Ottawa Gee Gees football

The Ottawa Gee-Gees football team represents the University of Ottawa in the sport of Canadian football. The Gee-Gees compete in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) conference of the U Sports football league. Football at Ottawa began in 1881, it was one of the first established football programs in Canada.

Contents

• Season by season record
• Gee Gees in the CFL
• 1975 Vanier Cup champions
• 1975 Gee Gees CIS career awards
• The 1975 University of Ottawa Gee Gees CFL careers
• References

The Gee-Gees have appeared in five Vanier Cup championships, losing in 1970, 1980 and 1997, and winning the national title in 1975 and 2000. The team practices and plays their games at the newly built Gee-Gees Field at Lees (the U of O's southern-most segment of campus) . The Gee-Gees have also won a total of eight conference championships, including four Yates Cups and four Dunsmore Cups as the team split time between the OUA and OQIFC.

The Gee-Gees also are part of the most established football rivalry in the country with the Carleton Ravens. For over 50 years they have played the traditional Panda Game, which has gained worldwide attention. In 2016, the Panda Game was nationally televised and had a game day attendance of 23,329 fans at the sold out TD Place in Lansdowne Park, which is the highest attendance total in modern history to watch a regular season CIS/USport game.

In recent years, the team has had success, having enjoyed eight consecutive seasons with non-losing records. In that time, the team has had three first-place finishes with the last being achieved in 2010. The team has also won one Yates Cup conference championship in that time, in 2006, but lost to the Saskatchewan Huskies in the Mitchell Bowl soon after. The school hired Gary Etcheverry to be the team's head coach for the 2012 season, but after losing his first five games of the season, he was relieved of his duties. The Gee-Gees went on to finish with a 2-6 record and out of the playoffs for the first time since 1991. 2013 was a better year for the Gee-Gees, new head coach Jamie Barresi was able to lead the team to a winning 5-3 record and a return to the playoffs.

The Gee-Gees opened their 2014 campaign at home on September 1, 2014 against the York Lions with a 51-7 win. Other important performances by the Gee-Gees included their 37-30 comeback win over the Queens Golden Gaels and their 38-18 win over the McMaster Marauders to put them into the playoffs. In the first round of the OUA playoffs, the Gee-Gees ended up with a long road trip to face the Windsor Lancers, who beat them 39-29 two weeks earlier. The Gee-Gees traveled into Windsor and left with a huge 46-29 victory, setting them up to face McMaster in the OUA semi-finals. After a long back-and-forth game between the Gee-Gees and the Marauders, McMaster ultimately won 42-31 and marched on through the playoffs where they ultimately lost in the Vanier Cup. All-star performances came from Ettore Lattanzio, Adam Valchuk, and Nick Lecour through the season, while Jackson Bennett was named to the All-Rookie team.

The Gee-Gees had high hopes for their 2015 season after two straight winning season with Jamie Barresi as their head coach, but ultimately fell short. The Garnet and Grey finished in the 8th spot in the OUA with a 3-5 record, their first losing record since the 2012 season. The injury-riddled season was epitomized by the Panda Game, which Carleton win in double-overtime with a score of 48-45. The 2015 Panda Game was the highest scoring game in the rivalry match's history. They finished the season fourth in the OUA offensively with 300 points, but ninth defensively giving up 331 points in the 11-team conference. This unfavorable finish led to a coaching-overhaul during the off-season in an attempt to bring the Gee-Gees back to their winning ways. On a positive note, the Gee-Gees has several all-star and record-breaking performances from some of their players. In the final game of the season against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, Gee-Gees receiver Ian Stewart broke the school receiving record and became the first Gee-Gees receiver ever to have over 1000 receiving yards. The records continued with quarterback Derek Wendel, who set the OUA mark for throwing yards in a game. He also broke country-wide records of completions in a single season and yards thrown in a single season. The season ended with Ian Stewart and Derek Wendel being named all-stars, while rookies Cody Cranston and Cole Beacock were named to the All-Rookie team for the Gee-Gees.

The off-season leading up to the 2016 season was crucial for the Gee-Gees, who were attempting to return to the OUA playoffs after falling short in the 2015 season. The addition of full-time coaches Jean-Vincent Posy-Audette (Defensive Coordinator), Nathan Taylor (Special Teams Coordinator), and Carl Tolmie (Offensive Line coach) began the Gee-Gees' journey back to the post-season. The adjustments to the coaching staff paid off, as the team finished 6-2 and returned to playoff action in 2016. The team opened the season with a 65-1 victory over the Waterloo Warriors, a victory that would set the tone for the rest of the season. Highlights of the season included a 30-8 win over the McMaster Marauders, their 31-28 overtime victory over the Guelph Gryphons, and their 42-41 overtime victory over the Queens Gaels which was won by a 2-point conversion attempt that was tipped by a Golden Gaels defender in the end zone but was ultimately reeled in by Mitchell Baines. The annual Panda Game took place in front of a sellout crowd of 23,329 at Lansdowne Park. Each team looked strong to begin the game, but the Carleton Ravens ultimately won the game 43-23, extending their win streak to 3 years. After strong regular seasons by both the Gee-Gees and Ravens, the two teams were set to square off in the first round of the OUA playoffs. The game took place at MNP Park with the Ravens taking the victory 45-9. For the Gee-Gees, Derek Wendel, Mitchell Baines, Lewis Ward, and Jackson Bennett were all named OUA All-stars, with Wendel and Baines also being named to the All-Canadian team. Patrick Spelman, Piriyanthan Sinnathurai, and Tremayne Clark-Steven were all named to the All-Rookie team, displaying a promising young class of linemen playing for the Gee-Gees.

Most recently, Gee-Gees standout wide receiver Mitchell Baines began his professional career after signing a contract with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He led all players in receiving yards with 984, and ranked third in touchdowns with 8. Fellow Gee-Gees football stars Derek Wendel and Osas Obas took part in the NFL Regional Combine in Minnesota. Derek Wendel, Osas Obas, and Lewis Ward all took part in the CFL Regional Combine in Montreal.