#Top10VoterProblems: Montréal sets up Poll Bowl vs. Laval; Carleton scoots up; X is 10

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Montréal and the next four slots are locked in, since everybody won. The Carabins, with backup QB Pierre-Luc Varhegyi tossing up a jump ball that Regis Cibasu ran in for the winning 53-yard touchdown, survived Mother Nature's monstrous creation that is the natural grass of Sherbrooke with a 27-20 victory.

You know what that entails: No. 2 Laval at No. 1 Montréal in two weeks, with each team having had two weeks to prepare. And boom goes the tryptophan.

Six through 10 is contentious, although whether it includes bona fide contenders is debatable.


Ultimately, Carleton defeated Ottawa soundly enough to justify being No. 6 in spite of two losses. McMaster is sort of a default No. 7. It is plausible that the Marauders' three-week-old, three-touchdown defeat in Ottawa was just one bad game. Ottawa and Carleton trade places.

Laurier gets some benefit of the doubt since it was good enough to defeat Carleton, at Carleton.

At No. 10, there is a full expectation that UBC will be back in after the quadruple-overtime victory against Manitoba. It might be the springboard that propels UBC forward to another playoff run. Yet this is an evaluation, not a projection. The 3-2 Thunderbirds do not have a win in regulation against anyone else who has a win, since their first two wins were against abject Alberta.

However, Concordia and St. Francis Xavier might each have a stronger case. They have defeated teams who have defeated other teams. Concordia won by six points at home in their interlock game two weeks ago. Considering all that's involved with an AUS team crossing over, St. FX rates a No. 10 vote.

Here is what I sent in.
  1. Montréal Carabins (5-0 RSEQ, --, bye): Few teams can absorb the midgame loss of their QB and come back to win in the last minute. Varhegyi ended up 14-of-15 for 182 yards after relieving injured Samuel Caron.

    Caron was hurt while being tackled by Sherbrooke's Alexandre Chevrier after an 11-yard run on a second and 10. Varhegyi got the job done, eventually, by leading two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter. Having the backup lead the comeback surely gives Laval more to prepare for entering the rematch at CEPSUM.
  2. Laval Rouge et Or (4-1 RSEQ, --, bye): Laval needs a four-point win to wrest home-field advantage, since Montréal won by three in their first game.
  3. Western Mustangs (5-1 OUA, --, bye): Now it's falling into place for the purple ponies, who have a Turkey Week bye that buys time to prep for Ottawa on Oct. 15 and McMaster on Oct. 22.  
  4. Regina Rams (4-1 CW, --, bye): Proud owners of the Wheat Belt and first place in Canada West. Now don't come back with turkey legs. Noah Picton and Mitchell Picton connected on two touchdowns 79 seconds apart late in the first half to turn around the 37-29 victory that christened new Mosaic Stadium.

    Steve Bryce for CW Coach of the Year? I think so.
  5. Calgary Dinos (4-1 CW, --, bye): Went looking for a tweet to embed that showed the yellow 50th anniversary jerseys that Calgary broke out against Alberta. That turned up the clip of DE Brennan Van Nistelroy getting the rare zero-yard pick-six touchdown.
    The throwbacks look great when someone is making plays like that. 
  6. Carleton Ravens (4-2 OUA, prev. 8, host Windsor on Fri.): Record watch! Carleton's Tunde Adeleke would set the OUA career punt return yardage record if gets 300 yards in the two remaining games. It's not out of the realm that he could do it, with games against Windsor and Waterloo.

    Adeleke has housed four returns this season, although his 120-yard on Saturday was listed as a punt return when it came on a missed field goal. Only one OUA returner, Laurier's Paul Bennett in 1978, has ever taken five punts all the way within a single regular season.
  7. McMaster Marauders (4-1 OUA, prev. 7, host Queen's on Fri.): Like Troy Dyer in Reality Bites, the Marauders must be waiting for that 'dare to be great' situation. They didn't show much during the 27-15 home win against Guelph, but neither did the Gryphons.
  8. Ottawa Gee-Gees (4-1 OUA, prev. 6, host York on Fri.): Ottawa has a lot of second and third-year players in major roles in the receiving and pass defending groups. Carleton has fourth-year players. That came to the fore on Saturday. Of course, no one noticed since media never look past the won-loss records.
  9. Laurier Golden Hawks (4-1 OUA, prev. 7, at Toronto on Thurs.): Short week to bounce back against a game Toronto side. Of course, how focused 1-5 Toronto will be is debatable. Laurier was valleys and peaks in the passing phase against Western, and now the conditions for the aerial game are about to get worse.
  10. St. Francis Xavier X-Men (3-1 AUS, prev. unranked, host Acadia on Fri.): Guessing by the boxscore, Saint Mary's decided that come hell or high water, St. FX tailback Jordan Socholotiuk would not beat them. Mission accomplished! Socholotiuk was held to 2.1 yards per rush. Meantime, Tivon Cook tossed five touchdowns.

    The X-Men have beat each AUS team by two touchdowns or more. In that Concordia game, Defensive coordinator Bob Mullen's charges were on the field for 75 plays and 35-plus minutes, but didn't allow a touchdown across the final three quarters.
Unranked team of the week: UBC (3-2 CW, bye week). They won in four overtimes, do you need much more explanation?

sager

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