CALGARY – Mercer Timmis became the University of Calgary's all-time touchdown leader with two trips to the end zone as his fourth-ranked Dinos made a statement with a 49-16 win over No. 7 UBC Friday night at McMahon Stadium.

In front of 4,272 rain-soaked fans, the Dinos shrugged off a 102-yard opening-play touchdown from the upstart Thunderbirds, took the lead midway through the second quarter, and racked up 279 rushing yards to grab the season-opening win.

Timmis accounted for 150 of those on 19 carries, scoring his two TDs from 15 and two yards out in the second quarter to give him 36 for his career – one better than Matt Walter's previous record of 35.

"It's exciting for Mercer," said Dinos head coach Wayne Harris. "He's a guy that just comes to work every day, and we just need to get the ball in his hands – he'll make things happen for us."

It was emotional on both sides of the field, as the Dinos faced their former head coach, Blake Nill, for the first time. For his part, Harris was impressed with how his squad handled the situation.

"It's a good start to the season, for sure," said Harris. "The emotions were running high at first, but they settled down, got in their groove, and carried through the game. It was unique and exciting, and I even had to keep my emotions in check at times with the history I've had with Blake over many years.

"You never want to get off to a slow start, but we're a veteran team and have been in these sorts of situations and circumstances. Having to settle down is not something new for them."

The slow start he referred to was Michael O'Connor's first-ever pass attempt in CIS football. With the Thunderbirds on their own 8-yard line, O'Connor found 2014 Canada West rookie of the year Marcus Davis wide open at the 30 – and 80 yards later, Davis was in the end zone and UBC was up 7-0 just 40 seconds into the contest. The 102-yard strike was a school record for the Thunderbirds, breaking Jordan Grieve's old mark of 98 set in 2012.

The big play fired up the Thunderbirds and it did take some time for the Calgary offence to get going. Forced to punt on the final play of the opening quarter, the Dinos caught a break when Davis bobbled the return and Michael Schmidt fell on the loose ball at UBC's 15. On the next play, Timmis rumbled in from 15 yards out.

Another Davis fumble set up Timmis' second TD of the night in the late stages of the half, and the Dinos again made the T-Birds pay for their mistakes. The 2-yard score made it 25-14 for the Dinos heading into halftime, and they controlled the play from there.

The second-half highlight came midway through the third quarter when third-year Dinos receiver Michael Klukas stepped back to his own goal line to return a punt. After a shaky start, he found a hole and burst through it, up the sideline for a 110-yard punt return TD – the Dinos' longest in more than 40 years, and the second-longest in school history.

Jimmy Underdahl added a pair of one-yard TD plunges for the Dinos in the fourth quarter, while Johnny Mark was good on all four of his field goal attempts on the night from 42, 16, 13, and 25 yards. Quinn van Gylswyk's two field goals of 26 and 37 yards, a missed field goal single, and a conceded safety rounded out the scoring for UBC.

Andrew Buckley had a solid night for the Dinos, completing 14 of 21 passes for 205 yards and running four times for 75 yards – including a 63-yarder where he appeared to score but was called out at the one-yard line. On the other side, O'Connor's big first play made up the lion's share of his 253 passing yards on the night as he completed 17 of 36 passes with one interception.

Defensively, Doctor Cassama led the Dinos with 6.5 tackles, while Taylor Loffler had a busy night for the Thunderbirds, recording 13.5 tackles.

UBC opens its home schedule next week by hosting Regina. Calgary, on the other hand, heads to Winnipeg for its only meeting of the season with the Manitoba Bisons in a rematch of the 78th Hardy Cup. Kickoff goes at 7 p.m. CT at Investors Group Field, live on Shaw TV and CanadaWest.tv.

EXTRA POINTS: With 17 points on the night, Johnny Mark moved past the 400 mark for his career and into third place on the CIS all-time scoring list with 408. He's just 14 away from Lirim Hajrullahu (Western, 2009-13) for the national all-time scoring record of 422 points. With his four field goals, he moves to 69 for his career, two back of the school record held by Aaron Ifield (2006-10).

-UC-