Concordia Stinger quarterback Olivier Roy was presented the Jeff Russel Memorial Trophy as the outstanding player in the RSEQ football conference in Montreal this morning.
Roy goes forward as the Quebec nominee for the U SPORTS Hec Crighton Trophy awarded annually to the top player in Canadian university football.
A resident of Donnacona, Que., Roy started in all eight regular season games and the conference semifinal.He finished the regular season on top of the RSEQ in several statistical categories. Roy completed 163 of 265 passes (61.5 per cent) for 2470 yards and 18 touchdowns. He had the most attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns in the league.
With 2470 passing yards, he was the only pivot in the RSEQ to break the 2000-yard mark. He outdistanced the 2021 class of quarterbacks by a significant amount. McGill’s Dimitrios Sinodinos was his closest competitor with 1542 yards.
Roy was also the fourth-leading rusher in the RSEQ with 45 carries for 318 yards and two touchdowns.
His total offence for the year was 2788 yards or 348.5 a game which was tops in the conference. The runner-up averaged 264.3 yards a game.The six-foot-one, 170-pound all-star helped Concordia establish the No. 1 passing offence (308.8 yards a game) and the No. 1 overall offence in the RSEQ (418.9 yards a game).
“Olivier’s body of work and achievements this year are remarkable,” said Concordia head coach Brad Collinson. “He leads the RSEQ and U SPORTS in multiple categories. There’s no doubt he’s a true MVP. He carries the team on his shoulders. He takes all the pressure and plays at a level I’ve rarely seen. Without Olivier, we don’t have the success we had this year.”
Roy played three years of college football at Cégep de la Pocatière before joining the Stingers. Previously he played high school football in his hometown and was a captain at École secondaire Donnacona.
He arrived in Montreal in 2019 and went to Stingers’ training camp where he proved himself, earning a place on the team as the No. 2 quarterback behind Adam Vance, the 2019 all-star and RSEQ MVP from Visalia, Calif. Roy dressed for all eight regular season games but played sparingly.
The COVID-19 pandemic took away the 2020 football season, but Roy continued to work with the coaches and was well-prepared when this year’s training camp opened in early August. It was a competitive camp, but he emerged as the No. 1 quarterback.
He led the Stingers to a 4-4 win-loss record; the team’s best showing since 2016. He made every game exciting for the fans, putting together three dramatic come-from-behind victories and setting a RSEQ and Concordia record by passing for 580 yards in a 42-39 overtime victory over the Sherbrooke Vert & Or on Sept. 25.
It was the second best performance on record by a Canadian university quarterback. The Canadian record of 627 yards was set in 1983 by the University of Calgary’s Greg Vavra.
Awards have been piling up as well, including being named the RSEQ Athlete of the Month for September and the U SPORTS Outstanding Player on Offence for the week ending Sept. 26.
“Olivier learned a lot sitting behind Adam Vance in his MVP season,” said Collinson. “Then Olivier put a lot of time in during the COVID year. He was always on Zoom meetings and studying film. His preparation and attention to detail are incredible.
“His football IQ is high. His decision-making is great. He keeps his eyes down field. His arm strength is deceptive. He’s very even-keeled.
“Olivier is going to continue to progress and take on more and more of a leadership role. It’s going to be exciting to watch him in the coming years.”
Roy is only the sixth Concordia football player to be named the outstanding player in the league dating back to 1980 and the Ontario-Quebec Intercollegiate Football Conference. The previous winners were receiver Gerry Prud’homme (1981), quarterback Ron Aboud (1990), quarterback Scott Syvret (2005), quarterback Trenton Miller (2015) and quarterback Adam Vance (2019).
