just said ‘Let’s fill every gap’. That is what Alberta did a very good job of today.”
They had to, of course, because starting quarterback Eli Hettlinger sat out with an undetermined injury, pushing back-up Labrecque into front-line duty and upping the Golden Bears dependence on their run game and star Matthew Peterson who carried 20 times for 143 yards and no touchdowns.
While Rooker out-performed his counterpart 370 yards to 234 in the passing department, Labrecque was savvy enough to have his team within a field goal (18-15) with 3:24 left in the third quarter.
UBC, however, put the game away in the fourth quarter with two scores just 51 seconds apart.
Kieran Flannery-Fleck nailed a 42-yard field goal and on Alberta’s ensuing possession Sangmuah got his pick-six off Labrecque.
Suddenly, the visitors had their largest lead of the game at 35-16.
“That pick six was a big thing,” said Nill. “Hopefully that will create a confidence with (Sangmuah).”
Nill added that he spoke to Alberta head coach Chris Morris after the game about the spate of injuries which have hit his team.
“At the end of the day I said to coach Morris ‘Good luck getting healthy’ and I meant it,” said Nill. “They have an exceptional program and the injury bug, which hits us all at some point in our career, it’s taken its toll on Alberta right now. I mean, I’ve lost my starting quarterback for the year four times in my career. It sucks but it’s part of the game.”
And now, with a week off and a return home after a brutal four-week stretch, UBC’s figurative football penance seems to have been served.
The key the rest of the way?
“It’s going to come down to health and who makes plays in the semifinal week and in the Hardy Cup,” said Nill of a field that has six member teams and six teams with the talent, on a given day, to win it all. “That’s what it’s going to come down to.”
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