For the Thunderbirds, the mood going into the Homecoming game has drastically changed from a year ago.
Last season, the T-Birds had a dominant 3–0 start, and went on to win not just the Homecoming game, but the conference too. Today, UBC comes in with a 1–2 record, with a lot to prove both offensively and defensively.
Even so, head coach Blake Nill isn’t letting those expectations drag this group down.
“Every time you start a season, there's huge expectations, always. It doesn't matter how you finish the last year,” he said. “I think what you're seeing with us right now is a team that's starting to find some identity of what it's able to accomplish.”
The beginning of finding that identity may have started last week against the University of Regina. Although UBC’s offence was mostly stifled, the ‘Birds managed to grit out an important 14–12 win. Despite plenty of mistakes, it was a start.
“It wasn't a pretty win, but it was a real gutsy win,” said Nill. “We could have made it a lot easier on ourselves if we had done a few things more effectively, but a win’s a win — we’ll take it and build from there.”
Trying to continue their momentum from last week starts with a Homecoming matchup against one of UBC’s fiercest rivals in recent years — the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. Games against the Huskies have tended to be chippy and hotly contested. With the Huskies getting the win in four of their last five matchups against the T-Birds, Nill knows Saskatchewan is not a program to be underestimated.
“They've always been a team that's well coached. Their athletes are very strong. They play with tremendous energy, and we just have to be able to match that,” he said.
The Huskies are also coming off a disappointing 1–2 start to the season. Yet, just as UBC did against Regina, Saskatchewan is coming off a momentum-building first win last week against Calgary, winning 44–40 in double overtime.
Despite both teams having a losing record, they are both used to winning football. And in a competitive conference, the stakes are high. The lights will be bright, the crowd will be huge and the rivalry will be intense.
It’s the biggest football game of the season, and surely not one you want to miss.
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