The Uteck Bowl is one of the two semifinal bowls of U Sports football, Canada's national competition for university teams that play Canadian football. It is held in the easternmost of the two semifinal venues. The Uteck Bowl champion moves on to face the Mitchell Bowl champion for the Vanier Cup. It was named for Larry Uteck, a former professional football player and university coach who died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 2002.
| Sport | Canadian football |
|---|---|
| League | U Sports football |
| Awarded for | Winning the U Sports Semifinal Championship |
| Country | Canada |
| History | |
| First award | 2003 |
| Editions | 20 |
| First winner | Saint Mary's Huskies |
| Most wins | Laval Rouge et Or (8)[1] |
| Most recent | Montreal Carabins (2023) |
History
editThe Atlantic Bowl traditionally saw the Atlantic University Sport champions face a champion from another conference at Huskies Stadium in Halifax. However, in the interests of competitive fairness, the Atlantic Bowl was replaced by the Mitchell Bowl, its venue, like the Churchill Bowl that had paralleled it for so long, rotating among two of the conference champions.
Larry Uteck was a longtime football coach at Saint Mary's University and, at the time, the university's athletic director. It was decided that the Churchill Bowl would be retired, the Mitchell Bowl would take the place of the Churchill Bowl, and a new championship would be named in Uteck's memory. Thus, the Uteck Bowl formally replaced the Atlantic Bowl.
The inaugural Uteck Bowl was played at Huskies Stadium, where two-time defending Vanier Cup champions and home team Saint Mary's Huskies defeated the Simon Fraser Clan.
The 2020 game was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]
Uteck Bowl champions
edit| Date | Champion | Score | Runner Up | Location | Uteck Bowl MVP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 15, 2003 | Saint Mary's | 60–9 | Simon Fraser | Huskies Stadium, Halifax | Les Mullings, Saint Mary's |
| November 20, 2004 | Laval | 30–11 | Laurier | PEPS Stadium, Quebec City | Jeronimo Huerta-Flores, Laval |
| November 19, 2005 | Laurier | 31–10 | Acadia | Huskies Stadium, Halifax | Ryan Pyear, Laurier |
| November 18, 2006 | Laval | 57–10 | Acadia | PEPS Stadium, Quebec City | Olivier Turcotte-Létourneau, Laval |
| November 17, 2007 | Saint Mary's | 24–2 | Laval | Huskies Stadium, Halifax | Tim St. Pierre, Saint Mary's |
| November 16, 2008 | Laval | 59–10 | Calgary | PEPS Stadium, Quebec City | Benoit Groulx, Laval[3] |
| November 21, 2009 | Calgary | 38–14 | Saint Mary's | Huskies Stadium, Halifax | Matt Walter, Calgary[4] |
| November 20, 2010 | Laval | 13–11 | Western | PEPS Stadium, Quebec City | Christopher Milo, Laval |
| November 18, 2011 | McMaster | 45–21 | Acadia | Moncton Stadium, Moncton | Kyle Quinlan, McMaster[5] |
| November 17, 2012 | Laval | 42–7 | Acadia | PEPS Stadium, Quebec City | Maxime Boutin, Laval |
| November 16, 2013 | Laval | 48–21 | Mount Allison | MacAulay Field, Sackville | Guillaume Rioux, Laval |
| November 22, 2014 | Montreal | 29–26 | Manitoba | CEPSUM Stadium, Montreal | Gabriel Cousineau, Montreal[6] |
| November 21, 2015 | UBC | 36–9 | St. Francis Xavier | Oland Stadium, Antigonish | Brandon Deschamps, UBC[7] |
| November 19, 2016 | Laval | 36–6 | Laurier | Telus Stadium, Quebec City | Félix Faubert-Lussier, Laval[8] |
| November 18, 2017 | Western | 81–3 | Acadia | Raymond Field, Wolfville | Chris Merchant, Western[9] |
| November 17, 2018 | Laval | 63–0 | St. Francis Xavier | Telus Stadium, Quebec City | Hugo Richard, Laval[10] |
| November 16, 2019 | Montreal | 38–0 | Acadia | Raymond Field, Wolfville | Reda Malki, Montreal |
| November 21, 2020 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[2] | ||||
| November 27, 2021 | Saskatchewan | 14–10 | Montreal | CEPSUM Stadium, Montreal | Offence: Adam Machart, Saskatchewan[11] Defence: Riley Pickett, Saskatchewan[11] |
| November 19, 2022 | Saskatchewan | 36–19 | St. Francis Xavier | Oland Stadium, Antigonish | Offence: Mason Nyhus, Saskatchewan[12] Defence: John Stoll, Saskatchewan[12] |
| November 18, 2023 | Montreal | 29–3 | Western | CEPSUM Stadium, Montreal | Offence: Jonathan Sénécal, Montreal[13] Defence: Nicolas Roy, Montreal[13] |
Future participants
editThe teams and host sites of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl rotate on a six-year cycle, so that in each cycle each of the four conferences hosts and visits every other conference once. With the 2020 game cancelled, the cycle was delayed by one year with the 2020 teams playing in 2021.[14]
The participants and sites for future Uteck Bowl games are listed below:[15]
| Date/Year | Visiting conference | Host conference |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | OUA | AUS |
| 2025 | AUS | RSEQ |
| 2026 | RSEQ | AUS |
| 2027 | Canada West | RSEQ |
| 2028 | Canada West | AUS |
| 2029 | OUA | RSEQ |
To date, the Uteck Bowl games hosted by Quebec have been played at the champion's home field, while the first four games hosted by Atlantic University Sport (AUS) were played at Huskies Stadium in Halifax. The 2011 game was held in Moncton at the newly built Moncton Stadium. All subsequent games were hosted by the Loney Bowl champion.[16] As of 2023, home teams have a record of 11–9.
Team win–loss records
edit| Team | W | L | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laval Rouge et Or | 8 | 1 | .889 |
| Montreal Carabins | 3 | 1 | .667 |
| Saint Mary's Huskies | 2 | 1 | .667 |
| Saskatchewan Huskies | 2 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Western Mustangs | 1 | 2 | .333 |
| Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks | 1 | 2 | .333 |
| Calgary Dinos | 1 | 1 | .500 |
| McMaster Marauders | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| UBC Thunderbirds | 1 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Acadia Axemen | 0 | 6 | .000 |
| St. Francis Xavier X-Men | 0 | 3 | .000 |
| Manitoba Bisons | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Mount Allison Mounties | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Simon Fraser Clan | 0 | 1 | .000 |
References
edit- ^ Past U Sports Champions
- ^ a b "U Sports cancels 2020 fall championships due to COVID-19". U Sports. June 8, 2020.
- ^ "59 Laval vs. Calgary 10". Canadian Interuniversity Sport. November 16, 2008. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2008.
- ^ "CIS:Calgary vs Saint Mary's (Nov 21, 2009)". Canadian Interuniversity Sport. November 21, 2009. Retrieved November 22, 2009.
- ^ "CIS:Uteck Bowl: Marauders off to first Vanier Cup final since 1967". Archived from the original on November 22, 2011.
- ^ CIS football Uteck Bowl: Carabins survive Manitoba comeback, advance to first Vanier Cup from Canadian Interuniversity Sports, November 22, 2014
- ^ "Deschamps named game MVP". Prince George Citizen. November 22, 2015. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ^ "Laval's Felix Faubert-Lussier on familiar turf at Vanier Cup". sportsnet.ca. The Canadian Press. November 24, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
- ^ "Uteck Bowl: Mustangs advance to Vanier Cup with 81-3 win over host Axemen". November 18, 2017. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
- ^ Black, Peter (November 17, 2018). "Quarterback Hugo Richard leads Rouge et Or past X-Men 63-0 in Uteck Bowl". Battlefords News-Optimist. The Canadian Press. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
- ^ a b "Uteck Bowl: Huskies stun Carabins with last-minute victory, advance to Vanier Cup". U Sports. November 27, 2021.
- ^ a b "Uteck Bowl: Huskies defeat X-Men, advance to 2022 Canada Life Vanier Cup". U Sports. November 20, 2022.
- ^ a b "Turnovers the difference as Carabins romp over Mustangs to Uteck Bowl win". U Sports. November 18, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- ^ "U Sports announces 2021-23 fall championship hosts in soccer and rugby". usports.ca. July 3, 2020.
- ^ "U Sports Championship Calendar". U Sports. 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- ^ AUS announces 2013 football schedule