Laurier snaps Western's Yates Cup streak, Bishop's stays perfect in Loney Bowl barn burner
Island Showdown: Jett Elad's UNLV takes pineapple trophy from Nick Cenacle's Hawaii
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Welcome to U Sports national semifinals week — BOWL SEASON — and NCAA football Week 12!
In review: U Sports conference championships
OUA: Laurier wins 1st Yates Cup since 2016
No. 2 Laurier 51, No. 4 Western 31: Bad tackling, poor coverage, low energy, you name it. You either lose a game or you get beat. It was both for the Western Mustangs. The Laurier Golden Hawks were on a mission to exact revenge from 2023 — and 2022 — and the Mustangs shooting themselves in the foot didn’t help.
It looked promising for Western early when running back Keanu Yazbeck broke free for a 62-yard touchdown to open the scoring. But 28 unanswered Laurier points got the home crowd pumped and the Mustangs sideline quiet. Western returned fire with two straight TDs of its own to get it back to a competitive game at halftime.
But in the second half, the defending Yates Cup champs had no juice and couldn’t — or wouldn’t — stop Golden Hawks quarterback Taylor Elgersma. The Mustangs got outscored 23-10 and failed, time after time, to convert on second and third down, punting three times and turning the ball over on downs twice in the second half.
Original prediction (incorrect): Western beats Laurier on the road.
Canada West: Regina makes Hardy Cup history
Regina 19, No. 10 Saskatchewan 14: For the first time ever, a team that went 3-5 in the regular season has won Canada West’s Hardy Cup championship. Bravo, Regina Rams.
This was a low-scoring game dominated by defence. The Saskatchewan Huskies recovered two of Regina’s five fumbles and the Rams picked off Huskies QB Anton Amundrud four times for 91 yards, with one going all the way to the house, courtesy of Regina defensive back Carson Sombach.
If Saskatchewan capitalized on more of those Regina fumbles, it would be playing in its third national semifinal in four years this week.
Original prediction (incorrect): Saskatchewan beats Regina at home.
RSEQ: Laval takes back Dunsmore Cup
No. 3 Laval 22, No. 1 Montreal 17: I was right about this one! The Laval Rouge et Or got home-field advantage and made the most of its opportunity to return to RSEQ glory.
The Montreal Carabins couldn’t get it done on the ground, forcing 2023 Hec Crighton-winning QB Jonathan Senecal to do everything himself, passing for 233 yards and rushing for 38 more, leading his team in both categories. Senecal managed to match Laval’s two offensive TDs with his own pair in the air — hey, that rhymes — but a Rouge et Or field goal and a safety was the difference in keeping him from going to his second consecutive Vanier Cup.
Original prediction (correct): Laval beats Montreal at home.
AUS: Bishop’s wins its 1st-ever Loney Bowl
No. 6 Bishop’s 25, Saint Mary’s 22: This one would be better explained with a numbered list for this game’s series of events. The Bishop’s Gaiters and Saint Mary’s Huskies did not disappoint.
Saint Mary’s takes a 16-13 lead late in the fourth quarter in a series where two defenders deflected the ball right in the hands of Huskies receiver Trydell Mintis.
With under a minute to play and down three points, Bishop’s RB Marco Briones fumbles the ball away and Saint Mary’s recovers inside the 20-yard line.
Saint Mary’s RB Malik Williams fumbles the ball just beyond the 20-yard line on the ensuing drive, giving Bishops’ another chance to tie or win with under 20 seconds left.
Bishop’s kicker Xavier Gervais scores a field goal to tie the game and head to overtime.
Bishop’s and Saint Mary’s go back and forth with two field goals each in overtime until Huskies K Adam Johnston missed a 44-yarder.
Gervais ends it from 25 yards out. Gaiters stay perfect and move on, winning their first conference championship since 1994 and first Loney Bowl since moving from the RSEQ to the AUS in 2017.
Original prediction (correct): Bishop’s beats Saint Mary’s at home.
Preview: U Sports national semifinal bowl games
Here are my predictions for the second-last week of the year:
Uteck Bowl: OUA at AUS
No. 2 Laurier at No. 6 Bishop’s: Laurier sweeps all purple.
Here we go. The annual “talk” we have to have about the AUS. The east coast conference hasn’t even tasted a Vanier Cup game since November 2007. Where were you? I was in grade four.
Bishop’s is a great team with a great QB and a perfect record, playing in its own barn this week. The problem is: it’s playing a better team from a historically better conference with an even better QB and the only other undefeated record in U Sports.
The last time we saw a great AUS team host a great OUA team was my second year at Western in 2017 when we travelled to Wolfville, N.S. and beat the Acadia Axemen — brace for impact — 81-3.
To be fair, we saw a close game between Saskatchewan and the St. Francis Xavier X-Men in the 2022 Mitchell Bowl; 36-19 in favour of the Huskies. But until the AUS can prove it can put up a fight with Ontario and Quebec juggernauts, you’re going to have to wait until its next bout with Canada West to convince me the conference can go the distance.
Mitchell Bowl: RSEQ at Canada West
No. 3 Laval at Regina: Laval heads back to the national championship.
Unranked Regina is the underdog story of the year. No one can ever take away the fact that the Rams are the first five-loss team to win the Hardy Cup.
But beating Laval? Arnaud Desjardins? With respect to the great talent and second-to-none competition Canada West has had this year, Saskatchewan ain’t Laval and neither is Manitoba. They know that. We know that.
I counted you out last week, Regina. I wish I hadn’t. But at least then there was a light at the end of the tunnel when I previewed that game.
There’s no light this time. Just red and gold, or “rouge et or,” as they say in “la belle province.”
More trophy talk 🏆
Hec Crighton (U Sports MVP)
My Hec Crighton Trophy picks were locked two weeks ago.
ICYMI: See my Hec Crighton selections in the Oct. 29 Pressure Package ⤵️
(Updated) Vanier Cup prediction
No. 2 Laurier beats No. 3 Laval 44-40 in overtime
My original Vanier Cup bracket went down the tubes this week when my national champion pick, Western, lost in the Yates Cup.
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! Laurier is a world-beater at this point and boasts the best offence in U Sports. If turnovers, common opponent point differential and a missing Raiden Thorne didn’t keep the Golden Hawks from squashing the Mustangs’ chances at an OUA championship four-peat, nothing can stop them from winning it all, including mighty Laval.
It’ll be a high-scoring shootout between the two best QBs in the country — and my picks for the Hec Crighton Trophy — ending in what will be just the third overtime in Vanier Cup history. Laval will only manage a field goal in the extra frame, if it starts with the ball, and will be unable to match a game-winning Elgersma TD pass to WR Ethan Jordan.
Laurier will win its first national championship since 2005, Elgersma will leave the league on top and head coach Michael Faulds will finally conquer Laval. He lost to the Rouge et Or in the 2008 Vanier Cup as Western’s QB and then again eight years later, losing to them as the Golden Hawks’ lead man.
Side note: I asked ChatGPT for its prediction, and it said Laval would beat Laurier 27-21.
Heading south ✈️
Top performances on Saturday by Canadians playing in the NCAA:
No. 5 Indiana Hoosiers QB Kurtis Rourke (Oakville, Ont.) maintained Indiana’s undefeated record with a 206-yard, two-TD, one-interception performance in a 20-15 win over the Michigan Wolverines. He now owns Pro Football Focus’ top pass grade among all NCAA QBs with at least 100 attempts.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights linebacker Dariel Djabome (Longueuil, Que.) had a big day, registering a career-high 11 solo tackles — 13 total — and a sack in a 26-19 victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
(🎥 @RFootball/X)
Boise State Broncos DB Ty Benefield (Vancouver) made eight solo tackles in a 28-21 win against the Nevada Wolf Pack.
UNLV Rebels DB Jett Elad (Mississauga, Ont.) recorded five solo tackles in a 29-27 Island Showdown rivalry win against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. He made a TD-saving tackle against fellow Canadian and Hawaii WR Nick Cenacle.
Hawaii WR Cenacle (Montreal) caught two passes for 70 yards, including a 62-yarder that was stopped at the five-yard line by Elad on an aforementioned play.
(🎥 @CBSSportsCFB/X)
North Texas Mean Green LB Jaylen Smith (Hamilton, Ont.) made 10 tackles — four solo — in a 14-3 loss to the Army Black Knights.
LSU Tigers DL Paris Shand (Toronto) made three tackles in a 42-13 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday.
ICYMI: Read last week’s Pressure Package newsletter ⤵️
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)
Imprint (Waterloo)
The Silhouette (McMaster)
The Varsity (Toronto)
Excalibur (York)
The Queen’s Journal (Queen’s)
The Fulcrum (Ottawa)
The Charlatan (Carleton)
ICYMI: Read my first Pressure Package newsletter ⤵️
Canada West
The Ubyssey (UBC)
The Gateway (Alberta)
The Gauntlet (Calgary)
The Sheaf (Saskatchewan)
The Manitoban (Manitoba)
RSEQ
Impact Campus (Laval)
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.
Western lost? I love — I mean hate — to see it.
Great article Alex!