CFL.ca Staff
QUEBEC CITY — The 46th Desjardins Vanier Cup festivities officially kicked off on Wednesday morning with the traditional Meet the Teams media conference at Loews Le Concorde Hotel in downtown Quebec City.
The Canada West and Mitchell Bowl champion University of Calgary Dinos (9-2) and the QUFL and Uteck Bowl champion Laval University Rouge et Or (12-0) face off Saturday at 11:45 a.m. Eastern (9:45 a.m. MT) in the CIS football final, live on TSN and Radio-Canada.
Calgary makes a late November visit to PEPS Stadium for the third time in as many years. The Dinos fell 33-31 to Queen’s in last year’s national title match and had lost 59-10 to the Rouge et Or in the 2008 Uteck Bowl, which remains the only previous meeting in history between the two powerhouses.
Both head coaches agreed Saturday’s duel should be a classic matchup between the Dinos’ high-powered offence and the Rouge et Or’s dominating defence.
“Our offence is a little young but our defence is very mature,” said Laval’s Glen Constantin, whose team led the nation for the third straight season and for the fifth time in seven years in conference play, allowing a stingy 6.4 points per game. “The Dinos have so many weapons, starting with Erik (Glavic) at quarterback. They are not only stacked up at the skill positions, they’re also very physical on the line. They are going to be our biggest challenge of the season.”
“Their defence is very, very good. They are very athletic,” said Calgary’s Blake Nill, whose troops have scored 35 points or more in each of its last five games, including 40, 56 and 35-point outputs in the playoffs. “With them, it’s not just one guy. You have to be aware of all of them at all times.”
After an injury-plagued regular season, Calgary quarterback Erik Glavic has been on fire of late with 11 touchdown passes and only two interceptions in three playoff wins. The two-time Hec Crighton trophy winner knows limiting turnovers will be one of the keys to success on Saturday.
“I can’t throw interceptions against Laval. We have to protect the football,” said Glavic, who threw for 354 yards in the 2009 Vanier Cup against Queen’s but was picked off twice. “They have 14 interceptions in three playoff games. That’s what they do. They’re really aggressive and they force turnovers.”
The Rouge et Or had four interceptions in their thrilling 13-11 Uteck Bowl win over Western last Saturday, including a pair by all-star cornerback Olivier Turcotte-Létourneau.
Laval defensive lineman Marc-Antoine L. Fortin welcomes the challenge of facing Glavic and the high-flying Dinos’ offence.
“They can hurt you in the air and on the ground,” said the defensive MVP of the 2008 Vanier Cup. “But we’ll be ready. Our coaches always prepare us very well.”
The Dinos tallied 263 yards passing and 181 rushing last Saturday in their 35-8 domination of Saint Mary’s, including 127 yards on only 14 carries by Mitchell Bowl MVP Steven Lumbala.
“It should be a great game. We’re excited to get another shot at the title,” Lumbala said.
