Montreal Carabins going to Vanier Cup after outlasting Manitoba Bisons in Uteck Bowl thriller

Safety Anthony Coady, just as he did seven days ago, saved the Montreal Carabins' dream of playing in the Vanier Cup in their hometown.

The Carabins, for the second week in a row, made a defensive stand in the red zone when a touchdown would have meant defeat, as they held off the Manitoba Bisons 29-26 in the Uteck Bowl semifinal at raucous CEPSUM Stadium. They also did their part to ensure next week's Vanier Cup at Molson Satadium, which already has 14,000 tickets sold a week in advance, will have a raucous atmosphere.

The upstart Bisons and quarterback Jordan Yantz, who was a roll-out wondering while passing 22-of-35 for 320 yards and two touichdowns while running in a third, traversed 84 yards in less than a minute to reach the Carabins' 12-yard line with ample time to score. On first down with 42 seconds left, Coady came in on a safety blitz and strip-sacked Yantz on a rollout. Middle linebacker Byron Archambault recovered the fumble to end a thriller, as Montreal conceded a safety while running out the clock.

The win sends the No. 2-ranked Carabins to the Vanier Cup next Saturday in Montreal against the winner of the Mount Allison-McMaster Mitchell Bowl. Coady also had a touchdown-saving end-zone pass breakup that kept the Carabins alive in their overtime win over Laval in the Dunsmore Cup on Nov. 15.

The game was an air battle, as Carabins quarterback Gabriel Cousineau was 24-for-35 for 421 yards and also had two touchdown passes and a rushing score, although he matched his season total with three interceptions. Mikhail Davidson had a game-high 142 yards on five catches and was on the end of both scoring strikes.

All six touchdowns came in the first 30 minutes. Manitoba's defence settled down late in the first half after deciding to pressure Cousineau, who's generally a pocket passer, with only four rushers while shoring up its coverage. Bisons linebacker Jonathan Jones also was awarded a controversial interception late in the third quarter after wrenching the ball away from Davidson at the end of a play.

Yantz, a fifth-year quarterback who was also his team's leading rusher with six rushes for 61 yards, kept Montreal guessing all afternoon with some sleight-of-hand on play fakes and read options. Yantz spread the ball around between Zach Regert (five catches, 88 yards), Dustin Pedersen (five for 87) and Matt Sawyer (five for 80, including two TDs).

The Bisons controlled the fourth quarter; down 29-21, they had a chance for a touchdown and a game-tying two-point convert after Montreal's defence was flagged for being offside on a third-and-one with 2:26 to play. Three plays later, Bisons coach Brian Dobie opted for a long field goal by Ryan Jones instead of gambling on third-and-10.

The Bisons defence rewarded their coach's show of faith by forcing a Carabins punt. However, Felix Menard-Briere booted a 60-yarder out of bounds at the Bisons 14. Despite the poor starting position, Yantz and the Bisons nearly pulled it off before Coady's well-timed blitz sealed the outcome.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.