T-Birds win 2OT nail-biter to claim 89th BioSteel Hardy Cup

UBC prevails over Regina 41-39 in instant classic

14/11/2026

Recap by Jeff Sargeant /UBC Sports Information

VANCOUVER – For the 18^th time in program history and the first time since 2023, the UBC Thunderbirds are BioSteel Hardy Cup Champions!

In a wild game that saw the T-Birds fritter away a 15-point fourth quarter lead to force overtime, Alexander Hillyard drilled both of his OT field goal attempts while Rams kicker Ty Gorniak pulled his final kick wide as the 'Birds poured on the rain drizzled Thunderbird Stadium turf to celebrate their sixth – and by far biggest – home win of 2026.

"The Hardy Cups man, that's one with three points, one with a touchdown on the last play and now in double overtime," said a euphoric UBC head coach, Blake Nill, shortly after clinching his ninth Hardy Cup title and third with the T-Birds. "What can I say, we literally made one more play than they did today and consequently, we're the champions."

Blake Nill, Riley Scheffer, Caleb Cunningham celebrate the victory. Photo by Rich Lam.

The 'Birds are now set to head to La Belle Province for a date with the Montreal Carabins for next weekend's Uteck Bowl after the Carabins upset the Laval Rouge-et-Or with a 14-10 victory in the Jacques Dussault Cup.

"I am fired up for this group because you know what, in order to get to the true national stage you got to play the big dogs," said Nill. "This year, UBC beat the playoff teams six out of seven times. If there's a schedule tougher than that, I want to see it. For us to go in, beat Manitoba twice, beat Regina three times and beat Saskatchewan, I think it's a testament to this group even more so than this championship."

After a relatively low event opening half that had the Rams leading 13-10, the T-Birds offence opened up in the third quarter with a pair of Zach Patfield short yardage TD runs and one of Hillyard's four field goals on the afternoon to stake out a 28-13 advantage.

The Rams cut back within eight at 28-20 on a red zone toss from Owen Sieben to Adley Mayala in the far corner of the end zone on the first play of the final quarter, but the 'Birds responded with Patfield's third direct snap keeper play of the game for the 35-10 advantage with half the frame remaining.

Sieben and the Rams engineered an 11-play, 89 yard drive – aided by a pair of T-Bird penalties – capped off with a 12-yard Nicholas Sirleaf touchdown catch to get within seven points after a successful two-point convert with just over four minutes on the clock.

Forcing UBC to punt on their next possession, Sieben and the Rams offence got to work again and needed just 71 seconds to march 90 yards for the game-tying touchdown pass to Michael Eagle Bear, silencing the T-Bird faithful and pushing the game beyond 60 minutes.

With the first OT possession, Gorniak put the Rams up with a 20-yard field goal, answered by Hillyard's longest of the afternoon, from 42.

Regina head coach Mark McConkey and UBC head coach Blake Nill shake hands postgame. Photo by Rich Lam.

Hillyard drilled through a 30 yarder as UBC began the second OT period with the ball putting the pressure on Regina. But UBC's defence conceded just eight yards on the drive, setting up Gorniak from 35 out where he pulled the kick left to allow Josh Martin to concede the rouge and punch UBC's ticket into next Saturday's Uteck Bowl in Montreal.

Martin was named BioSteel Hardy Cup MVP after an incredible 269 all-purpose yards, 120 from scrimmage and another 149 on the return.

"They were obviously concerned with our passing and if they're going to play a light box we're going to try and run. We knew that Josh can carry it, he just hasn't had to do it. For him to step up on the big stage to not only run the ball but on return yardage – it's incredible."

T-Birds quarterback Drew Viotto was solid on the day going 17-of-35 for 251 yards, a second quarter touchdown pass to Kai Rednour-Bruckman and no picks.

Sieben completed 40 of 52 pass attempts for the Rams, racking up 443 yards, four touchdowns and a fourth quarter interception by Damien Bucknor.

Playing in a national bowl game for the first time since 2023, the T-Birds face a Montreal team which has plenty of recent history with UBC: The Carabins defeated the 'Birds in the 2023 Vanier Cup, avenging UBC's most recent Vanier Cup win against Montreal in 2015.

Kickoff for the 2026 Uteck Bowl is set for 10:07 a.m. PCT Saturday, Nov. 21 at Université de Montréal with a berth in the following week's Vanier Cup on the line.

Canada West would like to thank BioSteel for their continued support of Canada West student-athletes and the BioSteel Hardy Cup.