Anything other than the CIS-record 49th straight loss for the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in their last game of the season would have been shocking.
Nonetheless, the 54-24 Queen’s win packed its fair share of surprises.
Opting to play starting quarterback Danny Brannagan, running back Mike Giffin and slotback Rob Bagg for the majority of the game rather than conserve them for the playoffs, Queen’s head coach Pat Sheahan saw all three come out with outstanding performances.
Sheahan said he gave his starters substantial playing time because he wanted his team in the right frame of mind.
“When you’re heading into the playoffs, you don’t want to tiptoe in.” he said. “[Any other attitude] would have been the wrong signal to our team.”
Despite Giffin’s 17-yard rushing touchdown early in the first quarter and Bagg’s first touchdown catch of the night from a colossal 89 yards, the Gaels gave up a one-yard score on a quarterback sneak from Toronto’s starter Andrew Gillis early in the second to make the score 14-7.
A safety conceded by the Blues and another long Bagg score for 90 yards pushed the lead to 23-7. Queen’s eventually responded to Gillis’ sneak with 26 unanswered points to seal the win.
Sheahan said he wasn’t overly worried about the score.
“The outcome was pretty much a certainty from the get-go,” he said. “Nobody was particularly worried about the outcome. It was a matter of showing up in the right frame of mind.”
Bright spots nonetheless abounded for the Blues, who managed a season-high 24 points scored against one of the country’s top defences. Overall, the Blues managed 375 offensive yards, but five fumbles helped the Queen’s defence hold them back.
Coming off a record-breaking weekend against Waterloo, Mike Giffin set another single-season mark. His 17-yard scamper in the first tied Brad Elberg’s record of 14 touchdowns scored in a season. A 14-yard touchdown reception in the second broke it, and a five-yard run in the third set the new mark at 16.
Bagg’s three touchdown catches of 89, 90 and 70 yards against an easily beaten Blues secondary helped add up to a career performance of nine receptions for 341 yards—just shy of the Queen’s and CIS record of 377 yards set by James McLean in 2001 against the Guelph Gryphons.
Sheahan said there was a simple explanation for Bagg’s ability to consistently burn Toronto’s defensive backs.
“It looks to me as though they came in with a strategy to shut down the run and take care of Mike Giffin. To do that, they had to leave [Bagg] in single coverage quite a bit.”
He said Bagg’s proximity to beating the record wasn’t a factor in his decision to take him out late in the game.
“I felt that, with all due respect to Robert [Bagg], that for him to set a record against a team that is winless would have been tainted,” he said.
With the regular season behind them, the third-place Gaels will host a home playoff game for the first time in four years on Saturday against the Western Mustangs, who clinched the final OUA playoff berth with a 37-3 victory over Waterloo on Saturday.
The Gaels defeated the Mustangs 26-20 in overtime in the first week of the season in a match coach Sheahan described as “a dead heat.”
As for starting quarterback Danny Brannagan, whose 440 yard, four touchdown, one interception, 14-for-22 performance was yet another standout, Sheahan said he saw his performance as a sign of things to come.
“Certainly his accuracy was very good,” he said. “He seemed very poised. He certainly showed that he is ready for the post-season.”
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be ed, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to [email protected].