The Dinos, 62-13 winners of last fall’s conference title game at McMahon Stadium, have continued to roll. Owners of a 3-0 record and the No. 2 national ranking, Calgary is playing the role of the favourite and was the unanimous choice by the conference’s coaches to win a fifth straight Canada West banner. On the other side, the Thunderbirds haven’t yet recovered from that defeat and have opened the season at 0-3, including a 39-34 shootout loss to Saskatchewan at home last weekend.
Added to the importance of the game is the fact that the Thunderbirds were the only team to beat the Dinos in regular season play last year, a 36-23 win in the last game of the season the last time the teams faced off on Point Grey. While the result was ultimately overturned and is now officially a 1-0 Calgary victory, the Dinos know they lost that game and, with it, the chance for an undefeated season with no asterisks.
The Dinos and Thunderbirds boast the top two offences in the conference and are both top four in the nation in total yards. Calgary is averaging 555 yards per game to UBC’s 510 – but the big difference is on the other side of the football. The Dinos, through three weeks, have averaged just 13 points and 304.3 yards against, while the Thunderbirds have given up more than 450 yards and nearly 40 points per game to this point – so a key story will be the Calgary defence facing its stiffest test so far against the explosive, Billy Greene-led UBC offence. At the same time, the revamped Thunderbird defence will have its hands full with a dynamic, balanced Dinos offence quarterbacked by Eric Dzwilewski.
Interestingly, the teams seem to have taken a page out of the other’s playbooks so far in 2012. The pass-happy Thunderbirds, who led the conference by more than 75 yards per game in that department last year, have seen the Dinos double down on their aerial attack – Calgary leads UBC by nearly 50 yards per game in total passing. On the other side of that coin, the Dinos, long known as a run-first team, averaged 265 yards along the ground last season and amalgamated 2120 in total – more than 700 yards better than their closest opponent. Fast forward a year, and it’s the UBC Thunderbirds leading the way in rushing at 267 yards per game, well ahead of Calgary’s 207-yard pace.
The teams split their two regular season contests on the field last season, with the Dinos winning the Hardy Cup game in a rout. Saturday’s game will be the only contest between the two teams in 2012. Here’s a look at the two teams:
No. 2 Calgary Dinos (3-0)
Last week: defeated Manitoba 33-12
Next week: host Saskatchewan
They didn’t have Steven Lumbala in the lineup and the Manitoba Bisons hung tough for three quarters, but the second-ranked Dinos outlasted their prairie rivals last Saturday and scored 17 fourth-quarter points to take a 33-12 win, improve to 3-0, and take sole possession of first place in Canada West.
The Dinos have been the class of the conference to this point, leading in all of the following categories: scoring, points against, total offence, total defence, run defence, pass offence, pass defence, kickoff return average, punt return average, sacks, first downs, first downs against, and red zone offence. The only glaring omission from that list is rushing offence, which has been the exclusive domain of the Dinos for the last several years – but with a revamped, balanced offensive scheme and some receivers making big plays for Calgary, UBC has snuck in to become the conference’s leading run offence.
The first two weeks of the year, rookie receiver Brett Blaszko was the story for the Dinos.
In last week’s contest at Manitoba, it was Chris Dobko, who set a school record with 13 catches for 182 yards and a pair of majors. Dzwilewski is having a career year with a pair of 300-yard passing games, a 69.6 completion percentage, and seven passing TDs – all conference-best numbers. And with the reinsertion of Lumbala into the lineup against UBC, the run threat will be bolstered as well.
Defensively, the Dinos got a great performance from lineman Michael Klassen, who earned the Canada West defensive player of the week honour for his performance against the Bisons, one which included a key interception early in the fourth quarter that set up the insurance touchdown. Calgary managed five sacks against Manitoba last week and will bring pressure on Billy Greene and the UBC offence.
Calgary wraps up the pre-bye portion of the schedule next week at home against the Saskatchewan Huskies.
UBC Thunderbirds (0-3)
Last week: lost to Saskatchewan 39-34
Next week: at Alberta
They’re 0-3 in the standings, but two of those losses were late decisions on home turf that the UBC Thunderbirds came out on the wrong end of. Now, with a daunting schedule ahead, the Thunderbirds will look to get back on track with an upset of the No. 2 Dinos.
As the season reaches its halfway point Saturday, the Thunderbirds will have already played three of their four home games – leaving trips to Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba still facing them on the schedule, along with a visit from a Regina Rams team that beat them 49-20 back in Week 2. Already behind the eight-ball, UBC’s playoff hopes would be in serious jeopardy with a loss to the Dinos on Saturday.
But the T-Birds can move the ball, and their 510 yards-per-game average is fourth-best in the nation. With all that offence, though, they’ve only managed 26 points per game and are minus-5 in the giveaway/takeaway ratio.
Hec Crighton winner Billy Greene, who had injury concerns heading into last week’s tilt with Saskatchewan, certainly looked fit enough on the field. Though his team ultimately lost 39-34 to the Huskies, Greene still threw 35 passes, completing 22 of them for 290 yards and a touchdown, all while rushing for 83 yards as well. Teammate Brandon Deschamps also had a big game in a losing cause with 122 rushing yards on 19 carries.
The T-Birds could find no answer for Huskies receiver Kit Hillis, however. He connected with QB Drew Burko for 14 catches, 224 yards, and three touchdowns – and the Thunderbird defence will face its stiffest test of the year with Dzwilewski, Lumbala, and Co. next on the schedule.
UBC heads to Edmonton next week to face the winless Golden Bears before enjoying the bye week.
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