CALGARY – A red hot start for the Calgary Dinos (1-0) forced the UBC Thunderbirds (0-1) into an early hole they weren't able to climb out of with the hosts salting away a 32-7 week one victory over the blue and gold at McMahon Stadium.
Despite the T-Birds posting better numbers in nearly every statistical category, untimely turnovers and penalties cost them dearly as the Dinos won their first game over UBC in their last four attempts.
"Full credit to the Calgary Dinos for coming out and playing the game at that tempo," said UBC head coach,
Blake Nill. "I just thought Calgary was flying around the ball and Coach Sheahan and his staff and athletes deserve credit for being able to perform as they did on opening day."
"With us, at times it looked like we were ready to play the 2026 season and other times we didn't. The self-inflicted errors were massive tonight. Twice being called for lining up incorrectly, not being able to execute short yardage plays we needed to. An interception, two fumbles and then a number of turnovers on downs – when you have that many turnovers you're simply not going to win. We could've, and should've, played better."
It was pretty well a dream start for the Dinos who raced out to a 14-0 lead with touchdowns on each of their first two drives.
Mathieu Clarke punched in his first rushing score of the season from the one yard line, completing a six play drive with him carrying the ball on five of them.
Forcing the T-Birds into a second straight two-and-out, the Dinos took less than two minutes to take the two-possession lead when Calgary quarterback David Jordan connected with Matt Sibley for a 15 yard score and the 14-0 advantage before the game was even eight minutes old.
A T-Birds fumble quickly put the ball back into Calgary's hands but UBC's defence came to the rescue, limiting the Dinos to just a single net yard on their next two possessions combined, although the 'Birds weren't able to take advantage on offence.
Early in the second quarter the Dinos scored another major with an Evan Smith 13 yard catch-and-run, extending the hosts' lead to 21-0 with the convert.
Still early in the second frame, UBC second-year pivot
Drew Viotto orchestrated a terrific ten play, 91 yard drive to get on the board. Rookie running back
Marvyn Larozar, who was terrific out of the back field Friday with a combined 77 yards, scored his first career touchdown, a ten yard reception to change the complexion of the game, at least for a time.
Trailing 24-7 at the half after a 32 yard Boaz Comeau field goal, the T-Birds weren't able to pick up the momentum they desperately needed following the break, as UBC was held off the scoreboard the rest of the way.
Jordan threw his third passing touchdown of the night in the final minute of the third with Tim Duerr fighting his way through a tackle across the goal line to expand Calgary's lead to 24.
A Dinos punt single in the fourth meant UBC held the hosts to just eight points in the second half. Noah Cantor's defence kept the pressure on Jordan throughout the game, sacking the fourth-year quarterback four times while holding Calgary to 323 total yards of offence to UBC's 381.
'We came off the first two series (of the second half) going two and out on defence and there were other times as well where we looked strong, but other times we allowed them to push us around a bit," said Nill.
As it was in the opening 30 minutes, untimely mistakes cost UBC a chance at a comeback.
A promising early fourth quarter drive was halted when Viotto was intercepted by Thomas Glanville. Later in the quarter,
Kai Rawnsley hauled in a 36 yard pass but Glanville once again came up with a clutch play, punching the ball loose with the Dinos recovering, essentially ending any remaining hope for the 'Birds.
Viotto completed the game with his fourth 300-plus yard passing game as a Thunderbird, going 30-of-47 for 332 yards with the touchdown to Larozar and an interception.
Third-year receiver
Trey Montour led all wideouts in the game with 124 yards on 11 catches while Larozar and
Kai Rawnsley both had over 50 yards receiving.
"I have tremendous confidence in the athletic ability of our offence. I think Coach Khari (Jones) is doing a good job trying to distribute the ball. Obviously
Drew Viotto has the kind of arm talent that can move the football the way you need to and gives us the chance to win when he's on. Tonight, I'm sure he would have liked to have a couple decisions back, but his numbers were pretty good for the first game. There were signs that we have the potential to be a good football team, but it's like I tell the kids all the time, they have to make that commitment and recognize the effort that's required to be one of the best teams and I think we're still trying to find that work ethic."
Jordan was a very efficient 18-of-24 for 221 yards and three touchdowns while Clarke set the pace with 72 yards on the ground.
UBC managed just 49 total yards rushing on the night to Calgary's 105.
Penalties were also kept to a minimum with both teams slapped with just 40 yards each.
"I felt the game overall was a good showcase of Canada West Football, especially the way the Dinos played," Nill said. "Overall the officiating I felt was an asset in that for the most part they kept the flags in their pockets. There were a couple difficult calls but overall, I want to commend the officials in the way they managed the game."
Despite the season opening loss and ugly scoreboard, there was plenty of reason for optimism for UBC as the 'Birds will now turn their focus to the home opener against the Alberta Golden Bears next Friday at Thunderbird Stadium.
