LENNOXVILLE, Que. - Matt Burke of Timberlea, N.S., rushed nine times for 92 yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Bishop's Gaiters rallied to defeat McGill 26-18 in CIS football before a Homecoming crowd of about 4,000 at Bruce Coulter Field, Saturday.

(NOTE: This game was later forfeited to McGill as Bishop's used an ineligible player; the official score reverted to a 1-0 victory for the Redmen)

COMPLETE STATS: http://www.sportetudiant-stats.com/universitaire/football/stats/2012/2012-17.htm

It was the BU's ninth win in the last 11 meetings between the long-time rivals since they ended a seven-game losing skid to the Redmen in 2005.

The Gaiters trailed 10-1 early in the second quarter but rallied to tie the game at 11-11 heading into halftime and led 19-11 after three. They generated 585 yards of net offence compared to McGill, which had 444 yards.

"It was definitely a game we could have and should have won," said Clint Uttley, in his fifth year with the program but his first full season as head coach at McGill. "We missed two field goals and there were two trips to the red zone where we did not convert, so we basically left 17 points on the field."

Quarterback Jordan Heather of Oromocto, N.B., spearheaded the Bishop's attack, completing 24 of 40 passes for 360 yards, one TD and an interception. He hooked up with Montrealer Alexander Fox six times for 66 yards and one TD and also found Geoff Coventry of Orleans, Ont., five times for 127 yards.

For the Redmen, Jonathan Collin earned his first start since suffering a career-threatening knee injury in the 2010 season opener. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound senior from Greenfield Park, Que., was good on 19 of 35 attempts for 257 yards and one TD. He also rushed seven times for 13 yards and a major.

"JC did well considering that we didn't name him the starter until after practice on Thursday evening," said Uttley. "He ran the offence fairly well and there were was a number of big plays that he missed connecting on by inches. He actually was a big part of our run game. He carried the ball a few times but also did a few things to create space for the running backs. Hopefully we'll be able to make a decision and hang our hat on a No. 1 quarterback soon."

Collin's favourite target was freshman Shaquille Johnson from Toronto, who had a game-high nine receptions for 158 yards and one TD. One of those catches was an 81-yard sprint, all alone, down the right sideline. He appeared to have scored which would have given the Redmen a 17-8 lead midway through the second quarter but conflicting calls by two officials on the play subsequently resulted in Johnson being ruled out of bounds at the Bishop's 3-yard line. A voracious Gaiters defence held McGill to only one point on the ensuing series when placekicker Samy Rassy's field-goal attempt from a sharp angle at the 11-yard line was wide to the right. Rassy ended up 1-for-3 on the day, making a 33-yard attempt and missing a 33-yarder.

"I'm not sure why he was ruled out as I was on the far sideline," said Uttley. "One official called him out of bounds but the actual sideline official did not call him out, so he must've seen or assumed something. He called Shaq out of bounds after he had sprinted in a straight line for 40 yards with nobody around him. It's hard to believe that he could step out under those circumstances. We'll have to look at the game film to try and figure out what they saw on that play."

Mathieu Paquette of Magog, Que., rounded out the scoring for Bishop's with seven points, including a 1-for-3 effort on field-goals, three conversions and a rouge.

The Gaiters (2-3), are in control of their own playoff lives as they sit in a three-way tie for third-place with Concordia and Sherbrooke.  Bishop's holds the tiebreaker over the Stingers and will face the Vert & Or on October 13 in the annual Mayor's Cup contest.

McGill, which dropped to 1-4, will now face the Gaiters in a must-win rematch, billed as the "Turkey Bowl" on Thursday, Oct. 4 at Percival Molson Stadium.

REDMEN RAP: McGill return specialist Yannick Langelier-Vanasse continues to impress and accumulated 151 all-purpose yards, marking the fourth time in five games that the speedy sophomore from Lachine, Que., has gone over the century mark. He is currently ranked second in the nation with 372 yards on punt returns... DL Charles-Evens Peltrop had McGill's lone QB sack in the game and defensive back Mattey Ossom had the only interception... LB Alexandre Bernard led the Redmen defence with 8.5 tackles, including seven solos... McGill has nine linebackers on their roster but went into the game with only four healthy ones. "There was a point during the game where two of the healthy ones went so we were scrambling with our personnel for a bit and that contributed (to helping Bishop's run the ball)," explained Uttley... Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, McGill's star-studded, 6-foot-5, 280-pound offensive lineman, was poked in the eye early in the first quarter and had to play the last three quarters while dealing with vision problems. "He's so dominant that that his opponents are trying to distract him any way that can and a lot of times that means bringing their hands up around his head," said Uttley. "He's had his helmet knocked off in four different games this year, so we're going to try and get him to wear a visor for the rest of the year."

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman

McGill Athletics & Recreation

514-398-7012