58th Vanier Cup

58th Vanier Cup
UBC Thunderbirds Montreal Carabins
(6–2) (7–1)
9 16
Head coach: 
 Head coach: 
1234 Total
UBC Thunderbirds 0603 9
Montreal Carabins 9070 16
DateNovember 25, 2023
StadiumRichardson Memorial Stadium
LocationKingston, Ontario
Ted Morris Memorial TrophyJonathan Sénécal
Bruce Coulter AwardNicky Farinaccio
National anthemAll the Queen's Men
RefereeBrent Young
Attendance7109
Broadcasters
NetworkEnglish: CBC Sports[1]
French: TVA Sports[2]
AnnouncersMark Lee (play-by-play)
Dashawn Stephens (analyst)
Signa Butler (sideline reporter)

The 2023 Vanier Cup, the 58th edition of the U Sports Football Championship, took place on November 25, 2023 at Richardson Memorial Stadium in Kingston, Ontario.[3][4] The game determined the U Sports football national champion for the 2023 season.

The Montreal Carabins defeated the UBC Thunderbirds by a score of 16–9 to win the second Vanier Cup championship in program history.[5]

Host

This was the first time that Kingston hosted the Vanier Cup since its inception in 1965.[6] However, it was the third time that the school had hosted the university final, with the others taking place in 1920 and 1929.[6]

Background

Semi-final games

Further information: 2023 U Sports football season

It was announced that according to the rotating schedule, the Québec conference Dunsmore Cup championship team would host the Yates Cup Ontario championship team for the Uteck Bowl. The winners of the Canada West Hardy Trophy would host the Atlantic conference's Loney Bowl championship team for the Mitchell Bowl.[3] These games were scheduled to be played on November 18, 2023.[3]

In the first semifinal, UBC defeated St. Francis Xavier 47–17. In the second semifinals, Montreal defeated Western 29–3.[7] This was UBC's first finals since 2015, and Montreal's first since 2019, when they lost against Calgary.

Bracket

 
November 18th
Semi-finals		November 25th
Final
 
      
 
Uteck Bowl – Montreal, QC
 
 
Montreal29
 
Vanier Cup – Kingston, ON
 
Western3
 
Montreal16
 
Mitchell Bowl – Vancouver, BC
 
UBC9
 
UBC47
 
 
St. Francis Xavier17
 

Teams

The championship game matched UBC from the Canada West Conference and Montreal from the RSEQ Conference. The programs previously met for the 51st Vanier Cup, when UBC captured their fourth national championship.[8]

Statistics

Team statistical comparison
Statistics Montreal UBC
First downs 17 18
First downs rushing 10 6
First downs passing 7 12
First downs penalty 0 0
Third down efficiency 2–2 4–8
Fourth down efficiency 0–0 0–0
Rushing attempts–net yards 20–163 21–84
Yards per rush 8.2 4.0
Yards passing 170 279
Pass completions–attempts 16–26 26–40
Interceptions thrown 1 0
Punt returns–total yards 9–348 4–111
Kickoff returns–total yards 3–155 1–50
Possession time 27:43 32:17
Montreal statistics
Carabins passing
Name C–A Yds TD–INT
Jonathan Senecal 16–17 170 0–1
Carabins rushing
Name Car Yds TD
Jonathan Senecal 6 53 1
Globi Halafu 5 47 0
Iraghi Muganda 2 24 1
Lucas Bertet-Dembele 3 18 0
Carl Chabot 3 18 0
Redval Keita 1 3 0
Carabins receiving
Name Rec Yds TD
Iraghi Muganda 4 68 0
Carl Chabot 4 41 0
William Legault 2 29 0
Brandon Gourdon 2 16 0
Lucas Bertet-Dembele 2 7 0
D. Alexandre 1 6 0
Simon Riopel 1 3 0
UBC statistics
Thunderbirds passing
Name C–A Yds TD–INT
Garrett Rooker 26–40 279 0–0
Thunderbirds rushing
Name Car Yds TD
Isaiah Knight 15 74 0
Dane Kapler 5 14 0
Iraghi Muganda 1 2 1
Thunderbirds receiving
Name Rec Yds TD
Sam Davenport 5 66 0
Dane Kapler 5 64 0
Lucas Robertson 5 34 0
Jason Soriano 1 30 0
Ryan Baker 1 25 0
Isaiah Knight 2 23 0
Cesare Rednour-Bruc 2 18 0
Shemar McBean 3 7 0
Eric Williams-Her 1 6 0
Gavin Owen 1 6 0

References

  1. ^ "CBC Sports to broadcast U Sports national championships for next 4 years". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. September 20, 2021.
  2. ^ "Carabins and Rouge et Or to launch the 2020 university football season at TVA Sports". U Sports. February 28, 2020. Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "U Sports Championship Information". U Sports. September 13, 2022. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  4. ^ "Queen's University to host the 2023 and 2024 Vanier Cup". U Sports. March 30, 2023.
  5. ^ "Football boxscore". U Sports. November 25, 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Queen's University to host the 2023 and 2024 U Sports Vanier Cup". Queen's Gaels. March 30, 2023.
  7. ^ "Montreal Carabins dominate Western Mustangs to advance to Vanier Cup". TSN. The Canadian Press. 2023-11-18. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
  8. ^ "UBC Thunderbirds beat Montreal to win Vanier Cup". www.sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 2023-11-22.