An intriguing Vanier Cup tilt goes on Saturday with Montreal and UBC squaring off for the right to claim a national championship.
Here are five things to watch for in the Canadian university football championship game.
Montreal’s stellar run defence
The Carabins stopped the run better than any school in the country during the regular season—Montreal was the only team to allow fewer than 100 yards per game on the ground at 93.5.
And in the playoffs that number has been reduced against better competition. While winning three straight games to advance to the Vanier Cup, the Carabins have given up just 80.3 rushing yards per contest while holding ball carriers to 4.1 yards a carry.
Big defensive lineman Junior Luke anchors Montreal’s front, seemingly always plugging his gap and drawing double teams while players like Jonathan Boissonneault-Glaou—2015 RSEQ Defensive Player of the Year—fly around and make tackles.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Watch the Montreal Carabins face off against the UBC Thunderbirds in the 2015 Arcelormittal Vanier Cup presented by Promutuel Assurance on all regional Sportsnet channels Saturday with coverage starting at 12:30 p.m. ET/9:30 a.m. PT.
The 3-4 presents a different challenge
UBC uses a 3-4 defence (three defensive linemen and four linebackers) as their base alignment and that’s not a look Montreal has seen much this season.
The Carabins lean heavily on a zone-based running attack, which has seen Sean Thomas Erlington pop off for 587 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 8.3 yards per carry in three playoff victories. Maciocia says the 3-4 won’t change any blocking rules for the Carabins’ big men up front, but it alters angles and could take some time to get used to in live action.
Linebackers Terrell Davis and Mitch Barnett are counted on to make plays in the Thunderbirds’ 3-4 scheme. If the UBC backers rack up a large number of tackles on Saturday it likely bodes well for the team from the Left coast.
UBC’s ultra-talented first-year quarterback
Carabins head coach Danny Maciocia admits Michael O’Connor is the best quarterback the team will face all season.
Montreal’s bench boss spent some time around Steve Spurrier while he was at the University of Florida when Canadian quarterback Jesse Palmer played for the Gators. Maciocia believes O’Connor and Palmer share some traits. Palmer is one of only three Canuck pivots to play in a regular-season NFL game and the last one to accomplish the feat, playing five years from 2001 to 2005.
Like Palmer, O’Connor grew up in the Ottawa area and then ventured down south. The six-foot-five signal caller played at IMG Academy in Florida, where both Cam Newton and Russell Wilson suited up before him. ESPN ranked O’Connor as the No. 6 quarterback in the entire 2014 recruiting class. He signed with Penn State and remained there until Bill O’Brien took the Houston Texans’ head coaching job. After that the young passer decided to transfer and he received interest from 15 NCAA Division I schools, eventually landing in British Columbia.
The 19-year-old can literally make every throw required on the large Canadian field and he’s accurate with the football. When O’Connor gets hot it’s fun to watch, and the Thunderbirds quarterback needs to be at his best on Saturday afternoon against Maciocia’s stout defence.
Long business trip
When UBC flew to Antigonish, N.S., for the Uteck Bowl the team packed for an extended roadie.
The Thunderbirds brought everything they needed for a week-long stay in Quebec’s capital city. UBC bussed into town after beating St. Francis Xavier to punch their Vanier Cup ticket. From watching the T-Birds practice it’s clear they’ve settled in and feel comfortable.
That decision to stay on East Coast time and essentially wipe out any possible jet-lag effects should help UBC be as fresh as possible come kick-off on Saturday.
Who gets home-field advantage?
There are oodles of strong football supporters in Quebec City and lots of them are loyal Rouge et Or fans. Many people bought tickets for the Vanier Cup hoping or assuming Laval would be in the title game, but that’s not how it played out. Instead Montreal beat their rivals in the Dunsmore Cup and are now set to play for a national championship at the Rouge et Or’s home stadium.
Carabins backers feel like it could be a pro UBC crowd at Telus Stadium with Laval faithful in attendance possibly rooting against Montreal. If that happens even with Montreal being just about two hours and 30 minutes away, it could feel and really sound like a road game for the Quebec conference champions.