Playoff Preview: Setting up the Vanier Cup
Continuing our playoff preview series, here's a look at how the McMaster Marauders and Laval Rouge et Or set up going into Friday night's Vanier Cup (9 p.m. Eastern, TSN, live blog here).
Laval is the substantial favourite here (by seven points), as they've won two of the last three Vanier Cups and were the top-ranked team for most of this season, but you can't count the Marauders out. The key here may be which team is better able to exploit its strengths; Laval's defence and ground game, or McMaster's aerial assualt? For more on that, let's get to the matchups.
McMaster offence: Five quarterback suspensions.
The Marauders' offence was generally solid this season, putting up 277 points in eight regular-season games (34.6 per game), but it still had highs and lows. The team wasn't as impressive during the suspension of quarterback Kyle Quinlan, and it took him a little while for him to regain his footing after coming back. They were clicking nicely by season's end, though, and finished first nationally with 530.5 yards per game during the regular season, averaging 329.9 through the air and 200.6 on the ground.
McMaster defence: Four missed halves.
The Marauders' strength on defence was turnovers, as they recorded a national-best 19 picks this year. They conceded 357.6 yards against per game, though, and 18.2 points. Neither of those numbers is terrible, but they certainly aren't dominant.
McMaster special teams: Three chances at redemption.
McMaster kicker Tyler Crapigna proved quite good this year, hitting 18 of his 21 attempts (86 per cent), but the punting was a bit more of an issue and they didn't really have a dominant return game. Gary Spero, their top returner by yards, was good, but not great.
Laval offence: Four dominant performances.
The Rouge and Or have a fantastic ground game with Sebastien Levesque (seen above running for a touchdown in the Mitchell Bowl), but quarterback Bruno Prud'homme hasn't wowed so far. He's capable, but this is clearly a ground-first offence.
Laval defence: Five Mitchell Bowl thumpings.
This is arguably the best unit in the country. They allowed a CIS-low 12 points per game this season and gave up just 10 in the Mitchell Bowl against an impressive Calgary team.
Laval special teams: Three conference championships.
The Rouge et Or have solid return and coverage games, but kicker Boris Bede only made 69 per cent of his field-goal attempts this year.
Add them up: 12 points each
X-Factor: The crowd. There will be over 21,000 fans in B.C. Place Friday night; who will they be supporting?
Prediction: The Marauders aren't as outmatched in this sort of ranking as the David and Goliath analogy suggests, but they're definitely still underdogs. That's because Laval's defence is good enough that it's well beyond five stars. McMaster may be able to put up a few points, and they could even win this if they get off to a fast start and the ground-based attack of the Rouge et Or can't catch up, but the odds are that the Laval defence dominates.
Laval 21, McMaster 14.
Check out our live blog here, starting shortly before game time at 9 p.m. Eastern.