Like a pair of Boy Scouts living up to their famous motto, UBC defensive backs Stavros Katsantonis and Malcom Lee challenged each other in the week leading up to Saturday’s crucial clash at Manitoba to ‘Be Prepared’ for any and all eventualities. And when their turn came to turn a tight game on its ear, each […]
Tag: Blake Nill
TSUMURA: On the bond between a coach and his QB, UBC’s Nill & O’Connor survive a Saturday in Saskatoon
As a performance, it was hardly an oil painting. Yet you would be mistaken to think that UBC quarterback Michael O’Connor’s three interceptions on Saturday night in any way sullied the final result of the ‘Birds near-total collapse in the heart of the Canada West playoff chase.
Nill labels UBC loss to Dinos “…an ass kicking” as all roads to Vanier now go through Calgary
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 […]
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 […]
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:
‘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 […]
UBC’s Alex Morrison returns to ‘Birds for football ‘finishing school’, new tight end gig preps him for CFL future
VANCOUVER — UBC’s Alex Morrison may not have made the final cut with the Montreal Alouettes this past June, but he’s determined to make the CFL his future, and the big man in his corner back home at Thunderbird Stadium is doing everything he can to help ensure that happens.To that end, ‘Birds head coach […]