For the first time in 43 years the Grey Cup and Vanier Cup champs reign supreme from the same city, The University of Montréal defeated the University of British Columbia 16-9 in the 58th Vanier Cup on Saturday afternoon in Kingston, Ontario. What a week for football in Montreal, one week after the Montréal Alouettes won the 110th Grey Cup, The Carabins capped off their 2023 campaign with a national championship.
The Carabins entered the game with Hec Crighton award winner Jonathan Senecal as the most outstanding player in all of U Sports and most outstanding defensive player Harold Miessan as the President’s Trophy winner. At this age in time, offence is all anybody wants to watch but the Carabins defence has stolen the show during Montréal’s run to a Vanier Cup.
Entering the game Montréal’s defence had more turnovers (17) than points surrendered (12) in the previous three games. That was the story once again, Montréal forced four turnovers including three turnover on downs and one fumble while holding UBC to only three FGs on the day, once again keeping an opponent out of the endzone. Montréal Linebacker Nicky Farinaccio finished the game with defensive player of the game honours.
Carabins Quarterback Jonathan Senecal left his mark on the game, going 11 of 26 passing for 171 yards an interception and contributed 50 yards rushing on 10 carries with one TD. Senecal’s seven-yard rushing touchdown in the 3rd quarter turned out to be the game winner and the quarterback’s legs was the difference all day, escaping the pocket finding the open receiver as well as being decisive when tucking the ball to run.
The Vanier Cup Champion and Hec Crighton award winner now joins a list of five players to previously do the same in one season, not to mention also bringing home a Vanier Cup MVP in only his 3rd year of eligibility.
UBC’s defence battled all day, keeping the Thunderbirds in the game all the way to the end but the offence couldn’t produce enough points. UBC quarterback Garret Rooker finished 26 of 40 for 278 passing yards with no touchdowns, which ultimately was the downfall of the TBirds on the afternoon.
Running back Isaiah Knight, ran for a game high 73 yards on 15 carries but had a costly fumbled lost and recovered by Montreal on their own 39-yard line. The Thunderbird’s offence didn’t look quite comfortable for most of the game, the Carabins did a great job disguising their pressure up front while playing fantastic top-down coverage not allowing much separation down the field. UBC’s Kicker Kieran Flannery-Fleck finished the game 3 for 3 making field goals from 24, 31, and 41 yards.
The 58th Vanier Cup was a rematch of the 51st Vanier Cup back in November 2015, the thunderbirds won 26-23 on a last second field goal. Since then, UBC has failed to advance past the Hardy Cup. On the other hand, Montréal has been so close for a few years going back to their loss in the 2019 Vanier Cup to the University of Calgary, loss in the 2021 Uteck bowl to the University of Saskatchewan, and last year a heart breaking one point loss to the University of Laval in the Dunsmore Cup. This time around the Carabins would simply not be denied the programs first Vanier Cup since 2014 and second in program history.
UBC will enter next year as the hunted, seeing as their defending Canada West champs but repeating as so won’t be an easy task in the strongest conference in U Sports. When the Thunderbirds return to play, they’ll be without to huge pillars in Theo Benedet and Giovanni Manni pursuing their dreams to go pro. Both will be missed on the field as well as the locker room. Despite having all eyes on them going into conference play next year, expect Coach Blake Nil to have his group ready to compete.
The Carabins finish their story book season with an impressive 11-1 recording including playoffs, 13 conference Allstars, 10 All Canadians, Hec Crighton winner, President’s trophy winner, and most importantly a national championship. Going into 2024 with the biggest bullseye on your back of any team in the country is no easy task but having Quarterback Jonathan Senecal return behind centre will be a huge factor for Montréal next season.
The 59th Vanier Cup will return to Richardson Memorial Stadium in Kingston, Ontario in 2024. An attendance of 7,100 people at this years Vanier Cup most of which making the short trip to cheer for Montreal made for a great atmosphere. U Sports also announced the Vanier Cup will return to the province of Saskatchewan for the first time since 2006 in Saskatoon, The 60th will be held at Mosaic Stadium in Regina as well as returning to the University of Laval in 2026 for the 61st Vanier Cup in Quebec City.