Following four straight seasons of playoff drought from 2007 to 2010, UBC finished with a 6–2 record in 2011 earning second place in the Canada West with an appearance in the Hardy Cup. Quarterback Billy Greene would also become the third Thunderbird to win the Hec Crighton Award that year. However, all team accolades would be for naught as an ineligible student-athlete, who played in all eight games, would force UBC to forfeit all six regular season wins as well as its post-season results from that year.[1] The school was fined and the program was placed on probation for the following season.[2] This seemed to halt any progress that was made as the team finished 2–6 for the 2012 season and out of the playoffs for the fifth time in six years.
In 2013, the team bounced back with a 4–4 regular season record led by a solid defense and running back Brandon Deschamps, who was one of only three running backs in Canada to rush for more than 1,000 yards. They would lose in the Canada West semifinal to the eventual Mitchell Bowl champion Calgary Dinos 42–28. The program would regress again in 2014 as they finished with another 2–6 record and out of the playoffs.
During the following off-season in 2015, UBC Athletics would draw the Dinos head coach, Blake Nill away from the Calgary Dinos in what was the most high-profile coaching change that year. Nill's impact was immediate as he was able to recruit quarterback Michael O'Connor, who was the ranked the sixth best quarterback by ESPN among the 2014 recruiting class.[3] The Thunderbirds achieved a turnaround in Nill's debut season at the UBC helm to finish the 2015 regular season with a 6–2 record, placing second in the CWUAA standings. During the ensuing post-season drive of three straight single-elimination playoff games on the road, UBC upset the heavily favoured Calgary Dinos in the Hardy Cup game at Calgary; then defeated the St. Francis Xavier X-Men to earn its historical first Uteck Bowl victory at Antigonish, to advance to the national title game. In the 51st Vanier Cup championship, the Thunderbirds narrowly defeated the defending CIS champion Montreal Carabins, by scoring the game's last possession field goal to end the fourth quarter. The victory was UBC's fourth Vanier Cup overall, tying the Calgary Dinos for the all-time record among CWUAA member universities.[4]
Rivalries
Competing against the cross-town Simon Fraser University, the Thunderbirds and Simon Fraser Clan previously shared a long-standing local rivalry, which had been dormant since 2010. That year, SFU left the CIS for the NCAA's Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference. These two teams did not play within the same governing bodies until 2002 (SFU played, prior to then, in the NAIA while UBC has always competed in U Sports), they would compete in an annual match-up known as the Shrum Bowl, named after Gordon Shrum. After SFU's realignment to NCAA Division II was confirmed, it seemed as though the annual match-up would be decommissioned. However, the two teams went on to renew the Shrum Bowl game as a one-off exhibition on October 8, 2010, at Thunderbird Stadium playing Canadian rules. After years of conflicts in their respective competition schedules, the two teams played again in 2022.[5] While another game was scheduled for 2023, it was ultimately cancelled as SFU cancelled their football program in April 2023.[6]
^A. In 2011, due to an administrative sanction, UBC retroactively forfeited its six regular season wins. UBC's ensuing post-season games were also removed from record by the Canada West Universities Athletic Association, citing UBC Athletics' submission of an erroneous eligibility declaration regarding one of its active roster players.[2]
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