The 2021 U Sports football season began on August 28, 2021, with the

Sherbrooke Vert et Or The Sherbrooke Vert & Or (; ''"Sherbrooke Green & Gold"'') is the athletic teams that represent the Université de Sherbrooke in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The team plays in Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec ( French for "Quebec Student Spor ...

hosting the

Montreal Carabins The Montréal Carabins () are the men's and women's athletic teams that represent the Université de Montréal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Teams play at the CEPSUM Stadium and at Winter Stadium (Montreal), l'aréna du CEPSUM, located at the Uni ...

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. The

Atlantic University Sport Atlantic University Sport (AUS; ) is a regional membership association for universities in Atlantic Canada which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providing contact information, schedules, re ...

conference began play on September 17, 2021, and ten

Ontario University Athletics Ontario University Athletics (OUA; ) is a regional membership association for Canadian universities which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providing contact information, schedules, results, ...

teams opened their seasons on September 18, 2021. The

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

conference began their regular season last with all six teams playing on September 25, 2021. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Canada The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Most cases over the course o ...

, all conferences except the RSEQ played six regular season games while the RSEQ played eight. The conference championships were played on the weekend of November 20 and the season concluded on December 4 with the

56th Vanier Cup The 2021 Vanier Cup, the 56th edition of the Canadian university football championship, was played on December 4, 2021, at Telus Stadium in Quebec City, Quebec. The OUA champion Western Mustangs defeated the Canada West champion Saskatchewan Hus ...

championship, with the

Western Mustangs The Western Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent University of Western Ontario, Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. The school's athletic program supports 46 Varsity team, varsity teams. Their mascot is a Mustang named J.W. a ...

defeating the

Saskatchewan Huskies The Saskatchewan Huskies are the athletics teams representing the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The university began their athletics program in 1907 and has competed with others since 1911. They currently compete in eli ...

by a score of 27–21. 27

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

teams A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interd ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

played

U Sports football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athleti ...

this season, the highest level of

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

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 ...

Schedule changes

The

conference was the first to announce their 2021 schedule after no conference played in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

due to the

. The AUS confirmed a schedule of six regular season games instead of the usual eight with a start date three weeks later than the 2019 scheduled start with the additional one-week delay of this year's Vanier Cup game. The AUS also had four out of five teams qualify for playoffs, instead of three, with the fourth seeded team playing the top team and the second seed playing the third. The Loney Bowl was played on November 20, 2021. The

conference announced their schedule shortly after the AUS, on June 21, 2021, with all six teams playing on September 25, 2021. Canada West featured six teams playing six regular season games apiece with each team playing one game against the other plus one additional game. The first week's opponents are the same as the last week's opponents with the host switching for the last week. The 84th Hardy Cup game was played on the weekend of November 20, 2021. On June 30, 2021, both the OUA and RSEQ released their schedules. The OUA also played on a reduced schedule with each team playing six regular season games over a seven-week regular season. Notably, some OUA teams' schedules featured repeat matchups with some teams playing opponents twice in order to reduce travel. The OUA also shifted to a two-division set up with Carleton,

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, Queen's,

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, and

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

in the East Division and

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

, McMaster, Waterloo,

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier (November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and Liberal politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadians, French ...

, and Windsor in the West Division. The 113th

Yates Cup The Yates Cup () is a Canadian sports trophy, presented annually to the winner of the Ontario University Athletics football conference of U Sports. It is the oldest still-existing football trophy in North America, dating back to 1898 and surpassi ...

games was played on November 20, 2021. The RSEQ is scheduled to play a standard eight-game schedule with five teams playing over the course of a ten-week regular season. Notably, the

Dunsmore Cup The Dunsmore Cup () is a Canadian sports trophy, presented annually to the winner of the university-level football competition conducted by Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), the governing body for all student sports in the province of ...

did not endure the same delay as the other conference championships and was played on November 13, 2021.

Regular season

Standings

Post-season awards

Award-winners

All-Canadian Team

Post-season

The

Vanier Cup The Vanier Cup () is the trophy awarded annually to the champion Canadian football team in U Sports, the governing body for university sports in Canada. The U Sports football champion is determined in a one-game playoff (the Vanier Cup game), pl ...

is played between the champions of the Mitchell Bowl and the

Uteck Bowl The Uteck Bowl is one of the two semifinal bowls of U Sports football, Canada's national competition for university teams that play Canadian football. It is held in the easternmost of the two semifinal venues. The Uteck Bowl champion moves on to ...

, the national semi-final games. In 2021, according to the rotating schedule, the Atlantic conference's Loney Bowl championship team will visit the

Ontario championship team for the Mitchell Bowl. The winners of the Canada West

Hardy Trophy The Hardy Trophy is a Canadian sport trophy, presented annually to the winner of the Canada West Universities Athletic Association Canadian football, Football Conference of U Sports, the country's governing body for university athletics. It is na ...

will visit the Québec conference

championship team for the Uteck Bowl. These games are scheduled to be played on November 27, 2021. On June 17, 2021, it was announced that the

would be played in

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

, Quebec, and would be hosted by

Université Laval (; English: ''Laval University)'' is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university traces its roots to the Séminaire de Québec, founded by François de Montmorency-Laval in 1663, making it the oldest institutio ...

for the seventh time in school history.

Atlantic University Sport

Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec

Ontario University Athletics

Canada West Universities Athletic Association

National Semifinals

National Championship

References

{{U Sports football

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body for universities in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country and four regional conferences: Ontario University Athletics (OUA), Résea ...

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

U Sports football seasons