Season ends with chance to go undefeated

CALGARY – “The consensus around the country and in the conference is that because of our heavy graduation, we’re not going to be at the same level as we have been … I don’t want to concede that.”

Two months after that late-August quote, not only has Blake Nill’s team not conceded its spot atop the conference, it has a chance to do something no other team in school history has managed: put up a perfect 8-0 regular season.

Other than preparation for what they hope is another long playoff run, the goose egg in the loss column is what will motivate the University of Calgary Dinos Friday night as they wrap up conference play by hosting the 4-3 UBC Thunderbirds at McMahon Stadium. Kickoff goes at 6 p.m., live on CanadaWest.tv.

It’s fitting that the chance to go undefeated should come against the Thunderbirds. The last time the Dinos were in this situation at 7-0 with first place locked up was two years ago, in 2011. Then, Calgary headed to Thunderbird Stadium and was handed a 36-23 loss – a result that was later overturned due to the use of an ineligible player. So while the Dinos were officially 8-0 in 2011, it didn’t happen that way on the field – and Nill’s squad would love to put that record in the history books sans asterisk.

Adding to the intrigue of this game, however, is that for the second year in a row, it’s a good bet the Dinos will play back-to-back home games against the same team to end the regular season and begin the playoffs, as a likely scenario in the final conference standings has UBC finishing fourth and heading right back to Calgary for the semi-final next Saturday, Nov. 2. The situation is slightly different than the Dinos-Manitoba series a year ago, with UBC still mathematically able to finish as high as second place and the other games coming on Saturday. A year ago, the same situation resulted in the highest-scoring game in Canada West history, with the Dinos coming out on top of a wild 78-54 contest. A week later, the Dinos won again – this time by a relatively tame 56-18 score.

It’s a rematch of the season-opening tilt Aug. 31 in Vancouver, which the Dinos won 41-31 after scoring 10 points in the final three minutes and change after losing quarterback Eric Dzwilewski. Enter Andrew Buckley, who not only led the Dinos to victory that day but has repeated the feat six more times.

Regardless of how this one turns out, the Dinos remain secure in the knowledge that they will be home next week to host the conference semi-final Saturday, Nov. 2 at 3 p.m., live on Shaw TV.

Here’s a look at the two teams:

No. 3 Calgary Dinos (7-0)

Before bye: defeated Saskatchewan 24-12

Next week: host Canada West semi-final

Mercer Timmis has run away with the conference touchdowns record, scoring three in the second half last week against Regina to break Don Blair’s conference all-purpose majors mark as well as former UBC tailback Chris Ciezki’s single-season rushing touchdowns mark. With one game left in the year, the conference MVP candidate will look to pad his stats just a little more and set those records just a little higher. And if he rushes to his average for the season, Timmis should win the national rushing title – he’s just 27 yards away from 1,000 on the season.

The coaching job done by Nill and his staff this year has been nothing short of remarkable – remember, the team lost 10 of 12 starters on defence, its top six defensive linemen, three starting offensive linemen, and their All-Canadian tailback, all before the season started.

Then, Dzwilewski – the 2012 Canada West MVP – went down. Despite all that, the team leads the conference in most offensive and defensive categories, with only a couple of exceptions: Regina has the top passing offence in Canada West, while the team that has given up fewer yards than anyone else in the conference? The UBC Thunderbirds.

Calgary’s run defence will be tested by Brandon Deschamps, who is averaging two yards per game more than Timmis with 141, and the rest of the Thunderbirds, who rank second only to the Dinos in rushing offence.

UBC Thunderbirds (4-3)

Before bye: defeated Alberta 60-0

Next week: Canada West semi-final

UBC will likely have some confidence from their season-opening game against the Dinos and enters the weekend after a statement 60-0 shutout of the Alberta Golden Bears in their last home game of the year last week. After missing a week, Deschamps returned to the lineup against the Bears and picked up 82 yards on 12 carries for the T-Birds, who had nine different players get at least one rushing attempt in that game.

Greg Bowcott took the majority of the snaps for UBC against Alberta, taking over for starter Carson Williams after back-to-back two-and-outs in the first quarter. T-Birds coach Shawn Olson has been unafraid to use both pivots throughout the season, however, and it’s certainly likely both will get some playing time against the Dinos Fridaynight. Bowcott has completed 466 passes for 604 yards on the year, while Williams has 975 passing yards on 77 completions. David Scott is far and away the team’s receiving leader with 540 yards with an average of 15 yards per catch.

The road has been a friendly place to UBC so far, which has yet to lose away from Thunderbird Stadium this year with wins at Alberta, Regina, and Manitoba under their belts. To continue that trend, however, they’ll have to win in a place that hasn’t been all that hospitable to them or anyone else of late: the Dinos are 34-2 at home in their last 36 games dating back to 2007, while the Thunderbirds have not tasted victory at McMahon Stadium since September 2000 – a streak of nine consecutive road losses against Calgary.

The Thunderbirds can still finish anywhere from second to fourth, depending on the results around the conference this week. A UBC win coupled with a Saskatchewan loss would bump the Thunderbirds up to at least third place and, depending on the point spread in the Manitoba-Alberta game, could result in a home playoff game – so there’s plenty to play for on the UBC side. A Dinos win would ensure UBC finishes fourth and comes right back to McMahon next week for the playoffs. The Thunderbirds lose any tie with Saskatchewan, with the Huskies owning the tiebreaker in that head-to-head match-up, while UBC and Manitoba split their two games with both teams taking 4-point wins – meaning any ties between them would be broken by final point differential in all conference games.

Photo credit:  David Moll