BLOG: Shrine Bowl Preview

The Shrine Bowl is an annual tradition between the Concordia Stingers and the McGill Redmen that has been going on since 1987. The Shrine Bowl is a game that has raised money for the Canadian Shrine Hospital in Montreal. The Shrine Hospital has received around $739,000 to date.

Last season Shrine Bowl was one to remember as the McGill Redmen stormed back from a 20 point deficit and force overtime where they stunned the Stingers. The final score was 53-52. The Stingers lost on missed extra point. The game present some records that went down in RSEQ record books. The first is Redmen pivot and first year, Pierre-Luc Dussault passed for 538 yards and added three touchdowns. This was the second highest passing yards in a RSEQ game. Dussault is no longer with the team now. The next record was Redmen’s wide out, Casey Cook who caught 12 passes for 294 yards which also was good for second best yardage in RSEQ history.(Author note-This was my first CIS game ever).

The Stingers come into this season’s Shrine Bowl with a losing streak of three games after starting the year with a four game winning streak including a 41-7 beat down of the Redmen at Molson Percival in late September. Last weekend, the Stingers could not muster up any points to the Sherbrooke Vert et Or who won the game 29-0. The McGill Redmen this season are the Concordia Stingers of 2013 where they have not won a game this season. It has been a season the Redmen would love to end as they dealt with a lot of off-field issues including the resignation of their coach, Clint Uttley due to the suspension of his running back, Luis-Andres Guimont-Mota. The Redmen last week lost to the best team in the CIS, Laval Rouge et Or by a score of 53-14.

How can the Stingers win the Shrine Bowl?
The Stingers have struggled a lot this season with their running game ever since Gunner Tatum went down to injury against Sherbrooke in the third game of the season. The Stingers this season have only averaged 95 rushing yards per a game which put them third to last in the CIS.The Stingers need to establish passing game early against the Redmen like last time these two teams met where Stingers pivot, Francois Dessureault passed for 291 yards and threw two touchdowns. He also rushed for 33 yards on six carries and added his own score. This will be Dessureault second game back after he missed a game and half due to injury. The Stingers average 209 passing yards per a game and Dessureault this season has passed for 1028 yards and thrown eight touchdowns in six games. The Stingers defense is one of the best in the CIS this season in turnovers as they have 16 interceptions which put them in second place in that CIS category. The Stingers are first in the CIS in defensive touchdowns with four. The Redmen have surrender 312 points this season so expect the Stingers offense to expose them.
The Stingers defense only allows it opponent to score 21 points per a game. In the last three games,they have allowed more points, Laval who scored 32 points on them, University of Montreal scored 36 points on them and then Vert et Or scored 29 points on them. The only way for the Stingers to be victorious is for them to pass the ball more than rushing it and also their defense has to step up to what it was in their four wins this season which means forcing Redmen rookie pivot Joel Houle to make mistakes with the ball.

How can the Redmen pull the upset and win the Shrine Bowl?
The Redmen will be looking to get their first win in the last game of RSEQ season. It will be no easy task for them as they play one of the best defenses in the CIS this season. If the Redmen can pull the upset they will need to focus on their passing game which will be in the hands of Joel Houle who has passed for 861 yards and only thrown one touchdown pass in seven games this season. The Redmen have only average 196 passing yards per a game, the good news for them is the Stingers defenses weakness is in the passing game where they have allowed 243 passing yards per a game. In their last meeting, The Redmen used both Houle and fifth year starter, Dallon Kuprowski. The duo combined for 235 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception. This time around, Kuprowski will not be available as he is recovering from a concussion that happened in the last meeting. The Redmen will have also improve on their running game which is a CIS worst where they average 74 yards per a game. The running game is without Luis Guimont-Mota who was suspended for being accused of domestic violence. He played in three games this season where he only rushed for 142 yards on 32 carries with zero touchdowns.

On the defense side, The Redmen will have to stop a very good Stingers wide out crew of Shayne Stinson, J.C Benny and Kyle Santana. Stinson has been the key wideout this season because their star wideout, Jamal Henry has not play since the first half of the Laval game which was three games ago where he suffered an upper body injury. The Redmen defense has surround 510 yards per a game and allowed 281 passing yards per a game. The Redmen are led by their linebacker, Karl Forgues who has having an incredible season and could be one of the best kept secrets this year. Forgues has 66 tackles this season and out of these he has 54 solo tackles. He is ranked second in the CIS in tackles. He is likely going to win RSEQ defensive player of the year but Rouge et Or’s defensive lineman, Vincent Desloges who leads the CIS in sacks with 10.

Final score predication: The Stingers will win 42-14. The Stingers are just too powerful to be stopped on defenses and in the passing game.

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