USPORTS.ca
With the Vanier Cup just 24-hours away from kickoff and the Grey Cup six days in the rear view mirror, Canadian football is set to wind down another spectacular season from high school to junior, university to pro.
The Vanier Cup is a special celebration of Canadian football, full of pageantry and history while also putting the best university players on centre stage for the country to see. That stage becomes even larger with Saturday’s Vanier Cup coming a week after the 109th Grey Cup as football-crazed fans from coast-to-coast chase the excitement.
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Saskatchewan Huskies quarterback Mason Nyhus finished second in the nation with 18 passing touchdowns and threw just three interceptions (USPORTS.ca).
So, who to watch for? First, a word about the bigger picture, the teams themselves.
Last November the Saskatchewan Huskies conquered the RSEQ conference champion Montreal Carabin in the 2021 Uteck Bowl in stunning fashion. But ultimately fell to the Western Mustangs in the 2021 Vanier Cup, while Laval fell to Montreal in the Quebec conference final.
This season both teams finished with one regular season loss and will trot out elite U SPORTS quarterbacks. Laval Rouge et Or quarterback Arnaud Desjardins proved to be the best passers in a talented RSEQ crop this season. The Laval pivot averaged the second most passing yard per game with 320, while surrounded by nearly a dozen conference all-stars.
Saskatchewan’s Mason Nyhus led the country with an absurd 348 yards passing per game as the fourth year pivot stepped up following the evolution of the Huskies attack from run based to passing heavy.
Saskatchewan finished the season with 10 all-stars in the always competitive Canada West conference as the Huskies were the best club in the west from start to finish, despite their one regular season blemish.
Across the board, much is live between these two powerhouse programs. Many defensive and special teams metrics suggest that offensive play-calling, the element of surprise and executing the core concepts that got each team to this game will answer the question of who will stand on the champions stage in London Saturday evening.
In this heavyweight matchup there is only one guarantee, both teams will come ready to play with character carved through their recent history and journey to reach the national showcase.
Laval Rouge et Or receiver Kevin Mital averaged 94 yards per game and 12 touchdowns in eight games this season (USPORTS.ca)
It is fitting that the week after Laval receiver Kevin Mital had six catches for 77-yards against the Western Mustangs, extinguishing their hopes of a long sought home stadium championship, that he would become the first receiver since Andy Fantuz to win the Hec Creighton as the top U SPORTS player. Doing so in the stadium Fantuz once called home.
With 58 catches for 751 yards and a jaw dropping 12 touchdowns at the receiver position, Mital will be sure to get plenty of attention from the Huskies secondary. The question could quickly become, with Mital bracketed early and often, where else does Desjardins feel comfortable spreading the football?
For Saskatchewan the name to know is Daniel Perry who put together a U SPORTS All-Canadian season for himself and was on the receiving end of Nyhus’ passes to the tune of 41 catches for over 600-yards and a pair of touchdowns. Rhett Vavra played second fiddle in catches on the Huskies attack with 30, but hauled in five receiving touchdowns which tied him for eighth most in the country, but a farcry from Mital’s season to remember.
On defence, neither club has a true individual standout in tackles, sacks or interceptions. Some might view that as slander, but it really just confirms what we already know: These are two of the best units in U SPORTS football.
As usually happens in both Vanier and Grey Cups, it will likely be an unheralded name making, ‘the play,’ for the winning side. A late game interception, a first drive sack, fumble that leads to an easy scoring opportunity of momentum swinging nature.
The Huskies. The Rouge Et Or.
Talent abounds as each club looks to stake their claim for national prominence following a year’s long journey towards that singular moment when ball touches foot and nothing matters except for the final score and how you get there.
This is what Canadian football is all about.
