Justin Dunk
CFL.ca
Something special is going on at the University of Sherbrooke.
The Vert et Or clinched their first ever home playoff game in 2011 and two of the top CFL prospects for the 2012 Canadian draft have helped thrust the Vert et Or into the national spotlight.
Simon Charbonneau-Campeau burst onto the Canadian university football scene two years ago. The 6-4 205-pound receiver led the entire CIS with 1,121 receiving yards, over 360 yards more than the next closest competitor, and six touchdowns in 2010.
Campeau’s stellar campaign earned him Quebec conference MVP honours that season, becoming the first receiver to earn the award since 1997.
It was a meteoric rise to stardom for the Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelleu native. Campeau started playing football for the Saint Jean Giants in 2007, one year before he enrolled at Sherbrooke as an engineering major.
Campeau, who holds his academics in high regard, had narrowed his choices down to the Rouge et Or and Vert et Or coming out of CEGEP. He chose Sherbrooke because he favoured their engineering program and liked the atmosphere of the city. However, it was a different kind of football that Campeau played as a youngster.
“He was a soccer goalie and was playing at a high level of soccer,” Vert et Or head coach Andre Bolduc said. “He was playing for Team Canada in his age group.”
A productive goalkeeper requires strong hands and great body control – two primary assets possessed by any prototypical receiver. However, Campeau’s football career didn’t even begin as a pure pass catcher, he lined up as a tight end in his only season with the Giants.
“I saw a lot of Saint Jean’s games in 2007 and I noticed they had a tall tight end that didn’t have much experience,” Bolduc said. “He had strong hands, was 6-4 and had good skills, so I told my coaches around here if we could get him we could turn him into a wide receiver.”
Bolduc certainly has a propensity for discovering and developing elite CIS receivers, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that he has experience at the position himself. Sherbrooke’s bench boss played his university football at Concordia and carved out a six-year CFL career with Ottawa, Edmonton and Montreal.
Along with his playing background, Bolduc has a history of mentoring pass catchers since he was hired at Sherbrooke in 2007. He has produced four All-Canadian receivers: Samuel Giguere (2007), Alain Dorval (2008), Alexandre Poirier (2010) and Campeau (2010) in his first four years with the Vert et Or football program.
So it goes without saying that when Bolduc speaks, his receivers listen and Campeau, in particular, has soaked up all the knowledge his coach has bestowed upon him since he was a green rookie in 2008.
“Technically I was just bad my first year, I didn’t know how to run a route or know how to recognize coverage,” he said.
In his first season at Sherbrooke, Campeau dressed in just two games – his only registered statistic that year was a special teams tackle. During spring camp in 2009, Bolduc saw his young receiver blossom into the type of pass catcher he had envisioned while watching him play at Saint Jean.
“He always had a good work ethic – I molded him exactly like I wanted, everything I told him he did.” Bolduc said. “In spring camp he made some great progress and he became a starter his second year.”
As a first-stringer in 2009, Campeau led his team in receiving, making 30 receptions for 502 yards and three touchdowns. His 2009 output was just an appetizer for his monster 2010 year.
After his MVP campaign last season, Campeau lost his wingman, when Poirier, Sherbrooke’s other All-Canadian pass catcher, was lost to graduation – little did he or his coach know a new highly touted receiver was about to become available.
Ismael Bamba, a Montreal native, earned a scholarship from the University of North Dakota after being named a dual All-Conference selection as a receiver and return man while playing for the St. Leonard Cougars of the Canadian Junior Football League in 2007.
Bamba dressed nine games, starting one, with North Dakota in 2008. He recorded 21 receptions for 310 yards and three touchdowns as a true freshman and also returned 11 kickoffs for 307 yards.
But after falling out of favour and not seeing any game action in his second year, Bamba decided he would return to his home province after sitting out the 2010 season to continue his university football career.
“Around Christmas time last year I received a phone call from Ismael and he said he was coming back to Quebec and he was choosing between Sherbrooke, Laval and Montreal,” Bolduc said.
Bolduc was very familiar with Bamba, their paths having crossed many times through Quebec football circles. Most notably, Bolduc coached against him in CEGEP, and also scouted Bamba when he was playing for provincial and national level teams. Bamba was a member of Team Canada’s junior squad, which captured the Global Junior Championship in 2007.
“I knew him from a lot of years back,” Bolduc said.
“He knew we were passing the ball a lot – we had three receivers on the first team of All-Canadians, one as a returner in 2010. So we got his attention with that. I told him it could be a one year shot before you go pro and I told him I would help him achieve that goal.”
After seeing the prolific passing numbers the Vert et Or were putting up, and hearing what Coach Bolduc had to say, Bamba was convinced Sherbrooke was the place where he would have the best opportunity to showcase his dynamic skill set and enrolled in January earlier this year.
“He’s got good size, but amazing speed, blazing speed,” Bolduc said. “He’s full speed after two steps so when he runs a route you have to give him a cushion. When he catches the ball it’s two steps and he’s back to full speed again.”
“He’s a natural tackle breaker,” Campeau said.
It didn’t take long for Bamba to show how dangerous he could be, and his presence helped draw defenders away from Campeau during the 2011 regular schedule.
“After the first game everyone saw this man was a weapon and defences had to adjust,” Campeau said. “He has helped me to get some one-on-ones in the game and I am helping him too.”
The pair of talented pass catchers were the best duo in the RSEQ during the regular schedule, Campeau was first – third in the CIS – with 854 receiving yards among all Quebec conference receivers, and Bamba, who had 543 yards catching the football, was fourth. Although, the 6-1 speedster brings another skill set to the table.
“He’s a good returner, he’s going to get great attention from the CFL because of that,” Bolduc said. “He’s a ratio changer, he could return punts for you as a Canadian – there is not many guys that could do that.”
Bamba racked up 518 total return yards on just 30 attempts in nine games with Sherbrooke this season. He took two kicks all the way back for touchdowns, which tied for the CIS lead among all return men.
Whether it’s number one, Bamba, or 81, Campeau, opposing defences have been burned all season long and CIS defensive coordinators have been searching for ways to keep the pair out of their nightmares.
Although, aside from the gaudy statistics, the most impressive aspect of what each has accomplished this season is that they have been consistently productive with a rookie pivot, Jeremi Doyon-Roch, throwing them the football.
“Sometimes the ball is not exactly where we want it to go, but they still make plays,” Bolduc said. “They have made some great catches on deep balls and they have helped Jeremi a lot this year.”
Despite lining up with a rookie pivot, Campeau and Bamba have led the Sherbrooke offence to over 28 points per game in 2011. And come this weekend in Toronto, two of the CFL Scouting Bureau’s top-11 rated prospects will be looking to show what they can add to a CFL offence.
