U SPORTS Photo/Jake Martella
The reigning Vanier Cup champion Western Mustangs top the U SPORTS football national rankings for the second consecutive week.
Coming off an early break in their OUA schedule, the Mustangs (1-0) received 123 voting points from the Football Reporters of Canada panel and an additional 130 from the ELO Rating System for a combined total of 253.
For the second straight Tuesday, the Laval Rouge et Or (2-0 / 233 points), Montreal Carabins (1-0 / 190), Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (2-0 / 184), Calgary Dinos (1-0 / 171) and UBC Thunderbirds (1-0 / 136) follow in order.
Western (9), Laval (3) and Calgary (1) each merited first-place votes from the 13-member FRC panel.
Rounding out the second top 10 of the 2018 campaign are, in order, the previously-unranked Carleton Ravens (1-1 / 63 points), the Guelph Gryphons (1-1 / 60), who hold on to eighth place, as well as the Ottawa Gee-Gees (1-1 / 50) and Saskatchewan Huskies (1-0 / 25), two teams that were also on the outside looking in a week ago.
While top-ranked Western and third-seeded Montreal both enjoyed a bye this past weekend, No. 2 Laval displayed all its firepower on Saturday night in its home opener against Concordia, following a subpar season debut at Sherbrooke.
After being held to 11 first downs and 222 yards of total offence in a 14-1 win over the Vert & Or on Aug. 24, the Rouge et Or exploded for 29 first downs and 502 yards versus the Stingers en route to a convincing 47-9 victory in Quebec City. The vaunted Laval defence was also a force, limiting the visitors to just nine first downs and 211 yards.
Meanwhile in Kingston, fourth-ranked Laurier notched its second comfortable win in as many outings, outscoring Queen’s 44-18 after dominating Ottawa 39-21 in Week 1.
In Canada West, where conference play started a week later than in the other conferences, No. 5 Calgary won a 49-35 shootout at Regina, while No. 6 UBC escaped with a 30-20 decision over visiting Manitoba.
Other Week 2 results from top-10 squads included Carleton 38, Windsor 20 (at Windsor); Guelph 33, York 18 (at Guelph); Ottawa 18, McMaster 11 (at Ottawa); Saskatchewan 42, Alberta 0 (at Saskatchewan).
The Week 3 schedule is highlighted by no less than three top-10 matchups, including a much-anticipated duel between the Rouge et Or and Carabins, Saturday at 2 p.m. in Montreal, live on TVA Sports. The RSEQ archrivals have met in each of the past five conference championship matches, all of which were decided by three points or less.
Other top-10 confrontations include UBC at Calgary on Friday night (5:30 p.m. Mountain on CanadaWest.TV), in a rematch of the past three Hardy Cup finals, as well as Guelph at Ottawa on Saturday afternoon (1 p.m. on Rogers TV and OUA.TV), in a rematch of a 2017 OUA quarter-final.
For its part, defending national champ Western, which kicked off the campaign on Aug. 26 with a narrow 26-23 overtime win at Carleton, returns to action Saturday at 4 p.m. for its home opener against 1-1 McMaster (live on OUA.TV and tape delayed on Rogers TV).
| School | Points | Record | Last Week |
| Western | 353 | 2-0 | 1 |
| Laval | 324 | 3-0 | 2 |
| Calgary | 274 | 2-0 | 5 |
| Laurier | 255 | 2-0 | 4 |
| Montreal | 233 | 1-1 | 3 |
| UBC | 121 | 1-1 | 6 |
| Saint Mary’s | 109 | 1-1 | NR |
| Carleton | 96 | 2-1 | 8 |
| Saskatchewan | 74 | 2-0 | 10 |
| Guelph | 62 | 1-2 | 8 |
Honourable Mention: Regina (40), Ottawa (24), Queen’s (9), Waterloo (5), McMaster (1).
Week 3 Scores
September 7
- Windsor 22, York 29
- UBC 7, Calgary 57
- Saskatchewan 48, Manitoba 46
- Regina 51, Alberta 13
September 8
- St. FX 25, Mt. Allison 13
- Carleton 21, Waterloo 18
- Toronto 7, Queen’s 43
- Guelph 10, Ottawa 12
- Sherbrooke 20, Concordia 22
- Acadia 39, Bishop’s 9
- Laval 12, Montreal
- McMater 6, Western 44
