WESTERN EYES VANIER CUP BERTH
Quebec champion Laval (10-0) hosts the No. 6 and Canada West champion Calgary Dinos (7-3) in the Uteck Bowl at 12 p.m., while OUA champion Western (9-1) hosts the No. 5 and Atlantic champion Saint Mary's Huskies (8-1) in the Mitchell Bowl at 3:30 p.m.
The CIS semi-finals will be televised on The Score and RDS (webcast on SSN Canada), live from PEPS Stadium in Quebec City and TD Waterhouse Stadium in London, Ont., respectively.
The Rouge et Or, who captured their sixth straight Dunsmore Cup with a 28-17 win over No. 9 Concordia, are the only undefeated team in the nation and led all nine CIS media polls in 2008, the last eight in unanimous fashion.
This will mark Laval's sixth consecutive appearance in a CIS semi-final, tying the all-time record set by Saint Mary's from 1999-2004.
The Dinos are advancing to a Bowl game for the first time since 1995 following a 44-21 domination of No. 8 Simon Fraser in the Hardy Cup final.
For the fourth time in six years, Laval had the best defensive unit in the country during the regular season, allowing only 60 points, the lowest total since Saint Mary's gave up an astonishing 35 points in 2001.
The Rouge et Or defence also led the nation allowing an average of 255 total yards and 69 rushing yards per game, and ranked second with 185 passing yards against per contest.
Leading the way for Laval was fourth-year tackle Étienne Légaré, who tallied 6.5 sacks and 23 tackles. The native of St-Raymond, Que., is the QUFL lineman of the year and a nominee for the J.P. Metras Trophy.
The Dinos defence was fourth in CIS in conference play with 127 points allowed, and ranked 11th in the nation in total yards (354 yds/g), 13th against the run (134 yds/g) and 10th against the pass (220 yds/g).
Third-year linebacker Andrea Bonaventura had a team-high 51 tackles in eight conference outings. The Hamilton native is the Canada West defensive player of the year and a nominee for the Presidents' Trophy.
Laval also holds the overall advantage on offence.
The Rouge et Or led the nation with 342.8 passing yards per match, and ranked second with 515.9 total yards per game, third with 337 points scored and seventh with an average of 173.1 rushing yards per outing.
Guiding the explosive Laval offence is fourth-year quarterback Benoit Groulx, who set a CIS single-season record this fall completing 75.2 percent of his passes (185/246) while throwing only two interceptions in eight conference games, a CIS low among starting pivots. The Montreal native was named QUFL MVP for the second time in three years and is the Quebec nominee for the Hec Crighton Trophy.
Sophomore Christopher Milo of Montreal also helped put points on the board for the Rouge et Or. The all-conference kicker established a CIS season mark with 25 field goals and a Quebec record with 117 points.
The Dinos offence is led by Canada West MVP and Hec Crighton finalist Matt Walter of Calgary. The second-year running back topped the West conference and was third in CIS with 904 yards on the ground after carrying the ball 147 times, fifth most in the nation.
Calgary ranked 20th in CIS in both points scored (146) and total yards per game (351.1), and finished 13th in rushing (153.3 yds/g) and 19th in passing (197.9 yds/g).
Meanwhile in London, the Mitchell Bowl will pit one of the nation's most balanced offences against the country's most one-dimensional attack.
While Western has been a well-balanced team all season en route to a 31-17 defeat of Ottawa and a second Yates Cup title in as many years, Saint Mary's pounded its way to a 29-27 Loney Bowl win over StFX and a second straight AUFC championship.
The Mustangs, who led the country in total offence with 523.6 yards per game and trailed only OUA rival Queen's (374) with 363 points scored, were second in the nation in passing yards (336.5 yds/g) and fourth in rushing (187.1 yds/g),
The Huskies were tops in the country with an average of 278.5 yards on the ground per game – a full 68 more than any other team in CIS – but finished 26th out of 27 teams with only 143.9 yards through the air per week. They put 259 points on the board, good for first in the Atlantic and sixth in CIS.
The biggest difference between the two offensive units was at quarterback.
Fourth-year Western pivot Michael Faulds of Eden Mills, Ont., led the nation with 2,596 passing yards, the seventh highest total in CIS history, and finished second with 19 touchdown passes.
His opponent on Sunday will be 19-year-old freshman Jack Creighton, who won the starting job in the second half of the season and threw for 334 yards, three majors and five interceptions over three games. The native of Port Colborne, Ont., was named Loney Bowl MVP however after he went a solid 12-of-17 for 198 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Both teams have been very effective this fall on the defensive side of the ball.
Western led the OUA and was third in the nation with 302 yards allowed per match, was sixth in the country for least points against (133) and passing yards (209 yds/g), and fifth in run defence (93 yds/g).
Saint Mary's led the AUFC and finished sixth in CIS allowing 322 yards per contest, and was fourth in the nation against the pass (198 yds/g), ninth against the run (124 yds/g) and 12th in points allowed (168).
Sophomore linebacker John Surla of Niagara Falls, Ont., was the uncontested leader of the Mustangs' defence during the regular schedule, finishing with 46 tackles, 6.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and a pair of interceptions.
For the Huskies, two-time first-team all-Canadian Jeff Zelinski, a fourth-year defensive back from Mission, B.C., had 5.5 interceptions to go with his 21.5 tackles and two forced fumbles.
UTECK BOWL head-to-head match-ups (regular season stats):
Team offence
Calgary: 8 GP, 146 points (3rd CW / 20th CIS), 351.1 yds/g (3rd CW / 20th CIS)
Laval: 8 GP, 337 points (1st QUFL / 3rd CIS), 515.9 yds/g (1st QUFL / 2nd CIS)
Team run offence
Calgary: 8 GP, 153.3 yds/g (3rd CW / 13th CIS)
Laval: 8 GP, 173.1 yds/g (3rd QUFL / 7th CIS)
Team pass offence
Calgary: 8 GP, 197.9 yds/g (4th CW / 19th CIS)
Laval: 8 GP, 342.8 yds/g (1st QUFL / 1st CIS)
Team defence
Calgary: 8 GP, 127 points (2nd CW / 4th CIS), 354.0 yds/g (3rd CW / 11th CIS)
Laval: 8 GP, 60 points (1st QUFL / 1st CIS), 255.0 yds/g (1st QUFL / 1st CIS)
Team run defence
Calgary: 8 GP, 134.0 yds/g (3rd CW / 13th CIS)
Laval: 8 GP, 69.0 yds/g (1st QUFL / 1st CIS)
Team pass defence
Calgary: 8 GP, 220.0 yds/g (6th CW / 10th CIS)
Laval: 8 GP, 185.0 yds/g (1st QUFL / 2nd CIS)
Quarterbacks
Calgary: Deke Junior, 8 GP, 133/220 (60.5%), 1584 yds, 7 TD, 10 INT
Laval: Benoit Groulx, 8 GP, 185/246 (75.2% - CIS record), 2385 yds, 12 TD, 2 INT (led CIS)
Running backs
Calgary: Matt Walter, 8 GP, 147 rush, 904 yds, 6.15 avg, 4 TD
Laval: Guillaume Allard-Caméus, 8 GP, 77 rush, 389 yds, 5.05 avg, 5 TD
Laval: Sébastien Lévesque, 3 GP, 16 rush, 303 yds, 18.94 avg, 3 TD
Receivers
Calgary: Anthony Parker, 7 GP, 35 rec, 500 yds, 2 TD
Calgary: Nathan Coehoorn, 7 GP, 33 rec, 363 yds, 2 TD
Laval: Julian Feoli-Gudino, 8 GP, 65 rec (led CIS), 785 yds, 4 TD
Laval: Matthew Leblanc, 8 GP, 32 rec, 369 yds, 0 TD
Defence
Calgary: Andrea Bonaventura, 8 GP, 51.0 tackles, 1.0 sack, 1 INT, 1 FF, 1 FR
Calgary: Matt Grohn, 8 GP, 40.0 tackles
Calgary: Deji Oduwole, 8 GP, 31.0 tackles, 5.0 sacks, 1 FF, 1 FR
Laval: Kelly-Joseph Hilaire, 8 GP, 33.5 tackles, 1.0 sack, 1 FR, 2 INT
Laval: Marc-Antoine Beaudoin-Cloutier, 8 GP, 25.0 tackles, 6.0 sacks, 1 FR
Laval: Étienne Légaré, 7 GP, 23.0 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 1 FF
Place kickers
Calgary: Aaron Ifield, 8 GP, 8/13 (65.0%), 48 LG
Laval: Christopher Milo, 8 GP, 25/32 (78.1%), 49 LG (25 FG: CIS record)
Punters
Calgary: Aaron Ifield, 8 GP, 73 punts, 2801 yds, 38.4 avg, 66 LG, 10 Ins20
Laval: Christopher Milo, 8 GP, 53 punts, 2129 yds, 40.2 avg, 61 LG, 22 Ins20
Punt returns
Calgary: KC Prince, 8 GP, 29 ret, 194 yds, 6.69 avg, 0 TD
Laval: Maxime Béland, 8 GP, 22 ret, 228 yds, 10.36 avg, 0 TD
Laval: Julian Feoli-Gudino, 8 GP, 24 ret, 202 yds, 8.42 avg, 0 TD
MITCHELL BOWL head-to-head match-ups (regular season stats):
Team offence
Saint Mary's: 8 GP, 259 points (1st AUFC / 6th CIS), 422.4 yds/g (1st AUFC / 8th CIS)
Western: 8 GP, 363 points (2nd OUA / 2nd CIS), 523.6 yds/g (1st OUA / 1st CIS)
Team run offence
Saint Mary's: 8 GP, 278.5 yds/g (1st AUFC / 1st CIS)
Western: 8 GP, 187.1 yds/g (2nd OUA / 4th CIS)
Team pass offence
Saint Mary's: 8 GP, 143.9 yds/g (4th AUFC / 26th CIS)
Western: 8 GP, 336.5 yds/g (1st OUA / 2nd CIS)
Team defence
Saint Mary's: 8 GP, 168 points (1st AUFC / 12th CIS), 322.0 yds/g (1st AUFC / 6th CIS)
Western: 8 GP, 133 points (2nd OUA / 6th CIS), 302.0 yds/g (1st OUA / 3rd CIS)
Team run defence
Saint Mary's: 8 GP, 124.0 yds/g (2nd AUFC / 9th CIS)
Western: 8 GP, 93.0 yds/g (3rd OUA / 5th CIS)
Team pass defence
Saint Mary's: 8 GP, 198.0 yds/g (1st AUFC / 4th CIS)
Western: 8 GP, 209.0 yds/g (2nd OUA / 6th CIS)
Quarterbacks
Saint Mary's: Jack Creighton, 3 GP, 27/62 (43.6%), 334 yds, 3 TD, 5 INT
Saint Mary's: Nathan Beeler-Marsman, 5 GP, 41/71 (57.8%), 571 yds, 4 TD, 7 INT
Western: Michael Faulds, 8 GP, 176/277 (63.5%), 2596 yds (led CIS), 19 TD, 8 INT
Running backs
Saint Mary's: Allistair Blair, 7 GP, 76 rush, 568 yds, 7.47 avg, 3 TD
Saint Mary's: Devon Jones, 4 GP, 62 rush, 507 yds, 8.18 avg, 7 TD
Western: Nathan Riva, 6 GP, 61 rush, 487 yds, 7.98 avg, 7 TD
Receivers
Saint Mary's: Ryean Warburton, 8 GP, 21 rec, 348 yds, 3 TD
Saint Mary's: Shawn White, 7 GP, 19 rec, 320 yds, 2 TD
Western: Jesse Bellamy, 8 GP, 39 rec, 686 yds, 6 TD
Western: Nick Trevail, 8 GP, 43 rec, 558 yds, 2 TD
Defence
Saint Mary's: Al Birthwright, 8 GP, 40.5 tackles, 1.0 sack, 1 INT
Saint Mary's: Saleem Borhot, 8 GP, 29.5 tackles, 2 FR, 1 INT
Saint Mary's: Jeff Zelinski, 8 GP, 21.5 tackles, 2 FF, 5 INT
Western: John Surla, 8 GP, 46.0 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 2 FF, 1 FR, 2 INT
Western: Cory McNair, 8 GP, 39.0 tackles, 1.0 sack, 2 FF, 2 INT
Western: Cory Watson, 7 GP, 8.5 tackles, 4 INT
Place kickers
Saint Mary's: Justin Palardy, 8 GP, 14/17 (82.4%), 46 LG
Western: Darryl Wheeler, 8 GP, 9/14 (64.3%), 36 LG
Punters
Saint Mary's: Justin Palardy, 8 GP, 59 punts, 2299 yds, 38.9 avg, 57 LG, 12 Ins20
Western: Darryl Wheeler, 8 GP, 62 punts, 2551 yds, 41.2 avg, 63 LG, 14 Ins20
Punt returns
Saint Mary's: Jahmeek Murray, 6 GP, 29 ret, 252 yds, 8.69 avg, 1 TD
Western: Craig Butler, 8 GP, 54 ret, 574 yds, 10.63 avg, 0 TD
CIS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
All games on The Score & RDS (webcast on SSN Canada)
Sunday, Nov. 16
12:00 pm Uteck Bowl: No. 6 Calgary (7-3) at No. 1 Laval (10-0)
3:30 pm Mitchell Bowl: No. 5 Saint Mary's (8-1) at No. 3 Western Ontario (9-1)
Saturday, Nov. 22
2:00 pm Desjardins Vanier Cup: Ivor Wynne Stadium, Hamilton
Source: CIS Communications