103rd Grey Cup
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The 103rd
Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...
was a
Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete on a field long and wide, attempting to advance a Ball (gridiron football), pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposi ...
game that was played on November 29, 2015 between the East Division champion
Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (Canadian French, French: ) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL ...
and the West Division champion
Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...
to decide the
Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...
(CFL) championship for the 2015 season. The game was played at
Investors Group Field Princess Auto Stadium (formerly IG Field) is an outdoor stadium in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The stadium, which opened in 2013, is located on the University of Manitoba campus next to University Stadium (Winnipeg), University Stadium. The stadium is h ...
in
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
,
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.
Shaw Communications Shaw Communications Inc. was a Telecommunications in Canada, Canadian telecommunication, telecommunications company which provided telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. The company was founded in 1966 as Capital Cable Televisio ...
was the presenting sponsor of the game; it was the first time in CFL history that the
Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...
had been sponsored. The Eskimos won the contest 26–20 to claim their 14th Grey Cup championship in franchise history and first since
2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
. Mike Reilly was named
Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...
and Shamawd Chambers received the Dick Suderman Trophy as Most Valuable Canadian. It was the Eskimos' first Grey Cup win that did not involve Hugh Campbell in any capacity with the organization since the 1975 Grey Cup. This was Edmonton's last Grey Cup under the "Eskimos" name before the team name was changed to the Edmonton Elks in 2020.


Background


Host city

On March 24, 2014, news agencies reported that the game would be awarded to Winnipeg. Two days later on March 26, it was announced at a news conference that Investors Group Field in Winnipeg, Manitoba, will play host to the 103rd Grey Cup. It was the fourth time Winnipeg played host to a Grey Cup, the first time since 2006, and the first at the new Investors Group Field, which opened in 2013. Although the game was sold out, the attendance figure of 36,634 was the second lowest for a Grey Cup game since 1975.


Teams


Ottawa Redblacks

The Redblacks joined the CFL as an
expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...
in
2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
and finished last in the league with a 2–16 record. Led by 40-year-old Henry Burris, who became the oldest quarterback in CFL history to lead the league in passing yards (5,693), the Redblacks won the East Division title in 2015 with a 12–6 record. It marked the first time since the
1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded on September 19, 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup cham ...
that any team from Ottawa won a division title, while 12 wins in the season is the highest total of any Ottawa-based Canadian football team in league history. The Redblacks hosted the
Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...
in the East Division Final, for Ottawa's third consecutive match-up with the Ticats following two wins to end the regular season; in between, Hamilton had defeated the
Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...
, 25–22 in the East semi-final. The final was a closely contested game: Hamilton tied the game at 28–28 with 94 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter when quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, making only his second career playoff start, found Luke Tasker for a touchdown. On defence, Hamilton then had Ottawa pinned deep in their own territory on second down and 25 yards and hoped to recover the ball in the final minute to try for a game-winning field goal. Instead, Burris completed a 93-yard pass and run play to wide receiver Greg Ellingson who scored the game-winning touchdown; The 35–28 final made the Redblacks the first Ottawa team to reach the championship game since the Rough Riders lost to Edmonton at the
69th Grey Cup The 69th Grey Cup was played on November 22, 1981, at the Olympic Stadium (Montreal), Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec in front of 52,487 fans. The 1981 Grey Cup game is considered to be one of the ten best Grey Cup games of all time. CFL footb ...
in 1981.


Edmonton Eskimos

The Edmonton Eskimos finished their season with a record of 14-4 (their best performance since
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
in which they went 16-2). The
Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...
, the defending Grey Cup champions, finished with the same record as the Eskimos after the regular season. However, Edmonton clinched first place in the division (and a playoff bye) by virtue of defeating Calgary in two of three regular season contests. The two teams met again in the Western Final after Calgary defeated the
BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...
35–9 in the Western Semi-Final. The Eskimos earned the right to represent the West in the Grey Cup game by virtue of a 45–31 victory against the Stampeders at
Commonwealth Stadium Commonwealth Stadium is an open-air, multi-purpose stadium located in the McCauley, Edmonton, McCauley neighbourhood of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It has a seating capacity of 56,302, making it the largest open-air stadium in Canada. Primarily ...
in Edmonton. The 2015 Western Final game was the first time in CFL history where both teams came in with a 14-4 record in the regular season. Quarterback Mike Reilly was the offensive catalyst for the Eskimos as he passed for three touchdowns and ran for two more in the win. Edmonton reached its first championship game since winning the 93rd Grey Cup ten years earlier, making the 103rd Grey Cup the first of the modern era to be played by two teams that have not been any of the preceding nine championship games.


Entertainment

Country performer Dean Brody performed as part of pre-game festivities, while Quebecois singer Bobby Bazini performed the national anthem. American rock band
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performed during
halftime In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...
.


Game summary

The Redblacks got out to a quick start as quarterback Henry Burris threw a pair of touchdowns in the first six minutes and nine seconds of the game: Ottawa completed a six play opening drive for their first score, then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff that led to a second, but unconverted, touchdown as the Redblacks took a 13–0 lead before Edmonton's offence had a chance to take the field. Edmonton answered with a field goal followed by a Mike Reilly touchdown pass to Adarius Bowman late in the first quarter. An Ottawa field goal and a single point for Edmonton following a missed field goal attempt moved Edmonton within five points, trailing 16–11 with a little under five minutes to play in the first half. A two-yard touchdown pass by Reilly to Akeem Shavers gave the Eskimos a 17–16 lead at half time. The second half became what the ''
Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...
'' called a "brutal defensive struggle". The Redblacks regained the lead as they turned a 42-yard pass interference penalty to Edmonton into a field goal, while Edmonton scored one point off a punt, and then missed a field goal late in the quarter as Sean Whyte's attempt hit the uprights and out; Ottawa led the game through three quarters by a 19–18 score. They added a point in the fourth quarter when kicker Chris Milo, attempting to pin Edmonton's offence deep in their own zone, instead kicked a wind-aided 72-yard punt into the end zone. The score then remained unchanged until the final minutes of the contest as Edmonton marched the ball 78 yards, aided significantly by consecutive pass interference penalties to Ottawa, the second called after a coaches' challenge that the referees initially failed to penalize. Jordan Lynch then scored on a one-yard touchdown run that gave Edmonton a 26–20 lead with 3:22 left to play, and which held up as the final score of the game. For the Eskimos, it was the 14th Grey Cup championship in franchise history, and their first since 2005. Mike Reilly was named
Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...
after completing 21 of 35 pass attempts for 269 yards with two touchdown passes. He was also Edmonton's leading rusher at 66 yards. Shamawd Chambers, who missed the majority of the 2015 season with a knee injury, received the Dick Suderman Trophy as Most Valuable Canadian.


Scoring summary

;First Quarter :OTT – TD Lavoie 3 yard pass (Milo convert) (11:32) 7–0 OTT :OTT – TD Jackson 7 yard pass (Convert by Milo missed) (8:51) 13–0 OTT :EDM – FG Whyte 25 yards (5:46) 13–3 OTT :EDM – TD Bowman 23 yard pass (Whyte convert) (2:19) 13–10 OTT ;Second Quarter :OTT – FG Milo 26 yards (7:34) 16–10 OTT :EDM – S Whyte 44 yard missed field goal (4:27) 16–11 OTT :EDM – TD Shavers 2 yard pass (two-point convert failed) (0:12) 17–16 EDM ;Third Quarter :OTT – FG Milo 23 yards (7:03) 19–17 OTT :EDM – S Shaw 69 yard punt (5:00) 19–18 OTT ;Fourth Quarter :OTT – S Milo 72 yard punt (9:01) 20–18 OTT :EDM – TD Lynch 1 yard rush (Shavers two-point convert) (3:22) 26–20 EDM


References

{{2015 CFL season by team Grey Cup Canadian football competitions in Winnipeg
Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...
2015 in sports in Manitoba 2015 sports awards 2015 in Canadian television 2010s in Winnipeg Events in Winnipeg November 2015 sports events in Canada Ottawa Redblacks Edmonton Elks