Vanier

[OV Argo]

Looking forward to a great match-up: defending Champs vs. a young team on the rise.

Vet coach match-up: Nill vs. the Garden Gnome

Nice QB match-up with vet Cousineau (i say again - an outstanding pure passing QB) vs. the young gun O'Connor with all the hype around him (was at Penn State and had a good CIS rookie year)

Montreal have a big, vet O-line, a good RB and run game, some good receivers and a tough D; BC have some big-play makers on offence (Deschamps is a very tough inside RB - he should get a CFL look at tailback rather than a gob sort of look as a fullback; receivers Davis and Pinto are speedsters); BC's D is going to get a real test and not sure they have enough experience and talent there. Big advantage to UBC in the kicking game as Van Glyswick is an outstanding dual kicker (bet he plays in the CFL).

I'd bet on a Carabins repeat; but BC could win with big plays on offence or if it comes down to makable FGs.

[ArgoRavi]

Steve Burratto has done a terrific job with that UBC offence as well, OV. Looking forward to what he has in store for Maciocia's Carabins on Saturday.

[AngeloV]

Steve Burratto has done a terrific job with that UBC offence as well, OV. Looking forward to what he has in store for Maciocia's Carabins on Saturday.

Battle of the GOB's?

[OV Argo]

Battle of the GOB's?

Moochacha is the HC at Montreal wheras Burrato is just the OC for UBC, so that sort of negates that direct gob battle; not sure either team has any other card carrying gob types on their staffs. Plus - both teams run the ball with intent to work a ground game as a key to their offence and/or display balanced offence, so that is totally non-GOB like; so, no.

[AngeloV]

Moochacha is the HC at Montreal wheras Burrato is just the OC for UBC, so that sort of negates that direct gob battle; not sure either team has any other card carrying gob types on their staffs. Plus - both teams run the ball with intent to work a ground game as a key to their offence and/or display balanced offence, so that is totally non-GOB like; so, no.

I'd run the ball a lot too, if I had an O-line that dominated 75% of the defences I faced.

[1argoholic]

GO UBC GO! Keep an eye out for Marcus Davis and his older bro Terrell.

[OV Argo]

I'd run the ball a lot too, if I had an O-line that dominated 75% of the defences I faced.

So, would you pass the ball a lot if you had an O-line that was porous and had trouble protecting your QB? - see a LOT of CFL offences from the past decade or so.

Football offensive game-planning & calling has so many options; lots of ground game and some balance on offence is a choice of the offensive coaching of the team. IF you have a strong O-line and a very good RB (or two, or three), then maybe you chose lots of run play calls. If you are a GOB however - you treat the run game as ultra secondary or just a once in awhile tendency breaker, and you defer to mostly pass play calls. ALL teams in an 8 or 9 team league running the same basic offence and play-calling tendencies = boring and predictable football often IMO. Glad there is CIS ball to watch to see at least some different thinking on offence in Canadian football.

[ArgoRavi]

So, would you pass the ball a lot if you had an O-line that was porous and had trouble protecting your QB? - see a LOT of CFL offences from the past decade or so.

Football offensive game-planning & calling has so many options; lots of ground game and some balance on offence is a choice of the offensive coaching of the team. IF you have a strong O-line and a very good RB (or two, or three), then maybe you chose lots of run play calls. If you are a GOB however - you treat the run game as ultra secondary or just a once in awhile tendency breaker, and you defer to mostly pass play calls. ALL teams in an 8 or 9 team league running the same basic offence and play-calling tendencies = boring and predictable football often IMO. Glad there is CIS ball to watch to see at least some different thinking on offence in Canadian football.

But it's former CFL coaches doing much of this "creative thinking" in the CIS. How can this be?

[AngeloV]

So, would you pass the ball a lot if you had an O-line that was porous and had trouble protecting your QB? - see a LOT of CFL offences from the past decade or so.

Football offensive game-planning & calling has so many options; lots of ground game and some balance on offence is a choice of the offensive coaching of the team. IF you have a strong O-line and a very good RB (or two, or three), then maybe you chose lots of run play calls. If you are a GOB however - you treat the run game as ultra secondary or just a once in awhile tendency breaker, and you defer to mostly pass play calls. ALL teams in an 8 or 9 team league running the same basic offence and play-calling tendencies = boring and predictable football often IMO. Glad there is CIS ball to watch to see at least some different thinking on offence in Canadian football.

Well, Saskatchewan, Montreal and B.C. ran the best of all teams this past season. How did that work out for them?

[OV Argo]

Well, Saskatchewan, Montreal and B.C. ran the best of all teams this past season. How did that work out for them?

Why don't you check the offensive stats from a recent GC game that saw the Riders destroy the Pussycats with one of the highest scores and biggest margin of victories in a GC in years ?

[OV Argo]

But it's former CFL coaches doing much of this "creative thinking" in the CIS. How can this be?

Just FYI - Machocha is the HC & DC of the Carabins; and Burrato is the OC of UBC; so who are all these other GOB heroes of yours Ravi who are dominating CIS ball with their incredible one look only CFL offences ?

Did I hear you calling for Nill or Ptaszek or Constantin to get CFL HC jobs after they won Vaniers with strong teams and diverse offences? - no, eh; funny how that works.

[AngeloV]

Why don't you check the offensive stats from a recent GC game that saw the Riders destroy the Pussycats with one of the highest scores and biggest margin of victories in a GC in years ?

That's your problem OV. You look at stats with no explanation of how final stats are the way they are. The game was a blow out. I'm willing to bet that of the last 20 offensive plays the Riders ran in that game, 17 or so were running plays because they had such a big lead.

Are you watching this Vanier Cup game? What is the pass to run ratio for UBC? Seems to me their GOB offence is producing pretty good.

[OV Argo]

Outstanding football game IMO.

Both teams made plays - on offence & defence; 2 very good QBs on display too.

Congrats to UBC; Nill first HC to win Vaniers with 3 different teams; 1st rookie QB to win the big game since 66 !

[Deerkeeper]

It was a great game. Thought UBC was going to blow them out to start, but credit Montreal to get themselves back into the game. However, it was nice to see them lose on a last play feild goal instead of the otherway around for a change.

[Argocister]

It was a great game ....
It will be interesting to watch O'Connor over the next 4-5 years. He has an amazing arm , makes good decisions and had great poise for a rookie. Yes he made mistakes, but he has another 4-5 years in the CIS .... hope he stays. He does look better than Cousineau .... sorry OV
Montreal is a good team.... and have a knack for blocking field goals .... but the UBC kicker made it ..... Can we get him Barker? ... Quinn Vangylswyk he does all three positions! and he's Canadian !

[OV Argo]

It was a great game ....
It will be interesting to watch O'Connor over the next 4-5 years. He has an amazing arm , makes good decisions and had great poise for a rookie. Yes he made mistakes, but he has another 4-5 years in the CIS .... hope he stays. He does look better than Cousineau .... sorry OV
Montreal is a good team.... and have a knack for blocking field goals .... but the UBC kicker made it ..... Can we get him Barker? ... Quinn Vangylswyk he does all three positions! and he's Canadian !

Both QBs had very good games - and both seemed to get away with putting the ball up in traffic for their receivers to make plays - which they did for the most part and the passes were there on the money to catch, and some great grabs; but Cousineau was hurt by a couple of glaring drops and a couple of others that were catchable, including that late game INT; Cousineau did finish with the better completion % in the game, a bit more yardage and 2 TD passes to one for O'Connor - who IMO is outstanding for such a young QB - great arm and poised; but sorry - he is not better than Cousineau now(who BTW passed for an off the charts 70+ competion percentage in his last 2 years of starting in CIS ball - maybe higher if you include the play-offs); but i bet O'Connor has the chance to become the better QB in a year or 2 - he has the 6-5 size too that a lot of pro scouts love.

Big difference in this game was Deschamps breaking that long, superb TD run, even if he was held in check most of the game and they went with a lot of pass - shows what a home-run hitting RB can do for an offence. And the Carabins maybe should have tried to run to set-up a game winning FG late after that UBC botched FG attempt; instead they throw up a pick, and it cost them the game = live by the pass & die by the pass

Wonder if Van Gylswick will be a 1st round CFL draft pick? - guy looks like he could do both jobs in the pros, or at least be a top notch punter at first.

[Argocister]

I'm surprised the Carabins didn't run it more in this game . That was their strength for the bulk of the season. Mind you, the Q is more of a run football game .... I will have to check out the stats on that though.... The statement comes from watching a bunch of RESQ games over the past few years.

[gilthethrill]

This is the only day of the year that I regret not subscribing to SportsNet.....sounds like it was a tremendous game.

[Argocister]

This is the only day of the year that I regret not subscribing to SportsNet.....sounds like it was a tremendous game.

Yes it was a great game, as UBC was up 16-0 until the last half of the 2nd quarter.

It was very nice when Global picked up the Western playoff games and broadcast them nation wide. That would have been awesome for Canadian Football if these games were available nationwide.
IT would be even better if Sportsnet would be bought out of broadcasting the CIS bowl and Vanier games. The competition between TSN and Rogers is just irritating me to no end. .... on the Grey Cup special on TSN they cover the CFL and the CJFL and the NCAA ..... but not the Vanier? .... oh yea they don't have any footage yet.

"SIGH" ...if only ..... Global and Shaw can you step up?

[1argoholic]

Fun game and nice to see Marcus Davis have a great game. As I've mentioned watching this kid play against the Cowichan Bulldogs in minor football before his high school days was amazing. He played rb,db and was the pk and punter. It was a great game. For a 19 year old I think the UBC qb will start in the CFL one day.