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UBC Thunderbirds quarterback Michael O’Connor scrambles against the St. Francis Xavier X-Men during the first half of the Uteck Bowl in Antigonish, N.S. on Nov. 21.Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press

Veteran coach Blake Nill never could have predicted the turnaround for his program after last season.

UBC quarterback Michael O'Connor threw two touchdown passes to Trivel Pinto, and running back Brandon Deschampes added another on the ground to lead the Thunderbirds to a decisive 36-9 victory over the hometown St. FX X-Men on Saturday night in the 2015 Uteck Bowl – earning the team a shot at the national championship.

"I would never have expected this in a 100 years with this group, a group that was 2-6 last year, to get into the Vanier Cup," Nill said. "It's not like we had an easy road either. We had to win in Calgary, Manitoba, Saskatchewan. We beat some good teams to here. I don't think we played our best today but we did play well enough."

Deschampes, who ran for 128 yards on 20 carries and caught three passes for an additional 50 yards, received game MVP honours.

"It was a crazy game," said Deschampes, who added he was overwhelmed to receive the MVP nod. "They came out hard and they competed really well. Our defence played really well tonight. They didn't let them score points until the end of the game. That was huge for us."

The Thunderbirds will play the Montreal Carabins for the Vanier Cup in Quebec City next weekend. Montreal beat the Guelph Gryphons 25-10 in the Mitchell Bowl earlier Saturday to advance to the Canadian university football championship game.

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