With a little over a minute left in the Canada West semi-final, leading the University of Saskatchewan Huskies by nine points, Thunderbirds football had it all in front of them. Instead, when the clock hit zero, the T-Birds sideline was deadly quiet. Awash with shock, the team was forced to process — that in a game where they led for nearly 40 minutes, by as much as 13 points in the fourth quarter — they lost, 38–33.
Despite the eventual heartbreak, the Thunderbirds started off well. After an early Saskatchewan field goal, the ‘Birds responded quickly. On a creative play, quarterback Garrett Rooker threw backward to the team’s backup quarterback, Derek Engel, who then launched a 52-yard pass to Dane Kapler. The play set up a UBC touchdown by Marc Webb on Rooker’s next throw.
In the second quarter, Saskatchewan upped the score with a methodical drive, highlighted by some precise passing by their quarterback, Anton Amundrud, giving them a 10–7 lead. The T-Birds again looked to their bag of tricks for answers, and on a 3rd and 2 no-brainer run situation, Engel passed to offensive lineman Caleb Cunningham for a 14-yard score.
The teams then quickly traded blows in the final minutes of the half. A Saskatchewan field goal was immediately overshadowed when the T-Birds scored on the first play of their next drive, a 75-yard bomb from Rooker to Sam Davenport. From there, the Huskies mounted a calculated 10-play drive, answering with a touchdown of their own to leave UBC only up 21–20 at the half.
In the third quarter, the T-Birds started to roll. A defence that struggled with the Huskies short passing game shifted gears, getting key stops on back-to-back drives. The first of these stops gave UBC excellent field position to convert into a touchdown, while the other forced Saskatchewan to concede a safety. With a field goal putting the ‘Birds up 13 at the end of the quarter, they were in the driver’s seat.
In the fourth, Saskatchewan had only managed to score a field goal and a rouge — still needing at least a touchdown and a field goal to take the lead. The touchdown came quickly, however, as a poorly timed UBC blitz left receiver Ercy Avul wide open for a 33-yard touchdown with one minute left.
After that touchdown, if UBC got the ball back, the game would be over. So instead, the Huskies went for an onside kick, a play designed to get the ball back after a touchdown that has an infamously low success rate. Despite the odds, Saskatchewan recovered the kick and immediately drove down the field for a game-winning touchdown.
For UBC head coach Blake Nill, the loss was completely stunning. “We had chances to finish it. We just weren't able to do it, [we] let them back in,” he said. “I've never been a part of anything that drastic before.”
For the Thunderbirds, this loss will take some time to process. To weather one of the most heartbreaking losses in school history, UBC will need to start 2025 by rethinking everything.
“Whenever stuff like this happens, you question the culture of the program,” said Nill. “Ultimately, I'm responsible for the culture, so you know what? Maybe the culture needs to change.”
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