Stirring semifinal tilts from Antigonish to Vancouver: GRUFF Vol. 2, part ii

There are 10 playoff games in the CFL and Canadian university football on Nov. 2, and you should consider following some of them. Why is this not organized like a top 10 list? Blame the young editors.

When there is a dramatic winning touchdown like, the urge is to ask offensive linemen how it hit them on a gut level.

The upfront-fellas are the engine room of a football team; not much happens when they are not functioning. And most of their progress is measured in feet and inches and micro-movements and euphemism such as pad level and leverage. Even in a One Last Heave situation, they still have create time for the quarterback, and not commit a penalty.

That happened in the late-afternoon suite of NFL games on Sunday — Washington over Chicago, on a Hail Mary pass that Noah Brown nabbed after nestling behind a flock of players who redirected the ball to him.

And, oh, there was the Logan Walton Special that put the Queen’s Gaels over against the Windsor Lancers in an Ontario University Athletics playoff game. Watch it again; thank goodness Powerplay Sports was capturing video after the OUA.tv webcast went kaputt with two minutes remaining. The muse tells Walton to go long, and Russell Weir puts it right in his hands, in between two defenders.

Anyway, for any media left in Kingston, Ont., siddle up to the starting O-line this week. Ask centre Chase De Vries, guards Dawson Waldner and Daniel Sudac, and tackles Jas Khaira and Niklas Henning how that looked.

Anyway, an extended ‘negauche’ with the editors led to spending early Sunday evening riffing about 10 semifinal playoff games in the Canadian Football League, and the four sport conferences within U Sports. All four of ’em — Ainsley, Brennan, Cortland, and Dyrmett — sent notes ‘strongly suggesting’ that the GRUFF includes “CFL and U Sports semifinal previews.” They did not take it well when it was pointed out ‘U Sports football’ is just the last two weeks of the seasons.

There were also sent a yellow-highlighted PDF of the contract stating, “Nathan Sager does not make picks; this could be construed as betting advice, and the tele-conglomerates already do that in the guise of actual broadcast journalism.”

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CFL

The play-nice is to start with the sub-semis (division semifinals) first. There will be a “head” and “heart” choice. Incidentally, it feels like something was cut out of the normal script.

East: Ottawa Redblacks at Toronto Argonauts (Sat., 3 p.m.), Winner faces: Montréal Alouettes, Nov. 9

Heart: There is a Redblacks rookie wide receiver, Kalil Pimpleton, on the Redblacks, who generated lots of MAC-tion in his days with the Central Michigan Chippewas. When he is going, so is Ottawa and QB Dru Brown — only Pimpleton has been injured, and got cheap-shotted in a game against Saskatchewan four weeks ago.

The Redblacks are five seasons removed from their last playoff win. C’mon, let ’em have one.

Head: Dark-timeline dwellers expect the Argonauts to win so Chad Kelly, a verified workplace sexual harasser, can stretch out his 18th second chance in high-level football. The Argonauts deserve to go down hard, and there is a better chance that happens at Montréal anyway.

The play-nice is to start with the sub-semis (division semifinals) first. There will be a “head” and “heart” choice.

West: B.C. Lions at Saskatchewan Roughriders (6:30 p.m.). Winner faces: Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Nov. 9

Heart: Think of the parallels to 1994 and 2011 when the Lions won the Grey Cup as the host team, which they are attempting in 2024.

Like the 1994 crew, this is a third-place Lions who had a 9-9-0 regular season where they worked through quarterback issues. The most recent prima facie evidence is that Vernon Adams Jr. is a better conduit for B.C.’s good energy than repatriated Nathan Rourke, and he could beat the Roughriders.

The parallels are that in both 1994 and 2011, the Vancouver Canucks lost Game 7 of hockey’s Stanley Cup fianl and Vancouver had riots. In the fall, the Lions won the Grey Cup at home. The ’94 team rotated hall of famers Kent Austin and Danny McManus almost seamlessly as they won two away games, then walked it of against all-American Baltimore.

It is a little different. There has been a narrowing of the mind that believes two-QB systems and coalition governments are suspiciously Euro-socialist. Also, in the last Stanley Cup playoffs the Canucks lost Game 7 in the Stanley Cup second round to the Oilers and Connor McDavid, and feigned happiness with the result.

Head: The ’Riders are home, and have known all along that Trevor Harris is their quarterback. The assured and confident team that has known it wasn’t travelling for the playoffs is usually more reliable. Third-place teams are great wild cards, though.

Mostly, though, there is no ability to shake how the 3DownNation recap from the Winnipeg-Montréal season finale talks about how a “weather phenomenon helped Winnipeg achieve its goal” of finishing first place in the West Division. It consigned Saskatchewan to second, allowing the ’Riders and Harris to ease into the playoffs.

Conspiracism abounds! It points to the Football Fates wanting the most easterly West final — Saskatchewan at Winnipeg — before a Vancouver Grey Cup. Challenge the organizers to maintain enthusiasm without the local Lions, or the two Alberta teams.

Also, having followed the football team building careers of men of influence, it would not come as a shock that the Blue Bombers might be trying to alter weather. President and CEO Wade Miller, general manager Kyle Walters, and head coach Michael O’Shea are are alumni of universities with agricultural programs. Throw in that O’Shea is from North Bay, Ont., an old air force base town, and let’s just say that someone may have already said too much.

The Vanier Cup Bracket Is Set

For all intensive purposes, the four conference playoffs, and the #ChampSZN, should be put into one bracket. This is meant to help any medias understand who is playing who, who goes where. These seeds are figurative — which means they are not real, but might as well be since there is no reseeding.

The Bishop’s Gaiters draw the No. 1 overall seed, fig-ur-a-tive-ly, since they have home-field advantage through to the Vanier Cup. That means top OUA seed Laurier is No. 4, the Manitoba Bisons are No. 2, and the Laval Rouge et Or are the No. 3 seed.

Let’s start top right quadrant (Canada West, Hardy Trophy), bottom right corner (Québec, Dunsmore Cup). Then across to the top left quadrant (Atlantic, Jewett Trophy) and then zip down to finish bottom left (Ontario, Yates Cup).

Canada West — Hardy Trophy region

First things first: So to what extent, if any, did the last Alberta team with playoff hopes shoot itself in the feet in a way that seems discernible from the play-by-play sheet?

The Alberta Golden Bears-Regina Rams game last Friday (Oct. 25) was a win-and-in for both sides. And for the second week in row, the Golden Bears were playing with house money, up by three scores in the third quarter. Then they had a string of plays that suggested they had decided to light that house money on fire to prove some abstract point to jerks back in Central Canada.

So was there feet-shooting? Well, of course Alberta did that! Non-intentional safeties are relatively rare in Canadian football. The ball carrier or harried quarterback has so much room to get away. Yet Alberta, apparently gave up two as it blew an 18-point lead. There was also a containment issue, since Regina’s Christian Katende had 246 rushing ’n’ receiving yards at 9.1111111 per touch.¹

The second safety, which tied the score, was charged to Tyler Morris — the long snapper? — on a punt-situation play that began from Alberta’s 32-yard line. The other came during a span when Alberta was flagged twice in a row on punt returns that began from very deep in their zone.

It was still a two-scores game when the Golden Bears were backed to their 1-yard line after a UR foul (unnecessary roughness) after a return. There is no half-the-distance-to-the-goal marchoff in amateur football. Regina’s Tarick Polius got the defensive deuce on the next play by dropping the running back behind the goal line.

Nice execution, Alberta. You are doing terrifically. On to the playoffs!

(10) Saskatchewan Huskies at (7) UBC Thunderbirds (Sat., 4 p.m.)

That atmospheric river might have to return to keep Saskatchewan/Anton Amundrud, and UBC/ Garrett Rooker, under a combined score of 70.

They each passed for at least 320 yards in the reg-season tilt. Now, in March Madness, 10 seeds beat 7s about half the time, often since they had to be in a Desperate Hockey mindset. Saskatchewan has won four games in a row since that loss against UBC, where Amundrud was charged with two fourth-quarter interceptions, including one on UBC’s 12-yard line. Rooker was INT-free that day.

No one in the East should ever try to predict what will happen out west. Localized trolling cells can asperse away with the UBC defence. It allowed 436 rushing yards, 569 overall, and 51 points at Manitoba.

(15) Regina Rams at (2) Manitoba Bisons (Sat., 3 p.m.)

The lone regular-season tilt between the Rams (3-5) and Bisons (7-1) came when Manitoba was on a voyage of self-discovery. They had a four-game span where they always tallied 22 to 24 points, and went 3-1 in that span.

That reads as if they were working on the complementary and situational football that shows up more in November. Once that was working out, they could trust Jackson Tachinski, the offensive line, and the touchdown threats to produce.

Regina unlocked a playoff berth one season after a 1-7 showing in 2023. It is a laurel. Jacob Tkachuk had the wrapup interception for Regina in the last minute. The play is on Twitter, and worth watching.

Québec — Dunsmore Cup region

(11) McGill Redbirds at (6) Montréal Carabins (3 p.m.); (14) Concordia Stingers at (3) Laval Rouge et Or (12 noon)

C’est une situation du type «appelle-moi quand …». Others can concoct radical hypotheses on how one or both behemoths might get bumped, mais non, the same two teams have met in 10 Dunsmore Cup games in a row, and 12 of the last 14. Neither of the other two semifinalists has won a playoff game since 2008.

The best pick-up was finding out that if Laval and Montréal score the same number of points against in their season series, then first place is decided by fewest points allowed. So the Rouge et Or get top spot since they allowed only 52 points in their six games against the Q’s le petit trois of Concordia, McGill, and Sherbrooke. The Carabins allowed 77.

The away team is 5-5 in the last 10 Dunsmore games. There might also be a theory that just as some football players have a nose for the ball, the Carabins, being in Montréal and all, had more temptations during the early season. Not the ones on Rue Ste-Catherine, but ribs.

August is Ribs Season through the Windsor to Québec City corridor. It is a bit of cultural signalling, sure, and it all takes places when these teams are in two-a-days. Montréal was the bye team in Week 1. That would have been a window of opportunity for groups of players to bond by finding most succulentest, juiciest, meat-that-falls-off-the-bone-like-an-Italian-at-Euro ribs.

It takes time to work off the ribs-legs. However, the Carabins know their entire season is usually the Dunsmore Cup, and they have won those at Laval.

Atlantic — Jewett Trophy region

(9) Saint Mary’s Huskies at (8) St. Francis Xavier X-Men (1 p.m. ET)

The quarterback matchup is a land of contrasts, and these rivals had a dress rehearsal last Saturday. The Huskies and rookie QB Allan Young gelled for some late TDs against St. FX, so regardless of what scheme or what personnel the X-Men used, that helps their confidence as the underdog.

Silas Fagnan, the X-Men QB, is a super-senior type. In one of the St. FX-SMU regular season games, he wore three interceptions, but shook it up and led a game-winning fourth-quarter drive. Every season, there are seasoned, multi-season starting QBs who go out on a loss at home, but their teams are a default choice with good reason.

(16) Acadia Axemen at (1) Bishop’s Gaiters (2 p.m. ET)

Oh, right, 4-of-5 teams make the playoffs in Atlantic University Sport. Bishop’s outscored Acadia 99-25 in the season series. Odder outcomes have happened, one minds, of course.

Seven weeks ago at home against Acadia, the Gaiters did not need Justin Quirion to pass 20 times whilst amassing 70 points, 35 first downs, and 745 yards, most of which were gained with the forward pass. Well, hey, a team can peak too soon.

Ontario — Yates Cup region

(12) Guelph Gryphons at (5) Western Mustangs (1 p.m. ET)

Whelp, good luck to Guelph at trying out-Western Western at Western. The teams have not met. Western has put it on common opponents of quality a bit more than Guelph has, for what that is worth. Western has the senior QB, Evan Hillock, and Guelph has first-time playoffs starter Tristan Aboud.

Western is going to Western. It is the teams that follow the same formula that grate a little more. Watching ball-control offences is not that much fun, although it is needed to win when the weather turns.

Since getting torched for 43 points by Laurier, Western has got back into their bean-counting BiffBall bit, amassing the empty calories that have to be mentioned for the sake of playing nice… 46 points and 630 yards on McMaster, 360 rushing yards with an 8.4 average.

The Gryphons won their quarterfinal with a 273-yards, 8.0-average rushing day, with fewer than 100 passing yards. Perhaps they have passing schemes that will ask questions of Western that only Laurier has asked.

(13) Queen’s Gaels at (4) Laurier Golden Hawks (1 p.m. ET)

Do not get overconfident, Laurier. This is their moment for the whole Golden Hawks gang. It was all explained last week:

Good luck. Enjoy the footballing.

This is more than enough for now. Please stay safe, and be kind — especially to yourself.

Oct. 26-27, 2024
Hamilton, Ont. : upon the traditional territories of the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Mississaugas.

1. Source: usports.ca.