OUA BY THE NUMBERS: Vanier Cup Edition
HAMILTON, Ont.- A look at numbers that are important to the upcoming Vanier Cup taking place Friday, Nov. 23 at the Rogers Centre between the McMaster Marauders and the Laval Rouge et Or.
16 – Prior to 2012, the number of times the Vanier Cup has been contested in the Rogers Centre (formerly SkyDome). The stadium had a run of hosting the game 15 consecutive times between 1989 and 2003 and then hosted it most recently in 2007.
482 – The number of yards passing by McMaster quarterback Kyle Quinlan (South Woodslee, Ont.) in the Marauders 2011 Vanier Cup win. The number represents the second-highest total in a Vanier Cup game, behind the 528-yard game by Saskatchewan’s Brent Schneider in 1994.
2 – Including the upcoming matchup this weekend, the number of times the McMaster Marauders and Laval Rouge et Or have met in the Vanier Cup. The first meeting came last season and saw the Marauders earn a 41-38 win in double overtime.
32,847 – The largest attendance recorded for a Vanier Cup game. The attendance record was set in the first of a 15-year run of Vanier Cups played at the SkyDome (now Rogers Centre). In that game the Western Mustangs, under head coach Larry Haylor, downed the Saskatchewan Huskies 35-10.
20 – The length of the game-winning field goal in the 2011 Yates Cup by McMaster kicker Tyler Crapigna (Nepean, Ont.). Crapigna’s kick came in double overtime and lifted the Marauders to the first Vanier Cup in school history.
1982 – The year the CIS championship football game was officially renamed the Vanier Cup. Prior to 1982 the title game was referred to as the Canadian College Bowl.
997.7 – The combined offensive yards per game collected in the regular season by the Laval Rouge et Or and the McMaster Marauders. McMaster finished second in the CIS with 582.5 yards while Laval averaged 415.2 yards per game, good enough for 12th.
1 – With McMaster and Laval meeting in the Vanier Cup for the second straight season, 1 represents the number of times previously that the same two teams have played in back-to-back title games. In 1976 and 1977 the Western Mustangs battled the Acadia Axemen in the in Vanier Cup, with Western winning on both occasions.
3 – 2012 will mark the third time the McMaster Marauders have played in the Vanier Cup final. The Marauders first appeared in the national final game in 1967, falling 10-9 to the Alberta Golden Bears. It would then be 44 years until they would return, winning the Vanier Cup last season.
