Written by Dashawn Stephens and Naol Denko
This Saturday, the final four U SPORTS football teams will square off with trips to the Vanier Cup on the line.
In the Uteck Bowl, the No. 1 Western Mustangs will be taking on the No. 2 Montreal Carabins, in what will be the first meeting between these two programs in U SPORTS history.
In the Mitchell Bowl, the UBC Thunderbirds will make their first national semifinal appearance since 2015 when they take on the STFX X-Men - who are coming off their third consecutive AUS Championship
Uteck Bowl
Who are the Western Mustangs?
Coming off a 29-14 win in the Yates Cup - a game which many thought was Laurier’s to win - the Mustangs held their ground against a talented Golden Hawks team that had 12 All-Stars, the 2023 OUA Rookie of the Year, and the 2023 OUA MVP.
After a first half that saw Laurier display confidence and momentum, the Mustangs shut the Golden Hawks out in the second half. A brilliant performance from the defence, along with 19 PTS from the game’s eventual MVP Brian Garrity led to the Mustangs claiming their 35th Yates Cup in program history.
One key detail to look out for entering this game will be the status of Second Team OUA All-Star quarterback Evan Hillock. Hillock, who has been dealing with injury over the last four weeks, was pulled from the Yates Cup with an apparent upper-body injury. The third-year pivot eventually returned to throw the Mustang’s go-ahead touchdown.
Now, let’s talk Carabins.
The Carabin swept the reigning Vanier Cup Champion Laval Rouge et Or in 2023 - a first in program history.
In addition, the Carabins also had 13 RSEQ All-Stars in 2023 - a program record.
Toss in the conference MVP in quarterback Jonathan Senecal, and you have the toughest opponent Western has faced to date.
Senecal was a Swiss army knife for the Carabins this season, leading the offence in both passing and rushing.
Montreal requires more offensive production when they oppose Western as their defence is no joke, however, Montreal’s defence is ready to handle the Pass Attack from Evan Hillock, but will they be able to able to handle the run? After allowing 134 Rush YDS to Laval, this is something to keep an eye on.
Mitchell Bowl
Third-year quarterback Silas Fagan leads the X-Men offence. A three-time conference All-Star, Fagnan was also the conference MVP in 2023, throwing for 2,075 passing yards and 13 touchdowns while completing 60.5% of his passes.
Important to Fagnan’s success, the X-Men also boasts one of the best receiving corps in the nation. The trio of Ben Harrington (31 REC, 557 YDS, 6 TDS), Zachary Houde (32 REC, 662 REC YDS, 3 TDS), and Zakariya Karim - who attended CFL Training Camp last season with the REDBLACKS - might be one of the most impressive group of receivers in U SPORTS football.
Defensively, the X-Men will need a huge performance from defensive end Alex Fedchun. Fedchun recorded 29.5 tackles and 6.5 sacks this season, enough to earn him AUS All-Star and Lineman of the Year honours. Fedchun will have his hands full against an extremely talented UBC offensive line - which we’ll get to in a few.
The 2023 STFX X-Men are not only one of the best teams in program history, they’re one of the best teams in AUS history, and all eyes will be on this group on Saturday, November 18 at 3PM EST to see if they have what it takes to be the first AUS team to advance to a Vanier Cup in 17 years.
Let’s talk about UBC.
The T-Birds are led by American quarterback Garrett Rooker. A year after dislocating his hip against the Saskatchewan Huskies, Rooker is now the Canada West conference’s lone All-Star quarterback, having completed 70.2% of his passes and throwing for 2,266 passing yards and 16 touchdowns.
Expect Rooker to be handing the ball off to running back Isaiah Knight, who’s also a Canada West All-Star.
Upfront, Rooker is protected by offensive lineman Giovani Manu and Theo Benedet, both of whom are receiving an immense amount of NFL attention. Fun Fact, over 15 NFL teams have visited UBC this season to see Manu and Benedet practice. They are one of one!
Defensively, the T-Birds have a versatile group of linebackers in Mitchell Townsend, Jaxon Ciraolo-Brown, and Ryan Baker. All three possess the ability to help stop the run, drop back into coverage, blitz off the line, and even drop back and play defensive back. Being a former UBC quarterback himself, Baker has become one of the best WILL linebackers in U SPORTS football, making use of his former passer skills and now becoming a consistent problem for opposing quarterbacks.
Should the T-Birds be able to pull off the win, this would go down as their first trip to the Vanier Cup since 2015, and 2nd under the Blake Nill era.
