CALGARY – David Jordan threw three touchdown passes as the University of Calgary Dinos football team opened the season with a 32-7 win over the UBC Thunderbirds in front of 5,234 fans at McMahon Stadium on Friday night.
The Dinos needed just two possessions to get on the board. After UBC went three-and-out to open the game, the Dinos rode four carries from
Matthieu Clarke, capped by a one-yard touchdown run, to go up 7-0. On the ensuing drive, Jordan connected with
Matt Sibley for a 34-yard gain before finding him again from 15 yards out for a touchdown, making it 14-0 before the first quarter was over.
Calgary kept the pressure on in the second quarter. A 15-yard penalty on UBC moved the Dinos to the visitors 13-yard line, and two plays later Jordan found
Evan Smith for a 13-yard touchdown to make it 21-0. UBC finally got on the board when Drew Viotto hit Marvyn Larozar for a 10-yard score, and
Boaz Comeau drove home the first field goal of his career from 32 yards to send Calgary into halftime up 24-7.
The Dinos' defence delivered the key moment of the third quarter, stopping UBC on downs at the Calgary six-yard line. The offence answered right away, going the length of the field on a drive Dinos head coach
Ryan Sheahan called his favourite of the night, "something superb" that "chewed up the entire third quarter," finished off by a seven-yard touchdown pass from Jordan to
Tim Duerr. That made it 31-7, and a single point off a punt in the fourth quarter rounded out the scoring.
Jordan finished 18-of-24 passing for 221 yards and three touchdowns without an interception and credited the group in front of him and behind him for the clean night.
"Everybody from the boys up front to my guys catching routes, the running backs were just phenomenal today. I'm just glad they let me do my job even better," said Jordan.
Sibley led all receivers with seven catches for 106 yards and a score, Clarke ran for 72 yards on 18 carries to go with his rushing touchdown, and Duerr and Smith each added a touchdown catch.
Viotto threw for 332 yards on 30-of-47 passing, with Larozar and Trey Montour combining for 19 catches, but the Thunderbirds could only turn just one of two red-zone trips into points.
"When the defence can hold them to seven points and be disruptive. I thought they were resilient. They bent a little but didn't break," explained Sheahan.
Calgary converted all four of its own red-zone chances into touchdowns and forced two turnovers, including a fourth-quarter interception by
Thomas Glanville off Viotto.
The home opener carried extra weight for both coach and quarterback.
"Playing in Calgary is huge. We love our fans," Sheahan said. "It always feels great running out of the Dino head, the tunnel, and seeing the crowd roar, and seeing how much it amps up our players. So opening the season at home was definitely a benefit that we felt we took advantage of, and we felt the crowd's energy right away."
"This university deserves everything," added Jordan. "This university deserves victory, success, and I'm just glad the students got to come out, even the new students, the freshmen, and got to see an actual football game the way the Dinos finish."
The Dinos will return to action Friday, Sept. 11, when they travel to face the Saskatchewan Huskies as the defending conference champions host their homecoming. The game can be seen live on Canada West TV powered by BioSteel.
UBC will host the Alberta Golden Bears on Friday, Sept. 11.
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