Inductees
2001 National Football Huskies
Inducted in 2017
Category: Team
Perfection is achieved with hard work, learning from failure, loyalty and persistence.
That one sentence describes one of the greatest Saint Mary鈥檚 University football teams of all time.
The 2001 team would achieve the ultimate goal in the CIS, winning the Vanier Cup. Undefeated.
The corps of that team arrived on campus in 1998 and could garner almost instant success but ultimate failure when they lost to Laval 14-10 in the 鈥�99 National championship. One year later they would go undefeated in the League only to lose to the University of Regina 40-36 in the Atlantic Bowl, in the final minutes of the game. The lessons of failure were learned quickly and applied.
Blake Nill inherited a solid and very successful football program put in place by the man admired by so many, Larry Uteck. Following a good recruiting season, one of Nill鈥檚 first priorities was to adjust the culture. By his own admission he came from the 鈥榟ard ass鈥� school. He demanded much of his players. It was his way or the highway. The team bought into the program and the results followed. The defensive philosophy was simple:
Attack with aggression. Offensively it began with the 鈥極鈥� line that would provide solid blocking for a good running game and time for the QB鈥檚 to find any number of highly skilled receivers.
Top heavy with 4th and 5th players (a Nill trademark) the 2001 team was much a tight knit family. They began the season demolishing arch rival StFX 65-13 in an exhibition game. The following week they rushed for 431 yards in turning aside Mt. Allison 105-0. By the time SMU finished 8 and 0 they had allowed a miserly 31 points and scored an average of 60 points per game. Ryan Jones had tossed 21 TD passes, the best in the CIS.
The 40th and last Atlantic Bowl was a rematch of 1999 - SMU vs. Laval. This time around in front of 7,000 Saint Mary鈥檚 crushed the Rouge et Or 48-8. Sweet revenge.
Off to the 37th edition of the Vanier Cup where teams from the AUS had lost 7 in a row. Saint Mary鈥檚 were the underdogs despite scoring 480 points and not giving up a single rushing TD. Even with those impressive stats the team was considered a Division Two CIS school. You are in the 鈥渂ig show鈥� but who have you beaten. There was little respect.
Making their 4th appearance in the Cup in 28 years SMU would be up against arguably the best defensive front 7 in the nation; the favourites to give the West its 13th Cup since 1980, the University of Manitoba Bisons. SMU would overcome 23 penalties, receive an MVP performance from Jones and get a turnaround interception late in the game from Kyle Morrison and finally earn some long overdue respect with a 42-16 win; the 2nd victory for Saint Mary鈥檚 in Vanier Cup history.
The Huskies as expected dominated the AUS All-Star team with 10 on offense and 7 on defense. At the All Canadian level Luis Perez, Jason Currie and Jean Michel Sylvan were selected on offense with Doug Borden and Curtis Nash on defense.
If not the best team in CIS history one of the most dominant, certainly on defense. Offensively there were powered by a very big and talented line that made the running so effective with Perez and Dean Jones. Add to the mix a creative coaching staff and a team that was willing to sacrifice and focus and play for each other and you have the recipe for perfection.
Saint Mary鈥檚 Huskies: the perfect Vanier Cup Champions for 2001.
Portrait Artist: Barbara Dorey
Portrait Art Photographer: Colin Sutton