| 1998 CIAU football season | |
| Duration: | September 2, 1998 – November 7, 1998 |
| Conf1: | Hardy Cup |
| Conf1 Champ: | Saskatchewan Huskies |
| Conf2: | Yates Cup |
| Conf2 Champ: | Western Mustangs |
| Conf3: | Dunsmore Cup |
| Conf3 Champ: | Concordia Stingers |
| Conf4: | Loney Bowl |
| Conf4 Champ: | Acadia Axemen |
| Conf5: | Atlantic Bowl |
| Conf5 Champ: | Concordia Stingers |
| Conf6: | Churchill Bowl |
| Conf6 Champ: | Saskatchewan Huskies |
| Finals: | Vanier Cup |
| Finals Date: | November 28, 1998 |
| Finals Venue: | SkyDome, Toronto |
| Finals Champ: | Saskatchewan Huskies |
| Prevseason Year: | 1997 |
| Nextseason Year: | 1999 |
| Seasonslistnames: | CIAU football seasons |
The 1998 CIAU football season began on September 2, 1998, and concluded with the 34th Vanier Cup national championship on November 28, 1998, at the SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, with the Saskatchewan Huskies winning the third Vanier Cup championship in program history. Twenty-four universities across Canada competed in CIAU football this season, the highest level of amateur play in Canadian football, under the auspices of the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union (CIAU). This year would be the last for the Carelton Ravens until their re-establishment in 2013 as the program was discontinued in 1998.[1]
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points
| Atlantic | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | GP | W | L | PF | PA | Pts | |
| Mount Allison | 8 | 6 | 2 | 219 | 142 | 12 | |
| Acadia | 8 | 5 | 3 | 206 | 168 | 10 | |
| 8 | 4 | 4 | 153 | 161 | 8 | ||
| 8 | 1 | 7 | 112 | 219 | 2 | ||
| Ontario-Quebec | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | GP | W | L | PF | PA | Pts | |
| Concordia | 8 | 6 | 2 | 233 | 141 | 12 | |
| Ottawa | 8 | 6 | 2 | 267 | 184 | 12 | |
| Laval | 8 | 4 | 4 | 181 | 156 | 8 | |
| Bishop's | 8 | 4 | 4 | 189 | 193 | 8 | |
| 8 | 4 | 4 | 110 | 166 | 8 | ||
| 8 | 3 | 5 | 208 | 170 | 6 | ||
| 8 | 1 | 7 | 102 | 280 | 2 | ||
| Ontario | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts | |
| Western | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 295 | 139 | 16 | |
| Waterloo | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 297 | 150 | 14 | |
| Laurier | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 248 | 155 | 10 | |
| McMaster | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 278 | 254 | 8 | |
| 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 134 | 211 | 7 | ||
| 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 118 | 155 | 6 | ||
| 8 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 87 | 275 | 3 | ||
| 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 103 | 226 | 0 | ||
| Canada West | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts | |
| Saskatchewan | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 226 | 168 | 12 | |
| UBC | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 262 | 151 | 12 | |
| 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 261 | 175 | 8 | ||
| 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 232 | 217 | 8 | ||
| 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 142 | 314 | 0 | ||
Teams in bold earned playoff berths.[2]
| Quarterback | Phil Côté (Ottawa) | Benoit Chapdelaine (McMaster) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Running Back | Eric Lapointe (Mount Allison) Akbal Singh (British Columbia) | Mike Bradley (Waterloo) Gerrit Stam (Guelph) | |
| Inside Receiver | Jermayne Baldwin (St. Francis Xavier) Chris Huismans (York) | Adrian Huntley (Manitoba) Chris Amey (Waterloo) | |
| Outside Receiver | Rob Harrod (Ottawa) Dan Disley (Western Ontario) | Brad Coutts (British Columbia) Chris Evraire (Ottawa) | |
| Centre | Barkley Andersen (Calgary) | Paul Sguigna (Waterloo) | |
| Guard | Sam Stetsko (Alberta) Pascal Chéron (Laval) | Brent Weir (Acadia) Daniel Sendecki (Waterloo) | |
| Tackle | Paul Blenkhorn (Western) André Trudel (Laval) | Scott Flory (Saskatchewan) Brad Chalmers (Saint Mary's) |
| Defensive Tackle | Cameron Legault (Carleton) James Repesse (Saskatchewan) | James Osborn (Queen's) Jason Pudwill (Mount Allison) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defensive End | Garret Everson (Calgary) Tyson St. James (British Columbia) | Jim Aru (Queen's) Mike Maltar (Toronto) | |
| Linebacker | Warren Muzika (Saskatchewan) Josh Tavares (Saint Mary's) Dwayne Bromfield (Concordia) | Adrian Bowers (Toronto) Daryl Tharby (Waterloo) Dan Elliott (British Columbia) | |
| Free Safety | Chris Begley (Mount Allison) | Luke Shaver (Ottawa) | |
| Defensive Halfback | Donnie Ruiz (Wilfrid Laurier) Jean-Vincent Posy-Audette (Laval) | Dustin Edwards (Alberta) Allan Ruby (Wilfrid Laurier) | |
| Cornerback | Pierre Landry (Ottawa) Jason Tibbits (Waterloo) | Kevin Johnson (Wilfrid Laurier) Chris Hoople (British Columbia) |
| Kicker | Derek Livingstone (McMaster) | Matt Kellett (Saskatchewan) |
|---|---|---|
| Punter | John Baunemann (Manitoba) | Michael O’Brien (Western) |
Notably this year, the Dunsmore Cup was played over two days due to an overtime game being called due to darkness.[5] The November 14 game was played at Concordia Stadium which did not have artificial lights at the time. The Rouge et Or and the Stingers had played to a 10-10 tie after two overtime periods, which ended at 4:46pm local time when nightfall had set in. Referee Ron Morin discussed with Laval's Jacques Chapdelaine and Concordia's Pat Sheahan and agreed that the game would be played on the next day, November 15. That game was played with two 10-minute halves where the Stingers won with a Jason Casey 22-yard fumble-return touchdown which sealed the 17-12 victory.[5] [6]
The Vanier Cup was played between the champions of the Atlantic Bowl and the Churchill Bowl, the national semi-final games. This year, the Ontario conference's Yates Cup championship team, Western Mustangs visited the Canada West Hardy Trophy champion Saskatchewan Huskies for the Churchill Bowl. The winners of the Atlantic conference Loney Bowl championship, the Acadia Axemen, were effectively the home team for the Atlantic Bowl in Halifax, Nova Scotia which featured the Dunsmore Cup Ontario-Quebec champion Concordia Stingers.[7] The Huskies and the Stingers both won and advanced to the 34th Vanier Cup game which was played in the SkyDome in Toronto. The Concordia Stingers made their first appearance in a Vanier Cup game, which resulted in a loss to an experienced Saskatchewan Huskies team that won their second championship in three years.[8]