VANCOUVER – Playing in a national semifinal for the first time in eight years, the UBC Thunderbirds host the three-time AUS champion St. FX X-Men Saturday in the 2023 Mitchell Bowl.
With the winner set to go on to compete in next week's Vanier Cup, Saturday's showdown at Thunderbird Stadium is a rematch of the 2015 Uteck Bowl between the T-Birds and X-Men where UBC earned a 36-9 victory in Antigonish, Nova Scotia en route to the team's most recent Vanier Cup title.
The X-Men are coming off another undefeated year within their conference – their third consecutive such season – and advanced to a third straight Bowl game with a 34-23 Loney Bowl victory over Bishop's last week.
While Bishop's put up a late comeback attempt (the X-Men held a 34-10 lead midway through the fourth quarter), St. FX was never in serious jeopardy of failing to secure the win.
Contrast that with UBC's route to the Mitchell Bowl which saw an incredible final minute drive in the Hardy Cup, capped off with
Garrett Rooker's touchdown pass to
Sam Davenport, setting up the game winning
Kieran Flannery-Fleck convert to send the T-Birds faithful into a frenzy.
"They're learning how to win no matter the situation," said UBC head coach
Blake Nill of his group's gritty conference championship win. "Last week was a pretty spectacular finish, one we're fortunate to have accomplished. But it's those type of experiences that will pay off in the future for us as well."
While it's been eight years since UBC last competed for a Bowl Game, it's been much, much longer – 36 years – since the Thunderbirds competed for the Mitchell Bowl, known as the Churchill Bowl at the time. 1987 was also the last time Thunderbird Stadium played host to a semifinal game. That year, UBC defeated the visiting Laurier Golden Hawks, 33-31.
Saturday will be the T-Birds' 12
th Churchill Bowl/Mitchell Bowl appearance since the inaugural game was played in 1953 against McGill. UBC holds a 4-7 record in the previous 11 games and an all-time Bowl Game record of 7-7 including three Atlantic Bowl/Uteck Bowl victories.
While UBC's drought of eight years has now ended, competing in a national semifinal is starting to become old hat for the X-Men, now in their third straight Bowl Game. St. FX lost last year's Uteck Bowl to the Saskatchewan Huskies having dropped the 2021 Mitchell Bowl to the Western Mustangs. All told, the X-Men have appeared in nine previous Bowl Games, their lone victory coming in 1996 over the Ottawa Gee-Gees.
The recent success to this point for St. FX can be a certain advantage come gameday.
"There's going to be nerves at our end, probably less in the St. FX locker room," said Nill, citing his team's inexperience at this time of year. "We just got to go out and play our game. We have to control what we're capable of controlling. We have to make good decisions, play with the effort required. That's how you deal with it. There's no secret formula, it just comes down to going on the field and putting forth the effort to succeed."
With so much history on both sides of the equation this weekend, it hits particularly close to home for the veteran T-Birds head coach who's preparing for another battle against the team he started his U SPORTS coaching career with.
"It's an exciting time, I'm a big advocate for St. FX so I'm really looking forward to the week of prep," said Nill who served as the X-Men's Defensive Coordinator for six years, on staff for their most recent Vanier Cup appearance in 1996. "I'm getting a lot of calls from former players, some good calls, some bad, but it's fun. It's fun playing someone different, too. This is why you do this, so you can get chances to be in the final four and hopefully in the final two. We're just grateful for the opportunity."
While UBC may lack in the experience department for mid-November football, there's no wanting for team depth in all facets of the game. That depth was on full display in last week's Hardy Cup win with six different receivers amassing at least 22 yards, led by U SPORTS Offensive Player of the Week
Sam Davenport's 137 yard, game-tying touchdown performance.
Defensively, it was a true team effort showcased by
Chase Henning and
Ryan Baker combining for a strip sack recovered for a touchdown, as well as
Taaj Jhooty's forced fumble that gave UBC the ball back in the final minute.
"Our depth is probably one of the components that has enabled us to finally get out of Canada West. Taaj is a great example of our depth. He's a young man who sort of moves back and forth between starting and backing up depending on the situation, but when given the call, he comes out and makes plays. There's other examples like that, but depth is a big part of success and at UBC this is the most depth we've had since I've been here."
In so many ways 2023 has mirrored that of UBC's most recent Vanier Cup Championship season in 2015. Both years the team finished the regular season 6-2, advancing to the Hardy Cup with a semifinal win over Manitoba. Both years have now also seen the T-Birds face St. FX in a national semifinal. All that remains to be seen is if history continues to repeat itself as UBC looks to punch their ticket to the Canada Life Vanier Cup next week in Kingston, Ontario.
Kickoff for the 2023 Mitchell Bowl is set for 12:00 p.m. PT at Thunderbird Stadium.
Tickets are available now!
The game will also be available on
CBCSports.ca,
CBC Gem, and
CBC Sports' YouTube channel.
