A historical re-acquaintance is in the making when the University of Toronto Varsity Blues football team plays host to the McGill Redmen in pre-season action on Saturday, August 23 at Varsity Centre at 1 p.m.
The two teams first met in 1881, and since that time U of T has held the upper hand over McGill with a 95-51-6 head-to-head record. The Redmen snapped a 10-game losing streak versus the Blues in their last exhibition match-up in 2010, defeating U of T 40-17. Prior to that, Toronto went 9-0-1 versus McGill in 10 meetings between 1970 and 1992.
Toronto’s lone exhibition match-up of 2014 will mark the 153rd time that the Blues and Redmen have met in 122 years.
The Blues went 4-4 in 2013, their best record since the 1993 Yates and Vanier Cup championship season. U of T defeated the Laurier Golden Hawks, York Lions, Carleton Ravens and Waterloo Warriors and just missed the playoffs after tiebreaking procedures.
These two staples in Canadian university football have much to be proud of with both programs producing exceptional student-athletes. McGill’s Laurent Duvernay-Tardif was taken in the sixth round (89th overall) of this year’s NFL draft (Kansas City Chiefs) and the two teams combined for seven draft picks in last night’s CFL draft (Toronto 4, McGill 3).
The Varsity Blues open their regular season at home when they host the Laurier Golden Hawks on Labour Day (Sept. 2) at Varsity Centre. Kick off is set for 7 p.m.
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