ANTIGONISH, N.S. — Veteran coach Blake Nill never could have predicted the turn around for his program after last season.
UBC quarterback Michael O’Connor threw two touchdown passes to Trivel Pinto, and running back Brandon Deschampes added another on the ground to lead the Thunderbirds to a decisive 36-9 victory over the hometown St.FX X-Men on Saturday night in the 2015 Uteck Bowl — earning the team a shot at the national championship.
"I would never have expected this in a 100 years with this group, a group that was 2-6 last year, to get into the Vanier Cup," said Nill. "It’s not like we had an easy road either. We had to win in Calgary, Manitoba, Saskatchewan. We beat some good teams to here. I don’t think we played our best today but we did play well enough."
Deschampes, who ran for 128 yards on 20 carries and caught three passes for an additional 50 yards, received game MVP honours.
"It was a crazy game," said Deschampes, who added he was overwhelmed to receive the MVP nod. "They came out hard and they competed really well. Our defence played really well tonight. They didn’t let them score points until the end of the game. That was huge for us."
The Thunderbirds will play the Montreal Carabins for the Vanier Cup in Quebec City next weekend. Montreal beat the Guelph Gryphons 25-10 in the Mitchell Bowl earlier Saturday to advance to the Canadian university football championship game.
Deschampes said his team’s biggest concern right now is getting to know Montreal and keep their focus up for the biggest game of the year.
O’Connor completed 21-of-31 passes for 272 yards and was intercepted once. UBC kicker Quinn Van Gylswyk added four field goals while Taylor Loffler led the way defensively with six tackles and an interception.
"We weren’t as sharp as we have been offensively, we didn’t finish drives," said Nill. "You’re looking at a team that has no experience with this kind of situation. It’s understandable they’re going to have inconsistencies. It’s about learning how to play and our guys are learning how to play. They’re just not quite there yet."
X-Men quarterback Tivon Cook threw for 250 yards and one touchdown pass and was intercepted three times.
UBC, which landed in Antigonish following a 34-26 victory in the Canada West final over the No. 1-ranked University of Calgary Dinos, looked strong on both sides of the ball. The Thunderbirds grabbed the lead at 3:19 of the first quarter and didn’t let up for the rest of the game.
The X-Men, who won the Atlantic University Sports final with a last-minute field goal over Mount Allison, forced a number of turnovers but couldn’t capitalize. They failed to score a major until the last minute of play, with Cook hitting Donald Tabor for a 22-yard pass in the end zone.