And Others Who Weren't So Lucky: Sherbrooke Vert et Or

As each CIS football team is officially eliminated from playoff contention, we'll reflect on what they did this year and compare their results to our expectations.

Next up: Sherbrooke, eliminated from the playoffs in the QUFL Semifinal against the Montreal Carabins

Record: 7-3 (7-2 in regular season)
RPI: 5th (out of 26)

Per-game stats:
Points for: 28.3
Points against: 21.7
Passing yards: 268.4
Rushing yards: 90.9
Passing yards against: 250.0
Rushing yards against: 110.9

Looking back at our preview questions:

CAN top recruit Jeremi Doyon Roch step in for JP Shoiry and lead what is otherwise a veteran-laden group as soon as this season?

Yes, he did. He had the normal rookie highs and lows but overall had a good season and led them to a season sweep against the Carabins even though they ended up falling in the playoffs. Doyon-Roch was the QUFL rookie of the year and completed 56.5% of passes, had 2383 yards and a 15-9 TD-INT ratio. He also allowed Simon Charbonneau-Campeau to have a good enough season to be the QUFL's MVP.

HOW will Sherbrooke deal with the heightened expectations?

Good, but not good enough. Andre Bolduc won coach of the year, they had a home playoff game but failed to get to the Dunsmore Cup. That makes it a disappointing season for the Vert et Or. (More on that below.)

HOW GOOD will this Sherbrooke defence - which brings back nine starters - be?

It was good, but was 3rd in most categories behind Laval and Montreal, including the most important. They played well, and shut down teams at times led by Filipe Fonseca, Kevin Regimbald and Patrick Chenard.

The biggest problem for Sherbrooke this season, and especially in their playoff game against Montreal was offensive balance. Yes, they had Charbonneau-Campeau and Ismael Bamba but when they were shut down, the lack of a run game really hurt them. Beni Djock was their leading rusher with 304 yards and a 5.1 average but missed the season's first three games with a suspension. Djock will be back and he will allow this team to grow with Doyon-Roch as a sophomore backfield.

Next season should be another good fight between Sherbrooke, Montreal and Laval for Quebec supremacy.