A look at the remaining four

Manitoba, Western, Saint Mary’s, and Laval all have eyes on Vanier

Romer Bautista, Staff

Manitoba Bisons (8-0, 2-0)

There’s not much left to be said about the University of Manitoba Bisons that hasn’t been said in this paper already. Despite not being ranked any higher than third in the national rankings, likely due to the Ontario bias that is shown by the voters who vote in the rankings, the Bisons have played like one of the top two teams in the nations, along with the Laval Rouge-et-Or.

This is a well-rounded team, but their biggest strength is obviously their defence. During the regular season, the Bisons held teams to just 13.8 points-per-game, the best in Canada West. But if that wasn’t impressive enough, they have kicked it into a higher gear during the playoffs. In their two playoff wins, they have held the top two offences in Canada West to a combined 10 points.

Offensively, the Bisons have dominated in the trenches, allowing their running backs Karim Lowen and Matt Henry to have a lot of success thus far. And when their run-game is working, it allows their underrated quarterback John Makie to open things up down field. In his two years as starter, Makie has a record of 19-1, yet his name never gets mentioned among the elite signal callers in the nation. A strong performance on Saturday will go a long way in changing that.

Western Ontario Mustangs (4-4, 3-0)

The University of Western Ontario Mustangs are on a roll, having won seven straight games after an 0-4 start to the season. They are this season’s Cinderella story, sneaking into the OUA playoffs as the last seed, then going on the road to defeat the Queen’s Golden Gaels, Ottawa Gee-Gee’s, and Guelph Gryphons to win the Yates Cup.

Leading the remarkable run are running back Randy McCauley and quarterback Michael Faulds. McCauley was great during the regular season, averaging 127 rushing yards a game and scoring 13 touchdowns. He’s continued that output in the playoffs, rushing for 406 yards and five touchdowns in three playoff games. Faulds, too, is having a spectacular playoff run. He is averaging over 320 passing yards over the three games and has shown a penchant for executing in the clutch. He’s a mobile quarterback, so the Bisons will have to find a way to keep him in the pocket.

Another strength that the Mustangs possess is that they have a terrific football brain calling the shots. Greg Marshall has big game experience, having coached the Mustangs to two Vanier Cup wins in ’89 and ’94 and in the CFL as head coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He will undoubtedly have his team prepared for the tough task ahead of them.

Saint Mary’s Huskies (7-1, 1-0)

The Huskies were the class of the AUS this year, with their lone defeat coming at the hands of the Rouge-et-Or on Oct. 13. That game, a 29-22 loss that was much more lopsided than the score indicates, was played in Quebec. The Huskies will have the support of the home crowd in the rematch, which will give them an extra edge.

And any extra help will be needed, as on paper, Laval looks like by far the superior team. For the Huskies to make a game out of this, they will need a strong effort from quarterback Erik Glavic. Glavic is a big (6’0), mobile quarterback that has an accurate arm. He led the AUS in completion percentage (64 per cent) and passing touchdowns (16) while throwing for 1,843 yards. He also accumulated 478 yards on the ground with five rushing touchdowns.

Another Husky that will need to have a big game is running back Jacques Lumbala. He averaged nearly eight yards per carry-over the regular season and ran for 10 touchdowns. But in the game against Laval he was limited to just 69 yards on 16 carries. Those numbers will have to improve in the rematch.

Laval Rouge-et-Or (8-0, 2-0)

The Rouge-et-Or have been the model program for the past five years. They are the defending Vanier Cup champions and have won three of the last four national titles. They have continued that success this year, having gone through the regular season unscathed. Their last loss came 14 games ago, at the hands of the Montréal Carabins, in the final regular season game of the 2006 season.

On offence and on defence, Laval poses numerous problems for its opponents.

On offence, the Rouge-et-Or possess a balanced attack. They have two capable running backs in Pierre-Luc Yao and Guillaume Allard-Caméus and a young quarterback in Cesar-Roberto Sanchez-Hernandez who has come into the starter’s role and played brilliantly.

On defence, Laval gives up almost next to nothing. They allowed just 15 points-per-game in the regular season, the best in their conference, and forced over two turnovers a game.

It will be a monumental suprise to see the Rouge-et-Or not make it to the Vanier Cup.