CALGARY – Erik Glavic threw for 270 yards and four touchdowns to lead the University of Calgary Dinos to a 56-3 win over the Alberta Golden Bears, capturing their third straight Canada West title Saturday afternoon at McMahon Stadium.

BOX SCORE

The Dinos will host the CIS Mitchell Bowl next Saturday, Nov. 20 where they will face the Saint Mary's Huskies in a national semi-final for the second consecutive season. Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m. MT (4:30 p.m. AT), live on TSN and Radio-Canada. Calgary defeated Saint Mary's 38-14 in the 2009 Uteck Bowl at Huskies Stadium in Halifax.

The 56-point outburst for the Dinos is the second-highest in Hardy Cup history, one point behind UBC's 57-3 waxing of Manitoba in 1982. It matched a program record for points in a playoff game (1985 Western Bowl, a 56-14 win over Carleton), but more importantly, it put the fifth-ranked Dinos just one win away from a return trip to Quebec City for the Desjardins Vanier Cup.

“Everything just came together for us, and everything worked today,” said Calgary head coach Blake Nill after winning his third conference title in five seasons as head coach of the Dinos. “Defensively, we were able to put our best group of athletes on the field, and hopefully we'll be able to get (Canada West defensive player of the year) Sam Hurl back in next week to make it that much stronger.”

It is the 12th Hardy Cup title in the University of Calgary's history, and it marks the first time the Dinos have won three straight conference titles since a trifecta from 1983-85.

Alberta, playing in their first Hardy Cup game since 2005, will have to wait another season before they get a chance to break their now 30-year conference championship drought. The Bears made headlines nationally last week when they posted a 28-point comeback in the late stages of their semi-final against the Saskatchewan Huskies to eke out a 31-30 victory.

The Dinos, determined not to go the way of the Huskies, broke the game open and kept their foot on the gas. Leading by just a field goal after the opening quarter, Calgary put up 28 points in the second quarter and another 21 in the third to put the game out of reach early.

Matt Walter's one-yard plunge into the end zone started the second-quarter surge for Calgary, but it was a 20-yard interception return by defensive lineman Linden Gaydosh midway through the frame that opened the floodgates for the Dinos and sparked a string of three majors in just six minutes.

Following Gaydosh's first career TD, Nathan Coehoorn caught a 10-yard Glavic pass and Anthony Parker hauled in a 34-yard toss, and Calgary led 31-3 heading into the half.

Parker added a second major on a 13-yard catch early in the fourth, and Glavic found Richard Snyder from 32 yards out to make it 45-3. Anthony Woodson's 11-yard run was the Dinos' seventh TD of the game, late in the third, and a pair of safeties in the fourth rounded out the scoring.

Glavic finished the game 14-for-18 for 270 yards and four TDs before giving way to Canada West rookie of the year Eric Dzwilewski late in the third quarter. Glavic spread the ball around effectively, with four players racking up at least 50 receiving yards while seven players recorded at least 20 rushing yards. Coehoorn's 85 yards was a team receiving high, while Woodson led the way on the ground with 79 yards.

Alberta's offence struggled against an impressive defensive performance by Calgary, managing just 216 yards total offence. Bears pivot Julian Marchand went 11-for-26 for 113 yards and two interceptions on the day, while Matthew Jarvis' 78 yards along the ground accounted for most of the rest.

The Dinos (8-2) will defend Canada West's 37-year win streak at home in national semi-final games when they host the eastern Huskies (6-3) in the CIS Mitchell Bowl next Saturday. It will be just the second time in history that the Atlantic champion has travelled west to face the Canada West victor following Saskatchewan's 31-16 win over Saint Mary's in 2004.

Ontario champion Western Ontario travels east to face the top-ranked Laval Rouge et Or in the Uteck Bowl following Laval's eighth straight Quebec conference victory. The winner of that contest will take on the Mitchell Bowl champion in the 2010 Desjardins Vanier Cup Nov. 27 at PEPS Stadium in Quebec City.

SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter
CGY – Ifield 22-yard FG, 3:10, 3-0 CGY

2nd Quarter
CGY – Walter 1-yard TD run (Ifield convert), 1:56, 10-0 CGY
ALTA – O'Neill 65-yard punt single, 5:54, 10-1 CGY
CGY – Gaydosh 20-yard interception return TD (Ifield convert), 7:23, 17-1 CGY
CGY – Coehoorn 10-yard TD pass from Glavic (Ifield convert), 11:21, 24-1 CGY
CGY – Parker 34-yard TD pass from Glavic (Ifield convert), 13:29, 31-1 CGY
ALTA – Team safety, 14:43, 31-3 CGY

3rd Quarter
CGY – Parker 13-yard TD pass from Glavic (Ifield convert), 4:09, 38-3 CGY
CGY – Snyder 32-yard TD pass from Glavic (Ifield convert), 6:45, 45-3 CGY
CGY – Woodson 11-yard TD run (Ifield convert), 13:05, 52-3 CGY

4th Quarter
CGY – Team safety, 10:18, 54-3 CGY
CGY – Team safety, 13:35, 56-3 CGY

-UC-