VANCOUVER – Friday night will be an historic one for UBC Thunderbirds Football as they make the trek up Burnaby Mountain for Shrum Bowl XXXIV, reviving the decades old rivalry with Simon Fraser University after a 12-year hiatus.
"To have this opportunity again and to grow this event I think is a win-win for both schools and hopefully in a few years from now we see the benefits and the results of getting it started again and the initial effort it took from both schools," said UBC head coach
Blake Nill. "We're preparing as we always do, we've put a lot of work into it, a lot of effort to get the kids ready and we're excited to be part of this."
October 8, 2010 was the last time the lauded Shrum Bowl was awarded when SFU earned a 27-20 win over the T-Birds, a third straight victory for the currently-labeled Red Leafs who hold a 17-15-1 edge in the 33 previous battles.
A victory for the 'Birds Friday would be the first Shrum Bowl win since October 6, 2007, a 31-2 decision at Thunderbird Stadium.
This year's game will mark the first competitive action for either team since November 12 when the 'Birds had their U SPORTS season ended by the Saskatchewan Huskies in the Hardy Cup while the Red Leafs ended their first season in the Lone Star Conference with a 46-14 victory over West Texas A&M, Simon Fraser's first regular season win in three years.
The biggest challenge for the 'Birds once they head up the hill will be the adjustment to American rules. An extra down, one less player, a smaller field, and very different looking movement permissions all make for an altered approach. But with so many players having grown up under American rules in high school, including UBC quarterback and Grapevine, Texas native
Derek Engel, it's not a truly foreign concept.
"The biggest difference I think is with the motion on offence and that's where we're hoping we've got everyone adapted and we don't have too many procedure penalties," Nill said, half-jokingly. "We're getting the differences taken care of and making sure our athletes understand what can be done and what can't be, but from a point of preparing as an opponent, we've done everything the exact same. We've done our film work, systems work, been on the field going through what we think we'll have to have in place to compete and it's gone fairly smooth the last two weeks."
While the 2022 U SPORTS season is over with a long wait until the 2023 campaign begins next August, the Shrum Bowl is far more than a nostalgic exhibition game – which in itself is of high importance.
"I told my athletes a few weeks ago, basically this is going to be the start of our 2023 season. We'll be able to play some young men who we think are in our plans for the upcoming season, we're going to be able to play some of our veterans who maybe haven't had as much opportunity to be on the field as they could have."
Kickoff for Shrum Bowl XXXIV is set for 7:00 p.m. PT at SFU's Terry Fox Field. Tickets are sold out but the game will be
live-streamed pay-per-view.
