The call this a turn-around season is a gross understatement.聽
Turning around the UBC Thunderbirds in his first year as head coach would have been a 5-4 record, with no expectation for an appearance in the Canada West championship, never mind getting and winning a chance to play for the Vanier Cup. 聽
When coach Blake Nill said he wanted to turn UBC into "the Laval of the West," his timeline wasn't 12 games. But the 10-2 T-Birds are on a seven-game winning streak, and the coach is surprised by all of it.
"I would never have expected this in a hundred years with this group," he said after a 36-9 win in the Uteck Bowl in Antigonish, N.S. Nov. 21. He continued, 鈥溾�� a group that was 2-6 last year [鈥 and it is not like we have had an easy road either. We had to win in Calgary, we had to win in Manitoba, win in Saskatchewan. We beat some good teams to get here.鈥�
On Wednesday, he 聽the year one "that defies logic."
A little numerical logic:
2
The number of wins the UBC Thunderbirds football team had in 2014. This season, they lost two games and won 10, including the Hardy Cup as Western champs and the CIS semi-final, the Uteck Bowl.
3
In a Canadian first, the number of programs T-Birds鈥� bench boss Blake Nill has led to the national championship Vanier Cup: Saint Mary鈥檚, Calgary and UBC. He holds a 2-5 CIS championship record as head coach.
18
The number of years since the T-Birds competed for the Vanier Cup. They won in 1997 with quarterback Shawn Olson, the player who became coach and who recruited much of the 2015 roster, including veteran running back Brandon Deschamps. With him, Nill brought several players from Calgary and enticed quarterback Michael O'Connor to leave Penn State for Vancouver.
10
a.m. Pacific time is kick off for the 2015 ArcelorMittal Vanier Cup on Saturday, Nov. 28 in Quebec City.聽 (Sportsnet has the game.) The 10-2 T-Birds play defending national champions, the 10-2 Montreal Carabins.聽
