With Saturday's 26-3 win in Sherbrooke over Vert et Or, Université Laval's Rouge et Or secured the regular-season title for the second year in a row and home-field advantage for the playoffs on the occasion of quarterback Jeremy Ouellette's first career start.
Rouge et Or finishes the season with a record of seven wins and one loss and will host the McGill Redbirds next Saturday in the semifinals. The Université de Montréal Carabins will face the Concordia Stingers at the CEPSUM tournament.
In danger of being eliminated from the playoffs if they lost, the Stingers defeated the Redbirds 31–24 in a spectacular finish to move into third place.
McGill and Sherbrooke finished the season with a record of two wins and six losses, but the Redbirds received a final bye in the playoffs due to a tiebreaker that was in their favor.
Taking advantage of a 7-3 first-half lead, Rouge et Or dominated the final 30 minutes. The defense came up empty, notably managing two interceptions and a big stop on third down in their own territory, while the offense scored two touchdowns to seal the win.
“Winning the regular season championship is just one step away, but it’s important for the program to be able to play the finals at home,” explained head coach Glen Constantine. The stakes were high.”
Konstantin did not appreciate the performance of his flock in the first half. “I've been warning the players all week that the challenge is to keep the emotion high after our win over Montreal,” he said. In the first half, we were not as intense in defense as we would have liked, and we were also not disciplined. We received three penalties for rudeness in addition to avoidable interference.
Successful first start
Replacing Arnaud Desjardins, who is nursing a shoulder injury, Ouellette performed well. A 77-yard drive on the first offensive series of the game set up an Olivier Coole touchdown.
Rouge et Or added two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to escape the victory. Ouellette completed 17 of 22 passes for 222 yards. He scored two touchdowns and had an interception.
“Jeremie made it clear to everyone that he is more than just a runner,” Constantine said. I'm pleased with his progress as a passer over the last two years. Before the match, Justin (Ethier) was confident and I was more worried.”
“Jeremie did well and handled the match well, chasing down the Laval driver. It wasn't perfect, but he played to his capabilities. He made a poor decision on the interception, but mistakes happen. We didn't want him to run away too much to reduce the risk of injury.”
As for the main stakeholder, he was very pleased with his first appearance in the starting lineup. “It was a lot of fun,” he said. The first episode, which was methodical, gave us a rhythm. It gave me and everyone confidence.”
Happy to have shown that he can pass the ball successfully too? “I showed that throughout my college career. Against Montreal, we wanted to protect the ball and buy time.”
“We worked through the execution issues in the second half and completed some long plays to add the Collegiate Division Championship MVP in 2023. I talked to Arnaud regularly during the match. It was a team effort.”
Desjardins was proud of his teammate's performance. “Jeremie did a great job. I tried to help him, but I wanted him to take advantage of his moment and not get in his way.”
Costly risks
In the Vert and Or camp, Kevin Regimbald was able to see the damage only in the second half. “We felt a sense of urgency and tried to push the car,” he explained. We tried options we wouldn't normally use and made mistakes. As in Quebec, we followed Rouge et Or for two or three quarters.
Much more than the loss to Rouge et Or, it was the end of the match at Concordia last Friday that eliminated Vert & Or from the playoffs. “There's nothing more frustrating than putting your destiny in someone else's hands. The loss at Concordia hurts because we escaped the match late in the game.”
With assistant coaches Louis Leclerc and Jacob Camire following the final by phone, we watched the end of the McGill-Concordia match presented on TVA Sports. A last-minute victory for the Stingers confirmed Sherbrooke's elimination.
