REGINA — There was championship football redemption for Montreal on Saturday as the Carabins captured the 60th Vanier Cup with a 30-16 victory over the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.
The University of Montreal’s victory came six days after the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes lost the 112th Grey Cup to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The Carabin offence, led by U Sports rookie of the year Pepe Gonzalez, put on an aerial clinic for much of the afternoon.
Gonzalez passed for 344 yards and touchdowns to Brandon Gourgon, Hassane Dosso and Simon Larose in securing Montreal’s third national title and second in the past three years. The Carabins also won in 2023.
Gonzalez said the 6 C weather, unseasonably warm for Regina, probably helped.
“Coming to Saskatchewan, we didn’t know what to expect”, Gonzalez said amid the on-field celebration after being named the games most valuable player. “We practised in the cold and rain. We were prepared for any weather we were going to face down here and yeah, I think we were blessed to have this amazing weather, for sure.”
The Carabins quarterback looked quite at home in a CFL stadium as he dominated play and had head coach Marco Iadeluca, fresh off a sideline Gatorade shower, was grinning from ear to ear like a proud papa.
“We were hoping he’d have his best game of the season today and I think he did,” Iadeluca said. “The kid has ice in his veins. Our defence is our DNA and we shut them down in the second half.”
The game at Regina’s Mosaic Stadium was a quasi-home date for the Huskies, just a two-and-a-half hour drive from their Saskatoon campus, in the first ever Vanier Cup hosted by Regina and just the second ever played in the province.
The Carabins win marks the fourth straight national championship for a Quebec-based program. Laval won in 2024 and 2022.
The Montreal win was not without controversy.
With 1:45 remaining in the first half and the Carabins facing 2nd-and-7, Gonzalez appeared to cross the line of scrimmage before making a first-down throw, drawing an illegal pass penalty flag.
After a lengthy discussion by the officials, the flag was picked up and the catch stood, drawing the ire of Saskatchewan head coach Scott Flory, CBC television broadcaster Mark Lee and others.
The drive continued until the final play of the first half when the Carabins added a nine-yard Phillippe Boyer field goal, part of a 2-for-3 day for the Montreal kicker, to widen their lead to 15-11.
From there, a Lukas Scott field goal would be all the Huskie offence could muster as Montreal outscored Saskatchewan 15-5 in the second half.
“I’m not a ref,” Flory said after the game. “We don’t have replay. You’ve got to be able to trust they picked both of those up for a reason. I’m not going to get into whining and complaining.
“You’ve got to get it right the first time but we just didn’t do enough in the second half. Didn’t feel like we got any traction. Kudos to them (Montreal). Our defence fought their butts off and everyone played so hard.”
The Huskie offence has been playing with backup quarterback Jake Farrell since mid-season, when then-Canada West leading passer Anton Amundrud took ill and was later diagnosed with lymphoma.
On Saturday it appeared to be running on fumes. Farrell was intercepted twice and sacked three times while completing 20-of-31 attempts for 229 yards and no touchdowns.
Hec Creighton nominee and Huskie leading receiver Daniel Wiebe was in a walking boot all week and was mostly quiet with four catches for 48 yards.
A small but boisterous contingent of Carabin fans cheered behind the home bench in celebration of their first championship won in Western Canada. Montreal also avenged a 2021 national semifinal loss to Saskatchewan.
It was the Huskies’ seventh straight loss in Vanier Cup appearances since their last championship win in 1998. The loss also denied Saskatchewan of its first ever Canadian football championship trifecta after the Roughriders and Saskatoon Hilltops both won their respective championships earlier this month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2025.
Brendan McGuire, The Canadian Press
