CALGARY – It has been a long off-season on University Drive.

After a season for the history books – an undefeated 8-0 record highlighted by stellar play on offence, including the Hec Crighton winner and a new U SPORTS single-season passing record – the University of Calgary Dinos' 2018 campaign was unceremoniously snuffed out by the Saskatchewan Huskies in the 82nd Hardy Cup last November at McMahon Stadium. The bitter taste of that defeat has stuck with the Dinos throughout the off-season.

The Dinos will get the chance to finally put that game behind them when they step on the field for real as they visit the Alberta Golden Bears to open the 2019 Canada West football season Friday night in Edmonton. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. MT, live on CanadaWest.tv presented by Co-op.

GAME NOTES (.pdf)

Perhaps lost in the 2018 season's end was just how impressive the campaign had been to that point. With one of the youngest lineups in Canada, the Dinos averaged better than 42 points per game and racked up more than 4,500 offensive yards in eight contests, all while allowing just 17 points per outing. Five Dinos were crowned first team All-Canadians, led by Hec Crighton winner Adam Sinagra at quarterback, with Calgary picking up 11 of the 27 positions available on the Canada West all-star team.

With a couple exceptions on defence, the entire group is back, a year older and more experienced, ready to take the next step. And they'll open against a Bears squad that has missed the playoffs six times in seven years and would love nothing more than to open with a big win over their provincial rivals.

HEADLINES

• The preseason Canada West coaches rankings put the Dinos at a unanimous No. 1, while the Bears came it at No. 5 of the six teams in the conference.
  • FULL PRESEASON RANKINGS
• Calgary takes the No. 5 national ranking to open the season, one back of defending Hardy Cup champion Saskatchewan
• It's the first of two meetings between the Dinos and Bears this season, with the return tilt set for Calgary in Week 6 on Saturday, Oct. 5
• The Dinos last opened a season in Edmonton in 2017 with a 55-26 win. In the last 12 regular season match-ups between these two squads, one of the two teams has scored at least 50 points every time. All but one of those has been Calgary, with the exception of the Week 8 game in 2017 where the Bears pulled off the feat at McMahon after the Dinos had already clinched top spot.

No. 5 CALGARY DINOS (0-0)
CW Coaches Poll: 1st
Next week: host Manitoba


 

• Calgary is riding an eight-game road winning streak against Alberta, with the Bears' last home-field win coming all the way back in 2008
• Three Dinos were drafted by CFL teams in May, and all are returning after their stints in training camps: RB Jeshrun Antwi (Montreal), R Hunter Karl (Edmonton), and LB Nick Statz (Calgary).
• QB Adam Sinagra also had a CFL training camp experience, taking part in the U SPORTS-CFL quarterback intern program for the second straight year, this time with the Edmonton Eskimos. Sinagra's last outing against Alberta on the final day of the 2018 season saw him set the U SPORTS single-season passing record with 3,233 yards.
• The Dinos return all five of their first team All-Canadians from 2018: QB Sinagra, OL Logan Bandy, R Hunter Karl, DB Deane Leonard, and PK Niko DiFonte.
• Calgary hosts Manitoba in their home opener next Friday night at McMahon Stadium for KICKOFF XIV, with thousands of UCalgary students in attendance to ring in a new school year. The Tailgate and Block Party, presented by UCalgary Alumni Weekend and the Students' Union, gets underway at 3 p.m. in the east parking lot of McMahon, with the game kicking off at 5:30 p.m

ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS (0-0)
CW Coaches Poll: 5th
Next week: at Regina

 

• Alberta finished 2-6 last season, with one of those wins coming courtesy a forfeit by Regina.
• The Bears return seven starters on each side of the ball. RB Jonathan Rosery had a solid freshman season in green and gold, finishing third in CW rushing with 612 yards last season. Alberta always has a solid offensive line, anchored by All-Canadian Carter O'Donnell.
• Defensively, the Bears added a pair of all-star junior players in LB Jassen Brown and DB Jayden Dalke
• Greg Knox joins Alberta as defensive coordinator after holding the same role at McMaster for a decade, including a three-year stint as head coach. Rick Walters is also back on the Bears' sideline as offensive coordinator.

-UC-