Will 2023 be the year of Montreal’s hegemony over three-down football? After the Alouettes in the Gray Cup on Sunday, the Carabins of the University of Montreal will in turn try to win a Canadian title, the Vanier Cup, which crowns the champion university team of the year. Montreal meets the University of British Columbia (UBC) Thunderbirds on Saturday afternoon in Kingston. A look at the forces present.
The Carabins have come within one game of being perfect so far in 2023. The Concordia Stingers beat them in the last game of the season, on a successful field goal as the very last play of the duel. Montreal therefore concluded the season with a 7-1 record. The Carabins then sacked the Green
The Vancouverites, for their part, showed a 6-2 record during the season, which earned them 1st place in the Western Canada section. They then posted a narrow 29-21 victory against Manitoba in the Hardy Cup semi-final, which they won by beating the Alberta Golden Bears 28-27. For its Vanier Cup berth, UBC defeated St. Francis-Xavier 47-17.
It obviously starts with Jonathan Sénécal, the club’s quarterback, winner of the Hec-Creighton Trophy, awarded to the player par excellence in Canadian university football. The Mirabellois threw 15 touchdown passes and only 4 interceptions, while averaging 277 yards per game. Sénécal also finished 1st among the Carabins in rushing yards (394). On defense, linebacker Harold Miessan arrives in Kingston with the title of defensive player of the year, due to his 31 individual tackles and his 2 interceptions. Let’s also keep an eye on defensive lineman Jeremiah Ojo, author of 5.5 sacks, 6.5 other tackles behind the line of scrimmage and 3 forced turnovers.
UBC has in its ranks the best lineman in Canada in Theo Benedet. The 6’7, 305 lb colossus was also the only Canadian invited to the East-West Shrine Bowl in Vegas, a game closely watched by NFL recruiters. Quarterback Garrett Rooker put up stats comparable to Sénécal’s: 16 touchdown passes, 4 interceptions and 283 passing yards per game on average. Rooker uses his legs less (only 69 yards in 8 games), but the ground attack rests mainly on the shoulders of Isaiah Knight. The Ottawan ran for 787 yards in 7 games this season.
The Vanier Cup has crowned the Canadian university football champion every year since 1965. The final was initially played by jury selection, but since 1967, the finalists have been determined by a formal playoff tournament. UBC ranks 4th in Canada with four trophy wins, behind Laval (11), Western (8) and Calgary (5). For its part, the University of Montreal has won the title once, in 2014. The Vanier Cup is named after its creator, Georges Vanier, the former governor general of Canada. A much more striking legacy of the memory of the good Georges than the orange line metro station, the only one in the entire network not to be served by a bus line, whatever the STM says.
