CIS UTECK BOWL: ACADIA VS. LAVAL

Here's some questions about the Uteck Bowl national semi-final, featuring the Acadia Axemen against the Laval Rouge et Or (Saturday, 12 p.m. ET, The Score/RDS).

1. Does Acadia have a chance?
   
   The Halifax Herald reported that Laval is a 16½-point favourite -- but there is a slim chance for Acadia, even if you file it under the cliché "anything can happen." It starts with the heavy favourites leaving the door open to an upset, and even Laval fans would admit that their team has been inconsistent on both sides of ball by times during the regular season. Having a confident quarterback in Benoît Groulx (pictured) and big-game experience probably means the Rouge & Or should have their act together on Saturday. Laval is probably too well-coached to come out flat in a big game at home.
   
   Incidentally, when Acadia visited Laval last month and lost 34-7, neither Rouge & Or running back Pierre-Luc Yao or receiver Nic Bisaillon suited up. That's scary, if you're an Axemen fan.
   
2. Seriously, Sager, does Acadia have a chance?
   
   They have a chance if their defence, led by fifth-year linebacker Steve Farao and safety Elliott Richardson, can win the turnover battle -- easier said than done for a visiting team in the raucous environment at PEPS Stadium -- while their offence maintains some semblance of a run-pass balance and still protect QB Chris Judd. If Acadia comes out five- and six-receiver sets with Judd in the shotgun and goes pass-wacky, they're in trouble since it means Laval's front seven can sell out and go after the QB. On the other hand, they have a young offensive line and their leading rusher, Cale Inglis, is a rookie -- not a good combination. Another question is how well coach Jeff Cummins' crew keeps their composure and avoids penalties.
   
3. What's Priority One for Laval's defence?
   
   Stopping Ivan Birungi, Acadia's No. 1 receiver and biggest threat on offence. He needs to turn in a huge game -- or as The Score's Tim Micallef would say, a maaaaaasssive game -- for Acadia to have a chance. Laval will probably be fine if they play vanilla on defence, guard against any misdirections or trick plays Cummins might have drawn up, and make Acadia form 10-12 play drives.
   
4. Who's a darkhorse game MVP pick that I can make so I sound prescient later on?
   
   For Laval, take a defensive back, such as Olivier Turcotte-Létourneau. On Acadia, it could be their other featured receiver, Matt Carter.
   
5. I'm a Saint Mary's grad. Wouldn't my Huskies have been a much tougher matchup for Laval, seeing as they went into Concordia and nearly won earlier this year?
   
   You lost, SMU, deal with it, although the reality is that you may be right -- SMU had a more highly rated defence and a better running game on offence for most of the year. You could make an excellent case that Acadia got lucky in the Loney Bowl and only won since it was able to pull off the rare feat of returning a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns in the same game. Still, Saint Mary's wasn't able to tackle Acadia return man Najja Coley, either.
   
6. Just for future reference, what is the biggest bowl-game upset in recent CIS history?
   
   The 2000 Atlantic Bowl (Regina over SMU) comes to mind, but let's reach way back to the '84 Churchill Bowl -- Guelph 12, Calgary 7. The Gryphons (whose lineup included current Queen's defensive co-ordinator Pat Tracey) went on to win their only Vanier the following week, and it was sandwiched between back-to-back titles for Calgary.
   
7. Laval fans may not like this question, but what does it say when the Rouge & Or are heavy favourites to play in the Vanier in what was thought to be a rebuilding year?
   
   Laval was supposed to be rebuilding in 2004 after QB Mathieu Bertrand graduated, and still they won the Vanier that year, too. You can't begrudge the well-bankrolled Rouge & Or for having five full-time coaches when at most other schools, one or both co-ordinators is probably a volunteer, and you can't begrudge them operating like a NCAA Division 1-AA team when most of their opponents are comparable to a D-3 program. They had a good plan back in the '90s, and as a privately funded team, staked out uncharted territory as the first French-language university to play football. (Regina, the other privately funded football program, went in knowing they would always be No. 2 to the U of S Huskies in most recruits' hearts.)
   
   Hating on Laval is understandable (and very Canadian), but we should realize the onus is on the CIS and the member schools to figure out how to create competitive balance. This is probably 5, 10 years into the future, but there should be discussion of creating a "Canada East super-conference" for teams who believe they could, if not duplicate what Laval has done, at least believe they could do much better if they operated a team independent of the university. Off the top of my head, this could include Saint Mary's, Laurier, McMaster, Montreal and Western.
   
   Queen's also has enough alumni support to make it happen. Call me crazy, but going private is probably the only way to save football at the University of Toronto. You might say it would fail, but they're failing already.
   
   What's another reason to do it? If you create a tiered structure, then more schools in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes might look to start teams if they know they don't have to play the likes of Laval right away. Like it or not, educators in this country are waking up to the fact that male participation in higher education is dipping at an alarming rate, and as they have in the States, one way to keep boys and young men in school (although its impact might be overstated) is to offer football.
   
8. You lost me a couple paragraphs back. Uh, who's gonna win?
   
   Oh, right -- Laval 33, Acadia 14.

Tomorrow (or later tonight): The Mitchell Bowl, Saskatchewan vs. Ottawa. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.