Elite U Sports football teams set to play for Vanier Cup berths on Saturday
CBC
Teams will take to the U Sports national football semifinals on Saturday for the chance to book their tickets to the first Vanier Cup in two years.
OUA champions Western Mustangs will take on AUS title-holders StFX X-Men in the 2021 Mitchell Bowl, while the Uteck Bowl will feature RSEQ winners Montreal Carabins and Canada West victors Saskatchewan Huskies.
Both games will be streamed on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
Coverage of the Mitchell Bowl starts at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday, streaming live from Western Alumni Stadium in London, Ont. The Uteck Bowl begins at 3 p.m. ET at CEPSUM in Montreal, Que.
The 56th Vanier Cup championship returns to Université Laval in Québec City for the seventh time on Saturday, Dec. 4 at TELUS-Université Laval Stadium.
CBC Sports' Signa Butler spoke with Justin Dunk — former Guelph Gryphon quarterback, Canadian football insider and colour commentator for upcoming Mitchell Bowl and Vanier Cup — on how the teams stack up:
The X-Men head to London on a high after capturing the Loney Bowl against Bishop's University, putting an exclamation point on their dream, undefeated season.
They'll look to improve their luck against the University of Western Mustangs, who suffered only a single loss during the season and cruised past Queen's to Yates Cup victory.
The only Vanier Cup title in StFX history came 55 years ago in 1966.
Meanwhile, Western more recently earned the championship title in 2017 against Laval, who prevented the Mustangs from becoming back-to-back champions by defeating them in a rematch final in 2018.
The run game is where Dunk says sees the game being won or lost.
"If StFX can slow it down, because you're never really going to stop it, but grind that ground game to a little bit of a halt, then they'll have a good chance to win," he said.
Dunk notes the Mustangs enter with the top rusher in the nation Keon Edwards, who led in rushing yards per game and rushing touchdowns, and a stout offensive line led by Zack Fry, who is a CFL prospect for the 2022 draft.
Meanwhile, StFX counters with middle linebacker Ben Von Muehldorfer, who has already played in three national semifinals.
