The Matchup

For the third straight season, the No. 6 UBC Thunderbirds (7-2) visit the No. 4 Calgary Dinos (8-1) for the Hardy Cup title at McMahon Stadium on Saturday, November 11.

The 81^st version of the Canada West championship features the top two teams from the regular season and the same two teams for a third straight year for the first time in history. The Dinos handed the 'Birds their only home loss of the season in a 31-17 decision back on September 29^th.



Saturday will mark the 10^th straight Hardy Cup appearance for the Dinos, but also the 10^th straight for UBC head coach Blake Nill who led Calgary to six straight Canada West titles before coaching the Thunderbirds to the 2015 championship en route to a Vanier Cup win.

Kickoff is 12:00 p.m. PT Saturday at McMahon Stadium with the opportunity to host the Mitchell Bowl on the line. The game will be broadcast on TELUS TV and online on Canada West TV.
 
 

Last Action

The 'Birds defeated the Rams for the second straight season in the Hardy Cup semi-final, this time a 28-21 decision at Thunderbird Stadium on a chilly Saturday afternoon. Michael O'Connor threw for three touchdowns, two of them to Alex Morrison.
 

UBC defensive backs help T-Birds pick off win over Regina, advance to Hardy Cup final https://t.co/8y8KQ2ZQYN pic.twitter.com/xEbbU8mbtg

— Province Sports (@provincesports) November 5, 2017

The Dinos hosted the Alberta Golden Bears in the other semi-final that saw the visitors tie the game at 16 in the third quarter only to have Calgary score the final ten points of the game in a 39-22 victory.
 

By the Numbers

22 – The 'Birds and Dinos is a clash of the conference's top two defences having combined for 22 interceptions during the regular season (13 by UBC). The T-Birds held opponents to a Canada West leading 21.5 points per game and under 400 yards of total offence on average.

1 – In both of the last two Hardy Cup matchups, the margin of victory has been held to a single possession. UBC beat Calgary 34-26 in 2015 while the Dinos won a 46-43 shootout last season.
 

Players to Watch

Michael O'Connor (#15, QB) – Playing in his third straight Hardy Cup at the helm of UBC's offence, the third-year pivot threw for 259 yards and 3 touchdowns to improve his post-season record to 6-1. In those 7 games O'Connor has thrown for nearly 2,400 yards with 13 touchdowns.

Ben Hladik (#52, LB) – The rookie linebacker finished with 9.5 total tackles against Regina last week while winning the Canada West's defensive player of the week.


 

Coach's Take

Given that the Thunderbirds are facing the top team in the conference, UBC head coach Blake Nill says there's no doubt about what role the 'Birds have this weekend.

"We definitely are the underdog," said Nill who is preparing to coach his 49^th career U SPORTS playoff game. "Calgary has earned every accolade that's been bestowed on them. They were the number one team in the country, they still probably are the number one team in the country. They just have a tremendous culture, tremendous veteran leadership, and their coaching staff does a great job preparing for opponents and game planning."

But Nill says make no mistake about it, his team is heading to Calgary preparing to win.



"We just got to go in, do our best to prepare our guys and go in knowing that if we play to our potential we have a good chance of being successful," said Nill. "We're preparing for success, we're going in there to try to win a football game but we just maybe have a bigger hill to climb."

UBC enters the Hardy Cup on a four-game win streak, finding some more consistency at the right time.

"We're starting to find ways to win," added Nill. "Those weren't easy victories. By overcoming that, that's how you grow."