Bio

Led by Head Coach Don Gilbert, a former CFL great, the 1975 Gee-Gees amassed a perfect 11-0 record.

The crowning achievement came on November 21, 1975 when they became the first undefeated team in Vanier Cup history.

Twenty-one of the 46 players on that championship roster went on to be drafted by CFL teams, a Canadian university record, and 12 of the drafted players played in the CFL for a combined 96 years.

These Gee-Gee players also have 12 Grey Cup rings, 23 Grey Cup appearances, 20 CFL and division all-star selections, two CFL Outstanding Lineman Eastern Division awards, two CFL Outstanding Rookie Eastern Division awards and one Grey Cup Outstanding Canadian award.

Head coach Don Gilbert won the Frank Tindall Award as CIAU Coach of the Year in 1975 and three players, Rocky Di Pietro, Miles Gorrell and Neil Lumsden, have been inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Toronto had been ranked no. 1 in the nation until the Gee-Gees defeated them convincingly in Toronto on Oct. 18.

Neil Lumsden led the league in scoring with 15 touchdowns, 41 converts, 5 field goals, and two singles for 148 points. Jeff Avery and Rocky DiPietro had 6 touchdowns apiece, tied for third in the league for majors scored.

Game Results:

W 54-17 at Carleton, Sept. 13 - TDs by Lumsden (4 rushing), Tim Berryman (fumble recovery), Bill Harrison, Doug Falconer (105 yard interception return)

W 43-7 vs Bishop's Sept. 20 at Mooney's Bay - TDs by DT White (65-yard punt return), Lumsden (3), Jim Colton, Mike Murphy

W 63-7 vs Concordia, Sept. 28 at Lansdowne Park - TDs by Jeff Avery, Jim Colton (2), DT White (69-yard interception return), Paul Kilger (7-yard fumble return), Rocky DiPietro (3 receiving), Lumsden

W 35-14 at McGill, Oct. 4 - TDs by Lumsden (2), Avery, Bill Cherniak (20-yard fumble return), Ian MacPherson (50-yard blocked punt return)

W 35-14 at Queen's, Oct. 11 - TDs by Avery (2), Mike Kelly (blocked punt return)

W 38-16 at Toronto, Oct. 18 - TDs by Harrison (50-yard reception), Lumsden, Avery (2 receptions), Colton

W 55-22 vs Carleton, Oct. 25 (Panda Game) at Lansdowne Park - TDs by Lumsden (2), Rocky Dipietro (3), Colton

POSTSEASON

W 57-26 vs Queen's (OQIFC Eastern Division SF) at Landsdowne Park, Nov. 1 - TDs by Lumsden (5), DiPietro, Colton, McNeely

W 14-7 vs Toronto (OQIFC Eastern Final) at Lansdowne Park, Nov. 8 - TDs by Colton

W 45-6 vs Winsdor (Central Bowl) at Lansdowne Park, Nov. 15 - TDs by Harrison (40-yard pass), Avery (26-yard pass), Medwin (46-yard pass), Lumsden (3 rushes)

W 14-9 vs Calgary (College Bowl) at Exhibition Stadium, Nov. 21 - TDs by Harrison, Murphy

Old Guard moves over for Ottawa U

By Bob Elliott, Ottawa Journal Sports Staff, November 22 1975

TORONTO - There has always been, and there probably always will be, an old guard in Ontario athletics. This is college football's 101st season and for most of those years football at the intercollegiate level meant the University of Toronto, McGill, Queen's, and the University of Western Ontario.

But the University of Ottawa struck a blow for the latecomers, the schools described as wek sisters by the old schools and young universiities with a desire to make a go of a football program here Friday night in the 10th annual College Bowl, before 17,800 chilled fans.

In the first nine national finals Ontario schools won four. Western has two vistories, Queen's and Toronto one each. U of O, a member of the revered Ontario University Athletic Association for only five years, score win no. 5 for Ontario with a 14-9 victory over Calgary University Dinosaurs thanks to a defence which recovered from some early shortcoming, a 16-year-old French-Canadian, who speaks little more English than a few audibles, a hustling backup fullback and the all-time leading scorer in Canadian collegiate football.

Coach Mike Lashuk's duo of passing daredevils - Don Siler and Greg Watson - passed for a total of 209 yards on the game, a figure which would cost most bowl teams the game. But only 47 of those yards came in the second half.

"We made some adjustments at the half," said defensive backfield coach Danny Slee surrounded in the U of O dressing room by tears of joy. Slee's last visit to the final in 1970 saw a dressing room with tears of sadness.

"They were well prepared and well coached," said Slee, "they were hitting us in the centre of the hook zone... and we weren't picking up the man out of the backfield."

Gee-Gees picked off two passes in the second half, for a total of three on the game. A snare by halfback Jen Guarisco with just two minutes on the clock and Calgary scrimmaging from their own 33 yard line made the Dinosaurs extinct.

The offence which outgained Calgary 322-311 ground out a first down, held the ball for five time-consuming plays and by the time Calgary got the ball back inside their own five there was less than 10 seconds remaning.

Neil Lumsden, who was slighted Wednesday night by the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union when it came time to name the most valuable player, carried the ball in that final series, his last ramble as a Gee-Gee.

Last night the national body voted Lumsden the best player in the game and awarded him the Ted Morris Memorial Award. He carried 27 times for 169 yards. 

Lumsden, used mostly for the tough yardage - second and short, third and one - certainly can't be classified as a breakaway threat. However, with the Gee-Gees enjoying the wind in the first quarter, Lumsden broke off two long gainers and came close to going all the way on one gallop.

The Crighton nominee as the most valuable outstanding player in the Ontario-Quebec Intercollegiate Football Conference Eastern Division, Lumsden went off tackle 22 yards in the Gee-Gees' first series. The opening drive - which began when Connie Mineault recovered a Calgary fumble - grounded to a half on the Calgary seven. Calgary stopped Lumsden short on a third down play at their own seven.

Lumsden, who had his number 33 retired prior to game time got the Gee-Gees going the next time they had the ball. This time Lumsden went 44 yards and almost went all the way, thanks to a block by Jeff Avery, before being pushed out of bounds at the Calgary nine.

One play later Billy Harrison cracked though the left side of the line and then back against the grain to go nine yards for the score. Lumsden converted to put Gee-Gees ahead 7-0 after six minutes.

But the play which eased an 8-7 Calgary lead, constructed by burly Dan Diduck's 20-yard romp over the middle grom Greg Watson and a single and convert by Lindsay Hay, was the result of a Lumsden fumble, oddly enough.

Gee-Gees' gained control on the Calgary 31 when cornerback Minneault, who had missed Diduck in open field on his touchdown, grabbed a Watson toss. Quarterback Jim Colton moved the Gee-Gees to the Calgary four in three plays but was faced with a third-and-two situation. As usual he called on Lumsden and the stocky fullback made the required distance.

Next came the weird winning play which cost the Gee-Gees a quarterback. Lumsden was hit, and hit hard on the goal line. The ball bounced and squirted around the end zone for some time.

"I thought for sure I was over... I didn't know it was a fumble," Lumsden said.

Quarterback Colton made a dive for the loose ball and got a hand on it, but wasn't able to control it. Back-up fullback Mike Murphy, in for the Gee-Gees' short yardage situation wound up with the ball and the officials took some time sorting it out before giving the long-awaited signal. "I touched it, but I didn't recover it," said Colton, who was credited with the major, although he didn't have control.

Murphy, who will be the Gee-Gees' No. 1 back come next year, coralled the elusive football. In the mad scramble Colton injured his ankle. "It may be broken," said Colton, who wathed the final 20 minutes from the sidelines, putting 16-year-old Yves Lecrec into difficult position.

"Don (head coach Don Gilbert) called most of the plays," said Leclerc, who ground out the remaining time. He completed a pass to Jeff Avery and had one intercepted. "That was a good play," defended Avery, " I slipped on the play and went down. He was quick enough to see that and still find someone else open... and Yves just missed completing it by a couple of inches."

Heros are numerous in championship games: there was Mike Dalton, who dressed for five regular scheduled games and couldn't make the lineup for the next five but worked out anywat presented the HIT (hang in there award) at a team meeting, who starred at linebacker, there was Dan Sartor who gave an excellent performance, there was guard Eric Upton, who went on a wounded knee the final half and there were linebackers Tim Berryman and Brian Keating. 

"We thought we had the pressure on them," said coach Mike Lashuk, "but they pressured our quarterbacks too much in the second half."

"You watch those two play (Berryman and Keating) and tell me they're not All-Canadians," said U of O coach Dwight Fowler. 

For Gilbert, who could lose upwards of 17 players, possible some seven to the CFL next year, it was an emotional night.

"People are going to look back on this team...11-0...and remember just how good a team it was," said Gilbert, who amidst champagne, cigar smoke and tears made a dressing-room trunk speech.

"You fellows have been my life for the past four years... we'll always remember this."

50^TH VANIER CUP INTERVIEW SERIES: 1975

A conversation with...

Miles Gorrell, defensive lineman, University of Ottawa Gee-Gees

In Vanier Cup XI, the Ottawa Gee-Gees capped an unblemished 11-0 season with a 14-9 win over the Calgary Dinosaurs in the third and final CIAU championship game played at Toronto’s CNE Stadium. Miles Gorrell, who would end up in the Canadian football Hall of Fame as an offensive lineman, was a rookie on the Gee-Gees defensive line in 1975 and made a significant contribution in the Vanier Cup as Ottawa held the Dinosaurs to a single point after halftime and only 10 first downs in the game.   

What is your major memory of the entire Vanier Cup week and the overall experience?

We were playing against Calgary, which was my hometown and I had been in Ottawa for only three months. It was my new friends playing against my old friends whom I had grown up with, and when we won I gave handshakes to my old friends and hugs to my new ones. We also played on artificial turf for the first time and we all got new shoes – those black and white Adidas shoes are a key memory.

What is your one major lasting memory of the actual game?

It’s all in black and white, and it feels as if it all happened very quickly. The overall experience of coming from junior football to competing on that national stage for a Canadian university championship is the biggest memory.

What do you remember as the key play of the game?

I’d say key moment rather than key play. When our starting quarterback, Jim Colton, got hurt, our 16-year-old backup, Yves LeClerc, went into the game. He didn’t panic, he just did what coach Don Gilbert told him to do: keep handing the ball off to Neil Lumsden!

(Note: An all-Canadian running back who also handled kicking duties, Lumsden was named game MVP thanks in large part to his 169 rushing yards in 27 carries)

Did anything unusual or out of the ordinary happen during the game or during Vanier week?

Every time you’d go to Toronto back then it was a big deal, but taking the bus and the whole trip was very smooth. It was all meant to be – we felt we were in the right spot at the right time. And the guys who’d worked hard for four years deserved it.

How did the coaches prepare you for the game?

Our head coach, Don Gilbert, never had any negativity. He was always positive with us and is fun to be around even to this day because of his positivity. He just kept telling us we were the best. Nobody could beat us because we believed in each other.

How did you or the team react to the stadium and the crowd?

It was a night game, which was very strange for us. I was a Prairie Boy coming to downtown Toronto to play on that artificial turf at Exhibition Stadium for a national championship. It was a great night.

What are your memories of the post-game celebrations on the field and/or in the dressing room?

I was very proud of the guys - my teammates were more important than the trophy. The whole thing was so surreal, not losing a game the entire season... it has always seemed surreal. It was a fun team to play on and to have good times with. The friendships that you get from those teams were everything to me.

What was the reaction on campus when the team returned?

It was a big deal for the athletic department because at that time there were still referendums happening on campus about whether we should have a football team, even though we were so strong. That being said, I have nothing but good memories about the University of Ottawa in the 70’s – it was a great place to grow up.

At the time, how did winning the Vanier Cup change your everyday life?

I was very proud to be part of that team, because they set the stage for me. I was a rookie that season and the veterans showed me the way. They gave me a sense of where I was going and what I could accomplish because they’d done it. I admired them for their work ethic and when Paul Kilger – my teammate on the defensive line in 1975 - coached me later on, he helped define what I was going to do – just work hard.

The Vanier Cup was the big thing behind all my athletic accomplishments that came after. Becoming a CIAU all-Canadian (1976), getting drafted to the CFL, winning the Grey Cup and being inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame – the Vanier Cup is a major part of all of that.

How often to you reminisce about your Vanier Cup win?

I like to tell people about 1975. As players, we knew we were a good team but we were also lucky to be there. Don Gilbert was a great coach and he found people to play together, people who complemented each other.

The 1975 team has been called by some “the greatest Canadian college team” due to all the players who went on to play professional football. Does that quote still resonate today?

I really admire the program at Laval and their championship run in recent years has been impressive, but I would take that 1975 team to play against any team.

What did you study at uOttawa?

I studied Business Administration. I think at the time, my father, who was in the stands watching me at the Vanier Cup, was more proud that I was in University than that the fact I was on the football team.