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2011

November 27

99th Grey Cup

#99GC

Winnipeg Blue Bombers	Q1 0	Q2 6	Q3 3	Q4 14	Final 23
BC Lions	11	3	10	10	34

Stadium

B.C. Place

Attendance

54,313

Location

Vancouver

Winning Coach

Wally Buono

MVP

Travis Lulay, QB, B.C.

345 people were there

480 people saw it on tv

The team that was going nowhere fast earlier this summer is now the CFL's best.

The BC Lions completed a stunning turnaround in 2011 by becoming the first team in CFL history to lose their first five games of the season and go on to win the Grey Cup. The Lions, who finished the regular season with a record of 11-7, capped an improbable Grey Cup run with a 34-23 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Travis Lulay threw two second-half touchdown passes in front of an ear-piercing BC Place Stadium sellout crowd of 54,313 and was named the game’s MVP.

“I would never wish that upon myself or anybody again to go through,” Lulay said of the Lions' early-season struggles. “It's tough coming out of the gate like that but I think this team believed we were a whole lot better than that.”

“Without that belief system it wouldn't have allowed us to dig ourselves out of the hole,” he added. “Ultimately, I honestly believed it hardened us up and made us very mentally tough and that's probably what allowed us to push through to the finish.”

B.C. also became the first squad since the 1994 Lions to capture the league title at home. The '72 Hamilton Tiger-Cats and '77 Montreal Alouettes also accomplished that feat.

Lulay, the CFL's outstanding player this season, finished 21-of-37 passing for 320 yards and the two TDs. The league's top-rushing quarterback this season, Lulay only ran twice for eight yards as he aggravated a groin injury during the contest but remained under centre. Lulay's health could also explain why the Lions' offence started the game so strong – B.C. led 11-0 after the first quarter – but struggled through the second and most of the third. Fortunately for the Lions, their defence was outstanding, holding Winnipeg to just six first downs through three quarters.

“During the week it got better but there's nothing like the speed of the game and all the things that have an effect,” said B.C. head coach/GM Wally Buono. “His reads were great, his vision was great but when you look at it, it had an effect on him but not to the point where he lost his composure.”

Facing a fierce Winnipeg rush, Lulay calmly stood in the pocket and delivered a 66-yard TD strike to Kierrie Johnson on the final play of the third quarter to put B.C. ahead 24-9. It was the first touchdown catch of Johnson's career. But the game's turning point came with 12:21 left to play. Lulay tried to throw a screen pass inside the B.C. 30-yard line, but Winnipeg end Odell Willis got his hands on the ball and had a clear path to the end zone. But offensive lineman Ben Archibald knocked it out of Willis's grasp and the Lions dodged a huge bullet. “It was a screen pass and Odell sniffed it out,” Lulay said. “Ben made a huge play because (Willis) had nothing but room in front of him.” Afterwards in a very quiet Bombers' locker-room, the usually talkative Willis, looking distant and almost in shock, was a man of few words.

“I just didn't make the play, that's all,” Willis said. “You can always say 'if,' but 'if' didn't show up.” Willis's drop was huge. It allowed B.C. to maintain possession and the Lions marched downfield and capped an 82-yard drive at 8:10 of the fourth with Lulay's six-yard TD strike to Arland Bruce III for a commanding 31-9 advantage. But quarterback Buck Pierce rallied the Bombers with TD passes of 45 yards to Greg Carr at 11:22 and a 13-yard scoring strike to Terrence Edwards with 1:37 remaining. Edwards' grab pulled Winnipeg to within 31-23 and was set up by Jovon Johnson's 47-yard punt return and a 15-yard facemask penalty against B.C. kicker Paul McCallum. Winnipeg's unlikely comeback bid ended when its onside kickoff attempt didn't go the mandatory 10 yards, giving B.C. the ball with 1:36 remaining.

Lions tailback Andrew Harris, a Winnipeg native who watched B.C. win the '06 Grey Cup game at Canad Inns Stadium, was named the top Canadian after running for a game-high 65 yards on 10 carries and opening the scoring with a 19-yard TD run.

Winnipeg head coach Paul LaPolice said his club's inability to establish the run played a big role in the loss. The Bombers ran for just 41 yards as tailback Chris Garrett, who rushed for 190 yards the previous weekend against Hamilton, had just 26 yards on eight carries. “That was the first time in a couple of weeks we were unable to run the ball and create first downs,” he said. “We had to get more rhythm offensively.”