Montreal's Iraghi Muganda dives for the end zone as he eludes the defence of UBC's Ryan Baker (14) and Ben Sangmuah (15) during Saturday action at the 2023 Vanier Cup in Kingston, Ont. (Photo by James Paddle-Grant property of Queen's Athletics 2023. All Rights Reserved)
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Vanier Cup 2023: UBC’s national title bid falls short at the hands of Montreal’s historic post-season defence! Carabins keep Thunderbirds’ offence out of the end zone to hoist U SPORTS gridiron spoils!

KINGSTON, ONT. — They came east to play the biggest game of their season, but to win it they had overcome a defence whose numbers told a tale of invincibility.And in Saturday’s Vanier Cup national championship final, it was a heavy dose of those historic credentials which not only kept the UBC Thunderbirds out of […]

Thunderbirds' Cesare Rednour-Bruckman puts the straight arm on St. FX punter Max Capriotti on his way to a punt return touchdown Saturday as the Thunderbirds defeated the Atlantic champion X-Men 47-17 in the Mitchell Bowl national semifinal at Thunderbird Stadium. (Photo by Bob Frid property of UBC athletics 2022. All Rights Reserved).
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UBC at Vanier Cup 2023: Through Soriano, Kennedy and a kid named Chez, how three blank football canvases now paint Thunderbirds’ title-contending DNA!

VANCOUVER — How do you define the image of a Vanier Cup national title contender?How about through the actions of three UBC defenders, who over the early stages of the second half of Saturday’s Mitchell Bowl national championship semifinal game at Thunderbird Stadium, made the kinds of back-to-back-to-back plays which not only reversed the momentum […]

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)
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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 running back Isaiah Knight gave the Thunderbirds' ground game everything it needed Saturday in Edmonton as the visitors topped host Alberta 23-10 to win its first Canada West regular season title since 1999. (Photo by Don Voaklander property of Alberta Golden Bears athletics. All Rights Reserved)
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UBC Football: First Canada West crown of the century comes in gritty defensive win at Alberta as Leonard, Townsend, Soriano help hold Golden Bears out of the end zone! Bisons next as Hardy Cup playoffs open at home!

Even if they had been trying, the football gods could not have placed the UBC Thunderbirds within the margins of a more character-defining script than the one which the Blue-&-Gold found themselves writing Saturday on the road and on the final day of the Canada West regular season.It was one of those regular-season ending, winner-take-all […]

Dane Kapler was mobbed by his teammates after he went on a 66-yard TD run Friday against Alberta to give UBC a lead it would not relinquish before a sell-out homecoming crowd at T-Bird Stadium. (Photo by Bob Frid property of UBC athletics 2023. All rights reserved)
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Switch to slotback imbues UBC’s power-train running back Dane Kapler with a double-dose of on-field danger! McCaffrey-like moments vindicate coaching staff’s gutsy off-season switch!

VANCOUVER — If you spent any amount of time sniffing around UBC’s fall camp in August, it didn’t take any time at all to realize just how deep and talented the 2023 ‘Birds looked on paper.That, of course, is the net effect of ringing the bell from top to bottom for what looks like four […]

The UBC Thunderbirds excelled on both sides of the ball, opening the new Canada West season with a 25-10 win over host Regina on Friday. (Photo by Piper Sports Photography 2023. All Rights Reserved)
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UBC football 2023: As Rooker’s return & Sudden Sam’s arrival spark impressive 25-10 road win over Rams, Thunderbirds’ young linebacking core takes giant step forward in Regina!

On a night when lofty preseason prognostication had put them in a place to answer the most elemental question of all, the UBC Thunderbirds provided a resounding response.So, was the latest edition of Point Grey’s gridiron Blue-and-Gold worthy of their co-No. 1 ranking to begin the Canada West football wars this season, right alongside the […]

The UBC Thunderbirds celebrated an 18-17 Shrum Bowl victory over the SFU Red Leafs on Friday atop Burnaby Mountain as the crosstown clash resumed after a 12-year absence. (Photo by Jeff Sargeant property of UBC athletics 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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Its Friday rise from mothballs complete, Shrum Bowl’s 34th performance seizes the magic right back, its charm defined by both its ferocity and its foibles! UBC tops SFU in an icy 18-17 classic!

BURNABY MOUNTAIN — As B.C.’s football gods looked down from above at the frozen tundra of Terry Fox Field on Friday night, the actions of their collective super-powers made it readily apparent that they were an immortal group of gridiron fans scorned.Who dare deny them the pleasure that would have come from watching the past […]

Simon Fraser head coach Mike Rigell catches a moment on Terry Fox Field during fall training camp 2021 to chat with top returning quarterbacks Brandon Niksich and Justin Seiber. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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Extra practice time a huge benefit for SFU, UBC heading into Friday’s Shrum Bowl XXXIV, and why the revival of the crosstown classic kicks off a local university football renaissance!

BURNABY MOUNTAIN — Talk to those in the know, and the future of the Shrum Bowl becomes something much more than a game local football fans hope gets played each season.In its fabled past, both UBC and SFU have had their turns declining the game (it has been played 33 times in 55 years heading […]

As Shrum Bowl 2022 approaches, UBC Thunderbirds head coach Blake Nill found time to chat and joke with coaches from rival SFU this past weekend during the B.C. high school Subway Bowl semifinals at BC Place Stadium. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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Shrum Bowl XXXIV: With a new QB at the helm, UBC Thunderbirds set to climb Burnaby Mountain on Friday for meeting with SFU Red Leafs in first clash since 2010!

VANCOUVER — B.C.’s football community has gone 12 years without the ability to anticipate, watch and debate another Shrum Bowl clash.Consider that for a second, and you could also say that it’s been a dozen years since the coaches at UBC and rival Simon Fraser have actually had common ground on which to both greet […]

UBC's Keijaun Johnson has been all over the ball all season long. What he was doing in a season-opening win back in September over the Alberta Golden Bears at Thunderbird Stadium ([pictured), he continued to do Saturday in Regina. His game-changing 46-yard interception return helped vault the Thunderbirds into next Saturday's Hardy Cup championship final in Saskatoon. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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A SUNDAY READ: UBC’s Keijaun Johnson reminds us all of the heart-stopping power of playoff football! Road underdog ‘Birds shock Regina for Hardy Cup title game berth!

Playoff football’s most defining moments have a way of coming out of the shadows and taking our breath away.Yet beyond the most obvious ways in which they dole equal parts joy and despair to their most loyal fans, they also seem to deliver, with barometric precision, a universal truth about their victors.That’s what I was […]