VANCOUVER – In front of a capacity crowd at Thunderbird Stadium Friday night, the UBC Thunderbirds clawed back on the strength of a tremendous defensive effort to post a 23-22 victory over the Calgary Dinos to send 7500 Homecoming fans home happy.
Trailing 22-20 with two minutes on the clock, the T-Birds (2-2) came up with the biggest defensive play of their season when
Darrien Brown intercepted Calgary quarterback David Jordan deep inside Dinos territory. Three plays later,
Kieran Flannery-Fleck punched through a 17-yard field goal to re-take the lead.
Still will plenty of time left, the Dinos (2-2) marched down the field, setting up a last second 39-yard Vince Triumbari field goal attempt for the win. But the veteran kicker pulled it wide left as
Jaden Phillips returned it out of the end zone to secure the win.
"Let's be honest, we made just enough plays to win," said UBC head coach,
Blake Nill, after snapping a two-game losing streak to get back to .500 on the season. "You got to make plays and more importantly, you got to make the plays that matter the most. We got a stop, we got a pick at the right time, we made just enough plays, and Calgary fell just one play short or they'd be jumping around here."
The entire game was offensively starved with the T-Birds finishing the night with just 225 total yards of offence to Calgary's 400.
On the Dinos opening drive,
Deacon Sterna forced the ball out of Jordan's hands deep in Calgary territory while
Clark Leonard pounced on it, downed at the one-yard line.
Drew Viotto dove in for the touchdown and the early lead.
Things didn't improve for the Dinos offence as Jordan aired out the ball looking for Vincent Paquette but was picked off by rookie defensive back
Jehovany Batalonga at the UBC six-yard line.
Early in the second quarter, the Dinos evened the score at 7-7, capping off the game's first real sustained drive with a five-yard Jabreel Yahaya rushing major.
The ensuing kickoff saw the T-Birds fumble an excellent
Shemar McBean return, but once again it was UBC's defence which came up strong when
Ben Sangmuah earned a forced fumble, batting it out of Yahaya's grasp.
The Dinos forced the 'Birds to punt and finished the opening half with a Triumbari 43-yard try for their first lead at 10-7.
Down 13-7 after another Calgary field goal, UBC's first drive of the second half saw the home side quickly move the ball into the red zone after a 23-yard Viotto pass to
Edgerrin Williams-Hernandez was followed by a 38-yard
Toluwalope Ayedegbe run to get inside the Calgary 10. Ayedegbe then scored his first of two majors of the second half on a five-yard rush as the 'Birds re-took the lead, 14-13 after Flannery-Fleck's convert.
The lead was short lived as the Dinos went back in front on a conceded UBC safety followed by a 37-yard Zion Grant catch-and-run touchdown, the rookie receiver evading four tackles along the way.
But it seemed UBC was at their best when backed into a corner. Down by eight with half the final quarter remaining, Viotto managed to find McBean on a 32-yard pickup to get well inside Calgary territory. Helped by a pass interference call, the drive was finished with Ayedegbe's second score of the night and third of the season to cut the Dinos lead to 22-20.
UBC went for the two-point conversion and the tie, but Viotto's throw to
Trey Montour went incomplete, putting the ball back in the Dinos' hands, but only for a matter of seconds before Jordan was picked off by Brown, setting up the rollercoaster finish.
The T-Birds forced a total of four turnovers on the night while holding the Dinos to 125 yards rushing, a substantial improvement compared to the first three weeks of the season.
"Total credit to my defensive staff and my athletes because in one week we made some significant defensive changes," said Nill. "The players bought in, but we still got to be better. Once we get a chance to look at the tape we'll see where we have to improve."
Now at 2-2 alongside the Dinos, the importance of Friday night's win isn't lost on anyone on UBC's sideline.
"We were down by eight, made some plays and took the lead. You look at the positives and we did come back, that shows resiliency. Maybe that will be the footing we need to become a more resilient team in the future."
The 'Birds will look to make it two straight wins for the first time in 2025 when they visit the Alberta Golden Bears next Friday, the first of two consecutive games away from Thunderbird Stadium with UBC not home again until a week seven battle against the Saskatchewan Huskies on October 17.
