CALGARY – In another heartbreaking finish to their season, the No. 1-ranked, previously-undefeated University of Calgary Dinos fell 36-24 to the UBC Thunderbirds in Saturday's 79th Hardy Cup at McMahon Stadium, on a day where the home team lost all four conference finals across CIS.

Penalties and turnovers plagued the Dinos, especially in an opening half that saw them give up 28 points as they headed into the break trailing by 11. And while the offence piled up the yards on the day, it rarely translated into points: the 26 scored on the afternoon by Calgary marked the Dinos' lowest offensive output of the season by 11 points.

"It's extremely disappointing for everybody," said Dinos head coach Wayne Harris, following the first defeat of his CIS head coaching career. "We battled hard all day and right to the end, but there were too many mistakes and too many penalties, and that was the difference in the end.

"Penalties get you out of your rhythm, and we haven't lost the turnover battle all season until today. When we had a few opportunities to make some big plays, the ball just didn't bounce our way. We knew UBC would be a tough opponent, they have a lot of talent over there, and they executed their game plan better than we did."

Calgary took 17 penalties for 145 yards, 90 of which came in an opening half and either stalled Dinos drives or extended those of the Thunderbirds. And turnovers, which led to the loss in the 2014 Hardy Cup against Manitoba, reared their ugly head again in the second half as the Dinos fumbled twice in the final minute of play, snuffing out any chance of a comeback.

Statistically, the Dinos held the upper hand, especially after an impressive second half – but again, the yards didn't translate into points. Calgary out-gained UBC 598-439 on the day, but the T-Birds' defence fell back into coverage and limited Calgary's ability to make the big play that they've thrived on all season long.

In the final game of his CIS career, Dinos quarterback Andrew Buckley – this week named the Canada West MVP for the second straight year – had another great outing, completing 31 of 43 passes for 447 yards and a touchdown. Mercer Timmis had 19 carries for 111 yards, and wide receiver Rashaun Simonise picked up 111 yards of his own on four catches – 84 of which came on one play in the opening half. But after a year where the team broke record after record and dominated teams with a 40-point average margin of victory over the regular season, statistics were little consolation.

"Heartbroken…It's hard to end a career like that," Buckley said, fighting back the emotion of his final game as a Dino. "We just didn't capitalize when we were in the red zone and took too many penalties."

Trailing 31-18 at the three minute warning, the Dinos still had a chance to come back, beginning with Mercer Timmis' two-yard touchdown that capped of an eight-play, 80-yard drive for the Dinos to make it 31-25. After a kickoff single, Calgary succeeded in getting the ball back, but fumbled the punt return to give it back to UBC. The defence held and kept the Thunderbirds to just a field goal try, making it an eight-point game with 55 seconds left and Calgary with the ball. Buckley and the Dinos began to move downfield again, but the Thunderbirds stripped the ball one more time near midfield and kneeled out the game.

UBC heads east to face St. Francis Xavier in next week's CIS Uteck Bowl, with the winner to advance to the Vanier Cup Nov. 28 in Quebec City. The other CIS semi-final next week has Guelph hosting Montreal in the Mitchell Bowl.

-UC-