It’s the most exciting time of the year in the CIS: football playoffs are finally upon us. After an eight-week regular season, Canada’s best football-playing students have the chance to battle for the right to hoist the Vanier Cup in Montreal on November 29. In the first year of LWOS coverage for the CIS playoffs, we will take a look at each conference across the country as the post-season is in full swing this weekend. Read on for our predictions about who will win the conference and play in the Uteck Bowl in Quebec on November 22.
Réseau du Sport Etudiant du Québec (RSEQ)
Quebec, the home of the two-time defending Vanier Cup champions Laval Rouge et Or. Everything seemed to be going well for the Rouge et Or heading into this past weekend. 26-game winning streak heading into Montreal, a team they beat 40-13 back in week one. Well, they lost 13-9 against the Carabins, who have been the talk of the town in the university football scene in Quebec.
This week the Carabins play host to the Vert et Or of Sherbrooke, while the Concordia Stingers will be in Quebec City to take on the Rouge et Or. Both Concordia and Sherbrooke have really good chances at upsets, with their 5-3 records going up against he leaders’ 7-1 records. With records that close, a win isn’t even considered an upset. After Laval’s tough loss, it will be interesting to see if they let their guard down against Concordia, who had the slimmest margin of defeat to Laval this season; the Stingers fell with a score of 32-16 when the visited Telus Stadium a month ago.
Hugo Richard (2578 pass yards, 22 TDs) and Gabriel Cousineau (2311, 14 TDs) will have to lead Laval and Montreal past these teams. Both defences have been brick walls, allowing only 9.8 points allowed per game for Laval and 12.1 for Montreal. Freshman Byron Archambault has been making key tackles for Montreal with 49.5 tackles, 8.5 more than team-leading Shayne Gauthier in Laval.
Assuming the Carabins and the Rouge et Or get past their opponents this weekend, the Dunsmore Cup should have an extra headline looming with the Vanier Cup being played in Quebec and in the Carabins’ hometown of Montreal. Of course, the game is being played at McGill’s home stadium, but regardless, it could be considered a home game with the numbers of U of M who will travel to the game.
Prediction: Montreal
Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CWUAA)
Another small conference for the provinces west of Ontario: four out of the six teams qualify for the playoffs. In a tight race to the top of the conference, the Calgary Dinos edged out the Saskatchewan Huskies for the right to play fourth-ranked Regina. The 6-2 Dinos will host the Rams on Saturday, but not before the Manitoba Bisons head over to Saskatchewan to put up a fight against the Huskies.
Both Calgary and Saskatchewan are regular powerhouses in their conference and have met in the Hardy Cup many times before. Senior quarterback Andrew Buckley threw for 2175 yards while he lead the Dinos to first place in the country in scoring and total offence. The U of Regina Rams shouldn’t be a problem for them on Saturday, nor should the Bisons be for Saskatchewan.
Barring any upsets, the Dinos and Huskies will play in an entertaining Canada West Final on November 15. Calgary is favoured over Saskatchewan to come out of the West, having scored an astonishing 52 points per game while allowing only 22. The Huskies have averaged about 31 points per game, and allowed 28 – despite having 15 interceptions, good for third in the country.
Saskatchewan QB Drew Burko has thrown for more yards than Buckley with 2256 but the difference is in the backfield. Calgary’s fumble-less back Mercer Timmins had 103 carries for 801 yards and was a TD-per-game player. By comparison, the Huskies have a running-by-committee offence consisting of Shane Buchanan, Jarvis James and Tyler Chow. The three combined rushed for 902 yards on 175 runs and fumbled the pigskin six times.
Prediction: Calgary Dinos
Stay tuned for part two featuring predictions for the Mitchell Bowl between the AUS and OUA.
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