MONTREAL -- Running back Asnnel Robo racked up 145 all-purpose yards and one touchdown as the Université de Montréal spoiled McGill's 118th season opener with a 33-0 shutout to open the RSEQ football season, before 3,646 at Stade CEPSUM, Friday.

It was the 22nd consecutive victory over McGill for the Carabins since the last Redmen win, a 58-0 whitewash on Oct. 7, 2002.

In the league's other game, Laval, the defending league champions, hung on for a low-scoring 14-1 victory in Sherbrooke.

Robo, a stocky 5-foot-8, 211-pound senior from French Guinea, hauled in six receptions for 105 yards, including a 69-yard scoring strike from back-up quarterback Gabriel Archambault to make the score 31-0 at 6:15 of the final quarter. The 24-year-old also carried eight times for 40 yards.

Montreal led 12-0 after the opening quarter, 21-0 at the half and 24-0 after three. The Carabins registered 19 first downs and 342 yards of net offence, compared to just nine and 68 yards, respectively, for McGill. The contest, which was seven minutes short of a three-hour spectacle, was marred by a combined 32 penalties for 288 yards of real estate. The Redmen committed eight turnovers, including an 0-for-6 effort on third-down conversions. UdeM countered with just three turnovers, two on third-down attempts.

Carabins starting quarterback Dimitri Morand completed 13 of 18 attempts for 103 yards before giving way to Archambault, who played the second half and went 8-for-15 for 142 yards with one TD and an interception.

McGill's passing game struggled in the absence of their top two quarterbacks -- Frederic Paquette-Perrault and Dimitrios Sinodinos -- both out with health issues. Jacob Samuels, an 18-year-old sophomore, made his first collegiate start for the Redmen, completing 5-of-11 attempts for 29 yards and one interception. Freshman Greg Segal took over in the late stages and was 1-for-4 passing for seven yards.

Joshua Lucas was one of few bright lights for McGill. The 19-year-old physical education sophomore from Victoria, B.C., collected 84 yards on special teams. He returned three punts for 48 yards and added three kickoff returns for 36 yards.

Leading 2-0 early on a safety touch conceded by McGill, the Carabins upped the count to 9-0 after Marc-Anthony Dequoy intercepted the second pass of the game thrown by Samuels and returned the interception 70 yards for a TD.

Place-kicker Louis-Philippe Simoneau gave Montreal a 12-0 advantage after connecting on his first of two field-goals, with a lengthy 48-yarder. The Carabins made it 19-0 before the second quarter was five minutes old, when Jean-Philippe Levesque jumped on a fumble in the McGill endzone by Redmen running back Daniel Adesegun.

Pinned in deep, McGill conceded another safety to make it 21-0 five minutes before halftime. Simoneau added another field-goal, from 27 yards out, just three minutes into the third stanza. Robo then added his long TD catch in the final stanza and another safety rounded out the scoring.

McGill (0-1) now faces a critical game next week when they host Sherbrooke (0-1) on Saturday, Sept. 1 at Percival Molson Stadium. The game is slated for a 2 p.m. kickoff and will be televised nationally on the French-language TVA Sports network. The Redmen are expected to be in a dogfight with Sherbrooke and Concordia for the last two playoff spots in the five-team RSEQ conference.

COMPLETE STATS

REDMEN RAP: McGill's official 48-man dress-list featured 13 freshmen, 12 sophomores, 36 juniors and  seven seniors... Jeremy Sauvageau, McGill's all-Canadian receiver who led the team in receptions last year, was held catch-less... Antoine Mongeau, the strong-side linebacker, led all tacklers with nine, including 1.5 quarterback sacks... Cornerback Chris Mbiya was next with six solo tackles and was credited with a knockdown... Senior LB Dane Wagner also collected a half-dozen tackles before being shaken-up in the fourth quarter... McGill's young offensive line, which features three starting freshmen, allowed three QB sacks... The Redmen defence also had three sacks, including one by sophomore rush end Xavier Bilodeau... Free safety Jean-Philippe Hudon, a junior, made McGill's lone interception... Kicker Findlay Brown averaged 40.8 yards on six punts and added one kickoff for 58 yards... He was subbed in by William Petterson for two plays and Petterson averaged 42.5 yards on two punts.