It was a game whose conclusion would have defied the logic of a thousand seasoned bettors. It came on a field goal attempt the football gods, 999 times out of that 1,000, would have pushed wide or pulled up short based solely on its audacity.
Tag: Canada west football
Q&A: UBC’s big-play receiver Alex Morrison on getting wide, going deep and loving his football journey
VANCOUVER — Take a chance, head west young man. Alex Morrison did just, packing his bags in the fall of 2012 and leaving home in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., for a brand new adventure in Vancouver. All these years later, he is the collegiate version of the pro’s pro.
TSUMURA on UBC football: My Top 5 takeaways as ‘Birds prep for playoffs with 44-15 win over Regina
VANCOUVER — It was maybe the best quarter of regular season football the UBC Thunderbirds have played since Blake Nill hit these western shores in 2015.
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 […]
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 […]
TSUMURA: My ‘Top 5 takeaways’ from ‘Birds preseason football opener as UBC tops Alberta 33-30
The UBC Thunderbirds’ youthful ways led to some anxious moments on Wednesday.Yet its first-unit players, in all three phases, looked as devastating as they ever have as the Blake Nill-era entered its third season in the Southern Interior.With quarterback Michael O’Connor and a healthy UBC offence, bolstered by a deep core of running backs and […]
‘Sugar Shane’ brings sweet feet to Thunderbird Stadium, ex-STMC back ready to take flight with ‘Birds
VANCOUVER — If the reports from training camp carry over into the regular season, then a popular touchdown anthem at Thunderbird Stadium this fall is going to be a sound bite of the line ‘Sugar, Sugar’ from that infectious 1969 bubble-gum pop smash by The Archies.