2021 U Sports football season

2021 U Sports football season
Duration	August 28, 2021 – November 6, 2021
Hardy Cup champions	Saskatchewan Huskies
Yates Cup champions	Western Mustangs
Dunsmore Cup champions	Montreal Carabins
Loney Bowl champions	StFX X-Men
Mitchell Bowl champions	Western Mustangs
Uteck Bowl champions	Saskatchewan Huskies
Vanier Cup
Date	December 4, 2021
Venue	Telus Stadium Quebec City, Quebec
Champions	Western Mustangs

The 2021 U Sports football season began on August 28, 2021, with the Sherbrooke Vert et Or hosting the Montreal Carabins in Sherbrooke, Quebec. The Atlantic University Sport conference began play on September 17, 2021, and ten Ontario University Athletics teams opened their seasons on September 18, 2021. The Canada West conference began their regular season last with all six teams playing on September 25, 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, all conferences except the RSEQ played six regular season games while the RSEQ played eight.

The conference championships were played on the weekend of November 20 and the season concluded on December 4 with the 56th Vanier Cup championship, with the Western Mustangs defeating the Saskatchewan Huskies by a score of 27–21. 27 university teams in Canada played U Sports football this season, the highest level of amateur Canadian football.

Schedule changes

The Atlantic University Sport conference was the first to announce their 2021 schedule after no conference played in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. The AUS confirmed a schedule of six regular season games instead of the usual eight with a start date three weeks later than the 2019 scheduled start with the additional one-week delay of this year's Vanier Cup game. The AUS also had four out of five teams qualify for playoffs, instead of three, with the fourth seeded team playing the top team and the second seed playing the third. The Loney Bowl was played on November 20, 2021.

The Canada West conference announced their schedule shortly after the AUS, on June 21, 2021, with all six teams playing on September 25, 2021. Canada West featured six teams playing six regular season games apiece with each team playing one game against the other plus one additional game. The first week's opponents are the same as the last week's opponents with the host switching for the last week. The 84th Hardy Cup game was played on the weekend of November 20, 2021.

On June 30, 2021, both the OUA and RSEQ released their schedules. The OUA also played on a reduced schedule with each team playing six regular season games over a seven-week regular season. Notably, some OUA teams' schedules featured repeat matchups with some teams playing opponents twice in order to reduce travel. The OUA also shifted to a two-division set up with Carleton, Ottawa, Queen's, Toronto, and York in the East Division and Guelph, McMaster, Waterloo, Western, Wilfrid Laurier, and Windsor in the West Division. The 113th Yates Cup games was played on November 20, 2021. The RSEQ is scheduled to play a standard eight-game schedule with five teams playing over the course of a ten-week regular season. Notably, the Dunsmore Cup did not endure the same delay as the other conference championships and was played on November 13, 2021.

Regular season

Standings

2021 AUS standings Team W   L   PF   PA   Pts Ply #6 St. FX 6 – 0   193 – 99   12 † Mount Allison 5 – 1   94 – 61   10 X Bishop's 2 – 4   88 – 135   4 X Acadia 1 – 5   52 – 59   2 X Saint Mary's 1 – 5   58 – 131   2 † – Conference Champion Rankings: U Sports Top 10

2021 RSEQ standings Team W   L   PF   PA   Pts Ply #1 Montréal 7 – 1   226 – 113   14 † #5 Laval 5 – 3   234 – 108   10 X Concordia 4 – 4   209 – 243   8 X Sherbrooke 3 – 5   159 – 240   6 X McGill 1 – 7   99 – 223   2 † – Conference Champion Rankings: U Sports Top 10

2021 OUA standings East Division Team W   L   PF   PA   Pts Ply #3 Queen's 6 – 0   172 – 44   10 † Toronto 3 – 3   112 – 129   6 X Ottawa 3 – 3   92 – 124   6 X Carleton 2 – 4   99 – 147   4 X York 0 – 6   49 – 201   0 West Division Team W   L   PF   PA   Pts Ply #2 Western 5 – 1   266 – 68   10 X Laurier 3 – 3   127 – 122   6 X #8 Guelph 3 – 3   140 – 86   6 X Waterloo 3 – 3   150 – 143   6 X #9 McMaster 3 – 3   146 – 125   6 Windsor 2 – 4   67 – 231   4 † – Conference Champion Rankings: U Sports Top 10

2021 Canada West standings Team W   L   PF   PA   Pts Ply #4 Saskatchewan 5 – 1   217 – 128   10 † #7 Manitoba 4 – 2   138 – 124   8 X Alberta 3 – 3   174 – 186   6 X British Columbia 3 – 3   135 – 221   6 X #10 Calgary 2 – 4   181 – 163   4 Regina 1 – 5   123 – 146   2 † – Conference Champion Rankings: U Sports Top 10

Post-season awards

Award-winners

	Quebec	Ontario	Atlantic	Canada West	National
Hec Crighton Trophy	Olivier Roy (Concordia)	Tre Ford (Waterloo)	Silas Fagnan (St. Francis Xavier)	Tyson Philpot (Calgary)	Tre Ford (Waterloo)
Presidents' Trophy	Alec Poirier (Laval)	A. J. Allen (Guelph)	Daniel Bell (Mount Allison)	Josiah Schakel (Alberta)	Josiah Schakel (Alberta)
J. P. Metras Trophy	Philippe Lemieux-Cardinal (Montreal)	Deionte Knight (Western)	Reece Martin (Mount Allison)	Brock Gowanlock (Manitoba)	Deionte Knight (Western)
Peter Gorman Trophy	Jaylan Greaves (Concordia)	Evan Hillock (Western)	Malcolm Bussey (St. Francis Xavier)	Garrett Rooker (British Columbia)	Jaylan Greaves (Concordia)
Russ Jackson Award	Malick Sylvain (Concordia)	Francis Perron (Ottawa)	Graeme Stevens (Mount Allison)	Josiah Schakel (Alberta)	Francis Perron (Ottawa)
Frank Tindall Trophy	Marco Iadeluca (Montreal)	Steve Snyder (Queen's)	Gary Waterman (St. Francis Xavier)	Scott Flory (Saskatchewan)	Steve Snyder (Queen's)

All-Canadian Team

Offence

	First Team	Second Team
Quarterback	Tre Ford (Waterloo)	Olivier Roy (Concordia)
Running Back	Adam Machart (Saskatchewan) Rasheed Tucker (Queen's)	Malcolm Bussey (St. Francis Xavier) Keon Edwards (Western)
Receiver	Tyson Philpot (Calgary) Jalen Philpot (Calgary) Savaughn Magnaye-Jones (Western) Jaylan Greaves (Concordia)	Kiondre Smith (Guelph) Kevin Mital (Laval) Darius Simmons (McGill) Hassane Dosso (Montréal)
Centre	Elliot Beamer (Western)	Connor Berglof (Saskatchewan)
Guard	Rodeem Brown (Alberta) Nicolas Guay (Laval)	Che Morales (St. Francis Xavier) Phillip Grohovac (Western)
Tackle	Noah Zerr (Saskatchewan) Andy Genois (Laval)	Gregor MacKellar (St. Francis Xavier) Zack Fry (Western)

Defence

	First Team	Second Team
Defensive Tackle	Reece Martin (Mount Allison) Nathan Cherry (Saskatchewan)	Malcolm Hinds (Western) Jean William Rouleau (Laval)
Defensive End	Deionte Knight (Western) Philippe Lemieux-Cardinal (Montréal)	Brock Gowanlock (Manitoba) Anthony Federico (Queen's)
Linebacker	Nick Thomas (Manitoba) Josiah Schakel (Alberta) A. J. Allen (Guelph)	Alec Poirier (Laval) Michael Brodrique (Montréal) Benjamin Carré (McGill)
Free Safety	Daniel Valente (Western)	Jayden Dalke (Alberta)
Defensive Halfback	Daniel Bell (Mount Allison) Tyshon Blackburn (Alberta)	Devynn Cromwell (Guelph) Bruno Lagacé (Montréal)
Cornerback	Marcel Arruda-Welch (Manitoba) Siriman-Harrison Bagayogo (Guelph)	Tyrell Ford (Waterloo) Ahmadou Boubacar (Concordia)

Special Teams

	First Team	Second Team
Kicker	Eric Stranz (Guelph)	Michael Arpin (Montréal)
Punter	David Solie (Saskatchewan)	Cole Crossett (Waterloo)
Returner	Kiondre Smith (Guelph)	Justin Julien (Saint Mary's)

Post-season

The Vanier Cup is played between the champions of the Mitchell Bowl and the Uteck Bowl, the national semi-final games. In 2021, according to the rotating schedule, the Atlantic conference's Loney Bowl championship team will visit the Yates Cup Ontario championship team for the Mitchell Bowl. The winners of the Canada West Hardy Trophy will visit the Québec conference Dunsmore Cup championship team for the Uteck Bowl. These games are scheduled to be played on November 27, 2021. On June 17, 2021, it was announced that the 56th Vanier Cup would be played in Quebec City, Quebec, and would be hosted by Université Laval for the seventh time in school history.

Atlantic University Sport

	November 13 Semi-final					November 20 Loney Bowl
	1	StFX	27
	4	Acadia	22
						1	StFX	25
						3	Bishop's	17
	2	Mount Allison	5
	3	Bishop's	23

Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec

	November 6 Semi-finals					November 13 Dunsmore Cup
	1	Montreal	31
	4	Sherbrooke	3
						1	Montreal	28
						2	Laval	19
	2	Laval	30
	3	Concordia	10

Ontario University Athletics

November 6 Quarter-finals

November 13 Semi-finals

November 20 113th Yates Cup

E1

Queen's

41

E4

Carleton

14

E1

Queen’s

32

E3

Ottawa

15

E2

Toronto

17

E3

Ottawa

27

E1

Queen’s

0

W1

Western

29

W1

Western

51

W4

Waterloo

24

W1

Western

33

W3

Guelph

12

W2

Laurier

18

W3

Guelph

31

Canada West Universities Athletic Association

	November 13 Semi-finals					November 20 84th Hardy Trophy
	1	Saskatchewan	39
	4	UBC	17
						1	Saskatchewan	45
						2	Manitoba	17
	2	Manitoba	43
	3	Alberta	17

National Semifinals

Mitchell Bowl

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
St. Francis Xavier	0	3	0	3	6
Western	23	28	3	7	61

at Western Alumni Stadium (London, Ontario)

• Date: November 27
• Game time: 12:00pm EST
• Game weather: Mostly Cloudy, −1 °C (30 °F)
• Referee: Henry Chiu
• TV announcers (CBC Sports): Mark Lee (play-by-play), Justin Dunk (analyst), Paul Eddy Saint-Vilien (analyst), Signa Butler (sideline reporter)
• Boxscore

Uteck Bowl

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Saskatchewan	1	0	0	13	14
Montreal	3	1	5	1	10

at CEPSUM Stadium (Montreal)

• Date: November 27
• Game time: 3:00pm EST
• Game weather: A Few Clouds, −3 °C (27 °F)
• Game attendance: 5,100
• Referee: Stephane Roy
• TV announcers (CBC Sports): Marshall Ferguson (play-by-play), Dashawn Stephens (analyst)
• Boxscore

National Championship

56th Vanier Cup

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Saskatchewan	3	9	2	7	21
Western	7	3	14	3	27

at PEPS Stadium (Quebec City)

• Date: December 4
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Mostly Sunny, −10 °C (14 °F)
• Game attendance: 5,840
• Referee: J. Popplestone
• TV announcers (CBC): Mark Lee (play-by-play), Justin Dunk (analyst), Paul Eddy Saint-Vilien (analyst), Signa Butler (sideline reporter)
• Boxscore

See also

• 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season
• 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season
• 2021 NCAA Division II football season
• 2021 NCAA Division III football season
• 2021 NAIA football season