The 2025 OUA MVP Race: Wither, Dolby, or Jordan?
Photo via Brandon VandeCaveye/Western Mustangs
Three names. One trophy.
With the 2025 OUA regular season concluding this past weekend, the race for Most Valuable Player feels like a three-way deadlock — Cal Wither (QB, Laurier), Ethan Dolby (RB, Western), and Ethan Jordan (WR, Laurier).
Let’s break it down — cases for and against — because if we’re being honest, all three have resumes that could headline an awards night.
Cal Wither – QB, Laurier Golden Hawks
In his first season in U SPORTS, Cal Wither arrived quietly from Ohio University and filled some massive shoes — those of Taylor Elgersma, last year’s OUA MVP and Hec Crighton winner.
He didn’t just fill them. He made them fit.
Wither led Laurier to an 8–0 record, finishing 2nd in the nation in passing yards (2,472) and 1st in passing TDs (26) — the most since Tre Ford threw 27 in 2018. He’s also been the most accurate passer in the OUA (73.3%), ranking second nationally only behind Laval’s Arnaud Desjardins.
The pushback? Laurier’s offence is stacked. Wither has weapons everywhere — Ethan Jordan, Ryan Hughes, Layomi Ojutalayo, and a one-two punch in the backfield with Tayshaun Jackson and Quentin Scott. But that’s football. Every elite QB has weapons — it still takes elite decision-making to use them as efficiently as Wither has.
Ethan Dolby – RB, Western Mustangs
If Wither’s case is about precision, Ethan Dolby’s is about power.
The nation’s leading rusher with 1,304 yards and 14 TDs, Dolby broke the Western program record for single-season rushing yards — surpassing the legendary Tim Tindale’s 1,208-yard mark from 1991.
At a school known as Running Back U — with names like Tyler Varga, Cedric Joseph, Alex Taylor, Nathan Riva, Yannick Harou, Donnovan Bennett, Keon Edwards and even Greg Marshall himself having lined up in the backfield for the Mustangs throughout history — that’s saying something.
And here’s the kicker: he split goal-line carries with QB Jerome Rancourt, who has 12 rushing TDs. If Dolby had been the primary option on the goal line, he might be sitting with over 20 TDs.
The argument against him? That offensive line. Western’s O-line is always elite — but that’s part of the system, not a reason to discredit the player. Dolby did what no one in decades has done.
Ethan Jordan – WR, Laurier Golden Hawks
Statistically, the best receiver in U SPORTS — again.
Ethan Jordan followed up his 2024 breakout season by going for 1,066 yards and 10 TDs on 68 catches, becoming the first receiver in Laurier history to post back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.
He also broke the program records for career receiving yards and career touchdowns.
Laurier’s been “Receiver U” for decades — Shamawd Chambers, Kurleigh Gittens Jr., Raidan Thorne, Brenton Hall, Stefan Ptaszek, Corey Grant, and Bill Kubas — and Jordan now sits at the top of that list.
The counterargument? He plays in an offence that’s too loaded to isolate his individual impact. With so many lethal options around him, it’s nearly impossible for defences to truly key in on him. If you roll a safety over top to contain him, someone else in Laurier’s receiving corps — whether it’s Hughes, Ojutalayo, Stebbings, Atkinson, or one of the other hidden gems Michael Faulds has schemed into the offence — will make you pay.
The only way to stop Ethan Jordan is to find a DB who can actually cover him. That list might be empty - and that’s probably his strongest case for MVP.
The Verdict
So… who you got?
Wither’s precision. Dolby’s dominance. Jordan’s consistency.
It’s hard to go wrong, but one thing’s certain — the 2025 OUA MVP race isn’t just close; it’s shaping up to be one of the best debates we’ve had in Canadian university football in a long time.