Clash of the titans: Laurier, Laval to meet in 59th Vanier Cup
Elic Ayomanor's Stanford knocks Rene Konga's Louisville from Top 25
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Welcome to U Sports national championship week and Week 13 in FBS football south of the border!
In review: U Sports national semifinal bowl games
Mitchell Bowl
No. 3 Laval 17, Regina 14: At the three-minute warning in the fourth quarter, the unranked cinderella story Regina Rams were leading the Quebec powerhouse Laval Rouge et Or 14-10. There was belief that Regina was going to be just the fourth team since 2003 — the start of the Uteck and Mitchell Bowl era — to knock the RSEQ from Vanier Cup contention.
The Rams had more first downs, more total yards, less penalties and higher time of possession. Laval scored a go-ahead touchdown with 1:19 on the clock to make it 17-14, but the Rams had a chance to go down and score to tie or win. On third and one at Regina’s 49-yard line, running back Christian Katende was tackled for a loss of three yards. Laval got the ball back with 45 seconds left, ran for a first down and kneeled it out. Game over.
The Rouge et Or are now in their 14th national championship game since 1999.
Last week’s prediction (correct): Laval beats Regina on the road
(🎥 TVA Sports via @USPORTS_FB/X)
Uteck Bowl
No. 2 Laurier 48, No. 6 Bishop’s 24: It was a relatively slow start in Lennoxville, Que., on Saturday, with the Laurier Golden Hawks being held to just a single TD in the first quarter, along with a field goal. That quickly changed in the following frame when the Yates Cup champions scored 24 unanswered points in about 10 minutes. It was 41-10 by the midpoint of the third, which ended all hope for the Bishop’s Gaiters.
Laurier quarterback and Hec Crighton Trophy favourite Taylor Elgersma threw five TDs for 452 passing yards, going 30 for 34 (88 per cent) in the air. His receiver, Ryan Hughes — who’s stepped up in Raiden Thorne’s absence — had a career day, registering 212 receiving yards and three TDs on eight catches, averaging 26.5 yards per catch.
Last week’s prediction (correct): Laurier beats Bishop’s on the road.
(🎥 @USPORTS_FB/X)
Preview: Vanier Cup
Here’s my final prediction for the last week of U Sports football, with arguments for why both No. 2 Laurier and No. 3 Laval can win, and a final verdict:
How can Laurier win?
Offence: No one gets more yards. No one gets more first downs. No quarterback throws more touchdowns. Did other teams have more total TDs and better rushing numbers? More points? Yes, but did that help in the playoffs against the purple and gold? The one team standing in Laurier’s way doesn’t compare in any major offensive statistical category, other than turnovers. The Golden Hawks need to exhaust this Rouge et Or pass defence like they’ve done to everyone else.
Consistency: The Golden Hawks not known to blow out bad teams by four or more TDs — they only beat the winless Waterloo Warriors by 16. They’re a consistent squad that seems to adjust to the talent they’re up against and play above it. Whether that’s Waterloo in the regular season, Western in the Yates Cup or Bishop’s in the Uteck Bowl, they will adjust and play according to the opposition.
Location: Playing on an OUA field this weekend, Laurier has the home field advantage. The majority of this Golden Hawks team has only played at Richardson Stadium in Kingston, Ont., once in the post-pandemic era in 2023 — beating the Queen’s Gaels 11-10. But being just 358 kilometres away from campus makes driving easier for Waterloo residents than fans from Quebec City who have to travel almost double the distance.
Underlying storyline: Michael Faulds vs. Laval
Laurier head coach Michael Faulds has a history with Laval, both as a coach and a player. The last time he saw the Rouge et Or was in the 2016 Uteck Bowl in his third year as the Golden Hawks’ head coach. Laurier was a week removed from a huge comeback win over the Western Mustangs in the Yates Cup, but couldn’t get over the RSEQ hump in the national semifinals, losing 36-6 to the eventual Vanier Cup champs.
Eight years prior to that game, Faulds was Western’s starting QB in the 2008 Vanier Cup against Laval. The Mustangs lost 44-21, and Faulds hasn’t been a part of a national championship game since.
WATCH | (Blurry) 2008 Vanier Cup highlights:
This Saturday will be a chance for him to get the Vanier Cup monkey off his back with arguably the best offence he’s ever coached.
How can Laval win?
Pass rush: Laval’s defence combined for a league-leading 28 sacks in the regular season. Sacks on second down will be key to Laval’s success, as Laurier converts on 58.04 per cent of second downs through the air in a pass-first offence. Pressure can also make Elgersma throw bad passes that have led to his nine interceptions in the regular season. If the front seven can get to the backfield early and often like they’ve been able to do since August, the Rouge et Or can clip the Golden Hawks’ wings.
Passing efficiency: Laval QB Arnaud Desjardins had a crazy 17 TD to one interception ratio and completed a league-leading 75.9 per cent of his passes in the regular season. U Sports’ passing efficiency rating system ranked Elgersma (187.5) ahead of Desjardins (177.7), despite the former having an almost 2:1 TD to INT ratio compared to the latter’s 17:1. Neither defence has impressed in interception numbers, but Laurier being tied for second-last in the league with just four INTs in the regular season gives Desjardins lots of room to work with his weapons, including WR Olivier Cool, who recorded 147 receiving yards on 11 catches with a TD to boot against Regina this weekend.
Experience: Laval was in this spot two years ago when it beat the Saskatchewan Huskies in London, Ont. Not the same stadium, but the same stakes, the same trophy and the same host province. Oh, and it was also in the same game from 2016 to 2018. The team has only been active since 1996, yet it’s been to, now, 14 Vanier Cups, winning a league-leading 11 and potentially on its way to a 12th on Saturday. The players are always new every four to five years, but head coach Glen Constantin and the rest of his staff know Vanier prep “comme le dedans de leurs poche,” which means “like the inside of their pocket” for my anglophones.
Who will win the 59th Vanier Cup?
I’m sticking with what I said last week: Laurier will win in overtime.
ICYMI: Read last week’s newsletter recapping conference championships:
I’m actually more confident now that the Golden Hawks could get it done in regulation time because of Laval’s close call in the prairies this past weekend.
But I’ll give the boys in Quebec City the benefit of the doubt — with reasons above for why they COULD win — and say they’ll go the distance before falling in extra time to a team with a better offence and an easier travel experience for players and fans.
More trophy talk 🏆
Hec Crighton (U Sports MVP)
The Hec Crighton trophy will be awarded later this week at the U Sports football awards ceremony ahead of the Vanier Cup. Click below for my opinion.
ICYMI: See my Hec Crighton picks from a previous Pressure Package newsletter:
Heading south ✈️
Top performances by Canadians playing in NCAA football this past weekend:
Stanford Cardinal WR Elic Ayomanor (Medicine Hat, Alta.) had 68 receiving yards and a TD on two catches, averaging 34 yards per reception in a big 38-35 win over the Louisville Cardinals — No. 19 before the loss and now unranked — and fellow Canadian defensive lineman Rene Konga.
(🎥 ACC Network via StanfodFball/X)
Louisville Cardinals DL Rene Konga (Ottawa) had a sack and a tackle in a 38-35 loss to Stanford and Canadian WR Ayomanor.
Boise State Broncos safety Ty Benefield (Vancouver) caught an INT, forced a fumble and made three tackles — two solo — in a 42-21 win against the San Jose State Spartans.
(🎥 CBS Sports via @BroncoSportsFB/X)
New Hampshire Wildcats WR Joey Corcoran (Montreal) caught a TD and registered 38 receiving yards on three catches, averaging 12.7 yards per reception in a 31-30 win over the Stony Brook Seawolves.
Georgia State Panthers QB Christian Veilleux (Ottawa) threw for 245 yards with a TD and an INT in a 27-20 loss to the Arkansas State Red Wolves and fellow Canadian DL Nate Martey.
UNLV Rebels safety Jett Elad (Mississauga, Ont.) made seven tackles — four solo — and defended a pass in a 41-20 victory over the San Diego State Aztecs.
North Texas Mean Green linebacker Jaylen Smith (Hamilton, Ont.) made nine tackles — three solo — in a 48-27 loss to the UTSA Roadrunners.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights LB Dariel Djabome (Longueuil, Que.) made five tackles — four solo — in a 31-17 victory against the Maryland Terrapins.
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors WR Nick Cenacle (Montreal) recorded 72 receiving yards on six receptions, averaging 12 yards per catch in a 55-10 loss to the Utah State Aggies.
Student shout-outs 📢
I got my start in multimedia storytelling and sports journalism at a student newspaper. It’s important for me to spread the love to those student journos finding new leads on campus fields across the country, just like I did a short time ago.
OUA
The Western Gazette (Western)
*My old stomping grounds!
The Cord (Laurier)
*Covering Golden Hawks football in Vanier Cup
Imprint (Waterloo)
The Silhouette (McMaster)
The Varsity (Toronto)
Excalibur (York)
The Queen’s Journal (Queen’s)
The Fulcrum (Ottawa)
The Charlatan (Carleton)
Canada West
The Ubyssey (UBC)
The Gateway (Alberta)
The Gauntlet (Calgary)
The Sheaf (Saskatchewan)
The Manitoban (Manitoba)
RSEQ
Impact Campus (Laval)
*Covering Rouge et Or football in Vanier Cup
Quartier Libre (Montreal)
Concordia
The McGill Tribune (McGill)
Le Collectif (Sherbrooke)
AUS
The Xaverian Weekly (StFX)
The Campus (Bishop’s)
The Athenaeum (Acadia)
The SMU Journal (Saint Mary’s)
More Canadian college football coverage
U Sports football is covered by the media at a level not seen since theScore’s former television program “University Rush” covered Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS, the former name for U Sports) football up until the early 2010s.