As tight end Brad Hladik blocks up front, UBC running back Isaiah Knight reads the holes en route to a career-high 235-yard outing in the Thunderbirds' 32-30 win over the host Calgary Dinos at McMahon Stadium, Sept. 28. 2024. (Photo by Chris Lindsey property of Jayden Images 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

UBC rushing attack brings balance to a three-game win streak, ‘Birds top Dinos 32-30 in Calgary as RB Isaiah Knight dashes for 235 yards and sixth place on blue-and-gold’s all-time rushing list!

VANCOUVER — If they ever decide to take names for a Mt. Rushmore of UBC Thunderbirds running backs, Isaiah Knight seems a lock to have his face chiseled in rock.The fourth-year Ottawa native put on the performance of his career Saturday at McMahon Stadium, rushing for a career-high 235 yards in helping the ‘Birds (3-2) […]

UBC's Will Hunter (left) and Jerrell Cummings come together to sandwich a Huskies player during 2024 Canada West home game against Saskatchewan Sept. 20, 2024 at Thunderbird Stadium. (Photo by Bob Frid property of UBC athletics 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature

UBC linebacker William Hunter caps 11th-hour starting nod with a fourth-quarter defensive clinic to earn Canada West Defensive POW honours!

VANCOUVER — The pre-game buzz last Friday in the hour or so leading up to kick-off at Thunderbird Stadium?How about the fact that UBC’s game-changing fifth-year senior outside linebacker Jaxon Ciraolo-Brown wound up as an 11th-hour scratch due to injury and had thus  been shelved for the team’s Homecoming Game against the Saskatchewan Huskies, one […]

UBC running back Isaiah Knight broke the 3,000-yard career rushing mark in last week's win over the Saskatchewan Huskies. (Photo by Bob Frid property of UBC Athletics 2024 All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

UBC’s mild-mannered super-hero? Rip off the mask and RB-1 Isaiah Knight is indeed the Night Rider!

VANCOUVER — As far as nicknames go, it’s hard to find one that fits better these days than the one given to UBC Thunderbirds’ star running back Isaiah Knight.At home last Friday, just four minutes into the proceedings against the Saskatchewan Huskies, Knight capped the game’s opening possession with a 13-yard cutback run from left […]

UBC receiver Sam Davenport, pictured Sept. 20, 2024 in the Thunderbirds' 38-24 win over the Saskatchewan Huskies, has averaged 18.3 yards-per-catch over his career with the 'Birds. (Photo by Bob Frid property of UBC Athletics 2024 All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

Tracing the route tree of UBC’s dynamic ‘Sudden Sam’ Davenport! Big-play receiver’s healthy gains coincide with ‘Birds rise as locals head to Calgary looking to extend conference win streak!

VANCOUVER — Take a stroll inside UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium in the hours ahead of Friday’s countdown to kick-off and chances are you’ll bump into the Thunderbirds’ star receiver Sam Davenport.Maybe he’s catching up with friends on the concourse level of one of the province’s most tradition-laden football churches.Or, perhaps he’s testing out one of those […]

UBC running back Isaiah Knight broke the 100-yard mark on the day in the 'Birds 14-12 win over the Rams on Saturday in Regina. (Photo property of Piper Sports Photography 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Football

UBC 14 Regina 12: Isaiah Knight carries the mail! A re-commitment to running game leads to first win of season as Thunderbirds rally past Regina Rams with fourth-quarter surge!

VANCOUVER — If you had been harbouring the unmistakable feeling over the first two weeks of the 2024 Canada West football season that the UBC Thunderbirds looked more like a team that had fumbled away its core identity, turns out you weren’t mistaken.Whether it was through patience, belief or perhaps good, old-fashioned desperation, the ‘Birds […]

Detroit Lions offensive lineman Giovanni Manu (59) during his first NFL preseason game, against the New York Giants on Aug. 8, 2024 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Jeff Nguyen property of Detroit Lions via AP. Image provided by request to VarsityLetters.ca by Detroit Lions)
Feature University Football

Giovanni Manu comes home: On eve of season opener, UBC’s Pride of the (Detroit) Lions salutes his mentors past, relishes the chance to grow with the best offensive line in the NFL!

VANCOUVER — Perfect team. Perfect time. Perfect fit.So perfect, in fact, that you wonder if there had been more than a little divine intervention from the football gods above.How else does Giovanni Manu wind up a fourth-round pick of the Detroit Lions this past April, thus becoming the first UBC Thunderbird ever selected in the […]

Alberta's Matt Ljuden (left, 57) and Cody Neumann block for running back Matthew Peterson against UBC's Mitchell Townsend and Aaron Parker during Canada West Conference opener for both teams Aug. 30, 2024 at Thunderbird Stadium. No. 7 Alberta beat No. 3 UBC 42-28 before a sell-out crowd. (Photo by Bob Frid property of UBC Athletics 2024 All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

Alberta 42 UBC 28: No. 7 Golden Bears huddle behind dominant O-line performance, win second-half war of attrition to top No. 3 UBC in Canada West opener at sold out Thunderbird Stadium!

VANCOUVER — Isn’t it amazing how the simplest play in football, when executed with precision and consistency, can shift a game’s entire equilibrium.Yes, we’re talking about running the football the way it was meant to be run.. behind a wall of powerful push, snap after snap after soul-crushing snap.And as on cue, as such syncopated […]

UBC Thunderbirds' Blake Griffin has become a mainstay along the offensive line at left guard. (Photo by Rich Lam property of UBC Athletics 2023 All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

UBC Football ’24: An offensive line’s journey through NFL joy, the loss of a mentor and the rebirth of youth! On eve of opener, a look inside the Thunderbird trenches reveals the meaning of the game!

VANCOUVER — Football is a game of constant renewal, reinvention and rebirth, and perhaps nowhere is that more palpable than along its offensive line where its tackles, its guards and its centre can be looked upon as a union not unlike a musical quintet.Within its ‘lean-on-me’ kind of environment, offensive lines not only learn to […]

UBC's dynamic bookend duo of offensive tackles -- Giovanni Manu (left) and Theo Bendet -- are all smile this past Nov. 11 after leading UBC to the Hardy Cup conference championship at Thunderbird Stadium. Next stop: NFL? We'll have to wait until draft day to find out. (Photo by Bob Frid property of UBC Athletics 2023 All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

The story of Gio and Theo: UBC’s book-end offensive tackles bring rare size and athleticism to the party! NFL teams and major pundits can’t help but be impressed ahead of 2024 draft!

By Howard TsumuraVANCOUVER — The story of Gio and Theo is the story of two ‘Made-in-B.C.’ high school football products who not only made the decision to play for their home university team, but along that  journey turned themselves into the kinds of players with a chance to play in the National Football League.UBC offensive lineman […]

The power and the fury of UBC's Brian Wallack, laying down a dunk earlier this season against the Victoria Vikes at War Memorial Gym. (Photo by Bob Frid property of UBC athletics 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

UBC’s Brian Wallack: As his final weekend at War Memorial Gym beckons, the ‘Birds seven-year man espouses his recipe for success as “…I just decided to keep it really simple”!

VANCOUVER — It’s tough to fully quantify because there really isn’t a standard set of metrics you can apply to the question of just who the most improved player in the last quarter century of UBC Thunderbirds men’s basketball really is.Yet when you throw all of the ingredients required into that figurative stew pot of […]