CALGARY – The red, black, and gold will meet the Rouge et Or in the national semifinal.
After the Calgary Dinos' 44-21 win over Simon Fraser in the Hardy Cup Saturday afternoon booked them a ticket to the Uteck Bowl, the Laval Rouge et Or wrapped up the host spot Sunday afternoon, defeating Concordia 27-17 in the Dunsmore Cup.
No. 6 Calgary (7-3) now travels to Quebec City to take on the top-ranked Rouge et Or (10-0) with a trip to the Desjardins Vanier Cup on the line. The game goes Sunday, Nov. 16 at 10 a.m. MT (noon ET), live on The Score, RDS, and The FAN 960 at PEPS Stadium on the Université Laval campus.
It is the Dinos' first trip to a bowl game since the 1995 Churchill Bowl, which Calgary won en route to the school's fourth Vanier Cup title. All-time the Dinos are 5-3 in national semifinal games, posting a 3-3 record on the road. The game will be Calgary's first appearance in the Uteck Bowl.
Laval, meanwhile, makes its sixth straight appearance in a bowl game after winning the Quebec provincial championship for the sixth straight season. The powerhouse Rouge et Or is 3-3 all-time in bowl games, with a 24-2 loss to Saint Mary's in their most recent outing in 2007.
In the rich history of University of Calgary football, the Dinos have never played a post-season game in the province of Quebec. The Uteck Bowl will be the first-ever meeting between Calgary and Laval in CIS football.
While the Dinos do not have a history with Laval, however, head coach Blake Nill certainly does from his time as head coach of the Saint Mary's Huskies from 1998-2005. Nill, who was the driving force behind the interlocking schedule between the Quebec and Atlantic conferences, has met the Rouge et Or seven times in his career, posting a 2-5 record. Four of those games were in conference play, one in the Atlantic Bowl, and two Vanier Cups. The only semifinal meeting between Saint Mary's and Laval went to the Huskies with a 48-8 win in the 2001 Atlantic Bowl.
The winner of the 2008 Uteck Bowl will take on the Mitchell Bowl champion in the Desjardins Vanier Cup on Saturday, Nov. 22 at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton, Ont. Nill's former team heads to London, Ont. to face the Western Mustangs in the Mitchell Bowl, which will immediately follow the Uteck Bowl.
The final four teams in CIS football in 2008 – Calgary, Western Ontario, Laval, and Saint Mary's – represent 16 Vanier Cup titles between them, with each having the most national titles among their respective conferences. Western leads the way with five Vanier Cups, followed closely by Laval and Calgary (four each), while Saint Mary's has three.
The Dinos will practice at McMahon Stadium this week in preparation for the Uteck Bowl, travelling to Quebec City late in the week prior to Sunday's game.
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Blake Nill's All-Time Record vs. Laval (2-5 overall, 1-2 playoffs)
2005 Laval 27 @ Saint Mary's 11 (conference)
2004 Saint Mary's 2 @ Laval 35 (conference)
2003 Laval 14 vs. Saint Mary's 7 (Vanier Cup)
Laval 49 @ Saint Mary's 8 (conference)
2002 Saint Mary's 26 @ Laval 24 (conference)
2001 Laval 8 @ Saint Mary's 48 (Atlantic Bowl)
1999 Laval 14 vs. Saint Mary's 10 (Vanier Cup)
