We’re searching for Canada’s greatest football program. And your vote will help decide the winner. This week we have Laval taking on Saint Mary’s.
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LAVAL
Schools have a tendency to give their mascots silly names. The University of Toronto has a beaver named Trevor True Blue. Queen’s has Boo Hoo, a tartan-hatted bear. Western has a white and purple mustang who answers to the name JW. They’re all very cuddly creatures, though none truly captures the essence of its school’s identity like Victor, the mildly insane-looking bird who patrols Université Laval’s sidelines during games. But it’s not the mischief in his eyes or the feathers coming out his ears that make him synonymous with his school. It’s just his name. Victor stands for victory, just like Laval itself.
Laval may be the oldest post-secondary institution in the country, but the school’s football program is only 17. In their first season in 1996, the newly helmeted Rouge et Or went 1-8. In their fourth, they won a national title by beating St. Mary’s 14–10 in Toronto. So say what you will about the lack of heritage Laval brings to the college gridiron—this school has achieved more in its short lifespan than its rivals have accomplished over the past five decades. With 11 conference titles, a .752 all-time winning percentage and a record seven Vanier Cups, the Rouge et Or are the most dominant team in CIS.
And since no other school in Canada seems able to compete with them on the field, many trash the Quebec City–based school with tired criticisms about how their athletics programs are too rich and have too much of a lock on coveted French-Canadian athletes. Yes, Laval’s athletics program is one of the wealthiest in the country, allowing the football team to operate on a $2-million budget. But the majority of that budget comes from community outreach and fundraising. So the real strength of the program isn’t its ability to buy Vanier Cup wins, but rather the efficacy with which they have gained the community’s support.
No other school enjoys such a large and financially supportive fan base (an average of 14,257 attended the team’s home games in 2012), which has allowed Laval to invest in equipment, coaches and recruitment techniques. But none of this equals cheating, and the athletic directors of other universities are quick to admit that they’re the ones who now have to catch up. Until they do, it’s likely the Rouge et Or will continue to dominate on gridirons across the country and build on their short but sterling resumé.
– Brett Popplewell
ROUGE ET OR BY THE NUMBERS:
Vanier Cup wins: 7
Vanier Cup appearances: 8
Conference titles: 11
CIS MOPs: 1
NFL players produced: 0
CFL players produced: 30 (37 drafted)
All-time winning percentage: .752
SAINT MARY’S
Blake Nill knows he sounds like a beaming father boasting that his kid is the smartest and best-looking of them all. But it’s not crazy to say that the Saint Mary’s University Huskies he coached to a Vanier Cup in 2001 were the best college football team ever to grace a field in this country.
“I know I’m biased, but I would put them against anybody,” says Nill between pre-season practices with the University of Calgary Dinos, where he’s now head coach. “It was an amazing football team.”
They outscored their opponents 480–35 in that undefeated season. They didn’t allow a rushing touchdown all year. In the semifinals, they humiliated Laval 48–8, then dismantled a powerhouse University of Manitoba team 42–16 in the championship. But that was only the shiniest highlight in SMU’s long run of CIS dominance: nine Vanier Cup appearances, three wins and 24 conference championships in all (including 10 between 1999 and 2010). And they’ve done all that despite facing strong conference opposition in St. Francis Xavier University and Mount Allison University. SMU is one of the smallest schools in CIS football, but they’ve continually punched above their weight, besting opponents with three or four times their 7,400 students.
Still, as good as the 2001 Huskies were, when mighty Laval rolled in for the semifinals at SMU with two tractor-trailers packed with their own training and practice equipment, everyone in Halifax gulped a little.
“We’re going, ‘Geez, are we in the minor leagues here?’ It was quite intimidating; the players were really freaked out,” Nill says. But in the end, the only points Laval slipped past SMU were on a punt return at the end of the game.
By the time they walked into SkyDome to face Manitoba for the Vanier Cup, Nill suspected his players were motivated by something other than his rousing speeches — and he was just fine with that. Legendary SMU coach Larry Uteck had been at the helm for seven conference championships and taken the Huskies to three national championships; they couldn’t seal the deal before Nill took the reins in 1998. By 2001, ALS had robbed Uteck of his mobility and speech, but there he was in a private box at the Vanier Cup, wearing SMU colours.
When the Huskies won, they brought Uteck down onto the field and the players swarmed him, perching the Vanier Cup right in front of him. In photos of that moment, a crooked grin lights up the coach’s still-youthful face. Uteck died on Christmas Day 2002, a month after SMU took their second consecutive national championship.
Now, that amazing 2001 season is a memory Nill keeps close.
“I look upon it as a real highlight in my career,” he says, “and I try to use that when I need a jump-start to remember what it was like to be the best.”
– Shannon Proudfoot
HUSKIES BY THE NUMBERS:
Vanier Cup wins: 3
Vanier Cup appearances: 9
Conference titles: 24
CIS MOPs: 4
NFL players produced: 2
CFL players produced: 31
All-time winning percentage: .659