After a somewhat encouraging start to their 2012 season, the McGill Redmen (0-2) took to the field last Friday night against the Sherbrooke Vert et Or in their home opener at Molson Stadium. While intensity wasn’t the problem, the Redmen’s first half was a disaster, paving the way for a 46-14 loss.
Head Coach Clint Uttley attributed the first half struggles to a couple of key penalties and the offence’s inability to move the ball. “We didn’t execute on offence. We had two critical penalties—a pass interference and a crowd penalty—and then it was just a case of our freshmen blowing two coverages which resulted in two long gains,” he said.
Sherbrooke (1-1) scored three passing touchdowns of over 20 yards in the first half alone; the longest came in the first quarter on a 62-yard pass from quarterback Jeremy Roch-Doyon to wideout Sebastian Blanchard. Roch-Doyon torched McGill’s secondary all night, finishing with 340 yards and four touchdowns, while Blanchard won numerous one-on-one battles, tallying a game-high of 149 receiving yards. With just 25 seconds left in the second quarter, the two connected on the final touchdown of the half, making the score 30-0.
There isn’t much that a coach can say when his team heads into halftime with a 30-point deficit, so Uttley kept it simple. “I told them to win the [next] half. For me, at that point, it’s a matter of going possession-by-possession,” he said. “I thought the veterans looked at it and were reminiscing of the past few years, and they didn’t fix it until midway through the third.”
In an effort to spark their sputtering offence, McGill replaced starting quarterback Dallon Kuprowski with backup Jonathan Collin at the beginning of the second half. Collin was more effective, leading a couple of drives in the third quarter, one of which led to McGill’s first touchdown of the night—a five-yard run by first-year tailback Luis Guimont-Mota. The Redmen scored another touchdown just a minute and a half later after Charles-Evens Peltrop forced a fumble on a quarterback sack, leaving McGill with great field position. Receiver Sean Murphy caught the second touchdown from Collin, making the score 44-14.
Looking ahead, Coach Uttley was clear that McGill’s quarterback situation must be resolved if the offence is to put together consistent efforts. “We have to settle our quarterback situation. We were inefficient in the first half, even though it had a large part to do with our offensive line [that] wasn’t holding up, so Dallon got banged up a little bit,” he said. “In the second half, Collin did some incredible things, [but] just had too many turnovers. Once we settle that position, we can move from there.”
The fourth quarter saw little action of note and the game ended 46-14.
Other than Collin, who finished with 121 passing yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions, there were some other McGill players who played well. Freshman wideout Shaquille Johnson put together another solid performance, hauling in four passes for 49 yards, while Murphy added 43 receiving yards on four receptions, in addition to his touchdown. Sophomore Yannick Langelier-Vanasse compiled 159 all-purpose yards, 107 of which came on kick-returns. Linebacker Alex Bernard led the Redmen defence with six tackles.
Overall, it was an embarrassing result for McGill football—a program trying to get back on its feet. Coach Uttley echoed this sentiment. “After all the time and effort, the energy, the money put in, to present a result like that for all the home fans is completely unacceptable.”
McGill looks to right the ship back at home on Sept. 14 against Mt. Allison in the annual “Fill the Stadium” game.
