Montreal Carabins football

The team began its second incarnation in 2002 after over thirty years of being dormant. The Carabins first began play in 1966 in the Ontario Intercollegiate Football Conference and continued play for the next six seasons.^[2] The program was dropped after the 1971 season due to a shift in philosophy as many francophone universities placed an emphasis on community involvement and intramural athletic activities as opposed to intercollegiate athletics. That philosophy has shifted back to intercollegiate sports as Université Laval, Montréal and Université de Sherbrooke each began programs in 1996, 2002 and 2003, respectively.^[3]

The current program has seen marked success in the regular season, having qualified for the playoffs in every season since 2003. However, the program had difficulty winning their conference championship in the early years, with five losses in their first five appearances. That changed under the leadership of former head coach, Danny Maciocia, in 2014, as the Carabins defeated the Laval Rouge et Or to win their first Dunsmore Cup. The team then won the national semi-final Uteck Bowl against the Manitoba Bisons to qualify for the first Vanier Cup game in program history. In the 50th Vanier Cup, the Carabins defeated the McMaster Marauders by a score of 20–19 to win the first national championship in program history.

The team won two more Dunsmore Cups in 2015 and 2019, but eventually lost in the Vanier Cup games in both seasons to the UBC Thunderbirds and the Calgary Dinos. Maciocia resigned following the 2019 season to join the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes and was replaced by Marco Iadeluca on February 11, 2020.^[4]

In 2021, the first season after the COVID-19 pandemic, the team finished first of the regular season with a record of 7-1, and two straight wins against their rivals, the Laval Rouge et Or. They hosted the 2021 Dunsmore Cup at home, and managed to lift it in Montréal - their fourth Dunsmore Cup - following a decisive victory of 28-19 against Laval, the program's first Dunsmore Cup win at home - and finished the season with three wins against their rivals for the first time in their history.

In 2022, the team finished second in the RSEQ with a record of 6-2. They participated in their ninth straight Dunsmore Cup, and lost 24-25 in Québec, against the Rouge et Or on a single.

For the 2023 campaign, the 2022 provincial runner-up finished the regular season with a 7-1 record, suffering their only loss in the final season game at home to the Concordia Stingers, with a score of 14-16 on a walk-off field goal on a meaningless game. In a rare occurrence, Montreal completely outscored Laval in Quebec with a score of 31-14, thanks to their impressive six turnovers. They also shut down the Rouge et Or 28-0 at home, marking Laval's second-ever scoreless game. The Carabins then secured their fifth Dunsmore Cup with a 12-6 victory over Laval in Montreal. In the following week, Montreal defeated the No. 1-ranked team in Canada, the Western Mustangs, by scoring 29-3 in the Uteck Bowl. To cap off the successful campaign, which had already crowned Montreal quarterback Jonathan Sénécal with the HEC Creighton Trophy for the most outstanding player and the Presidents' Trophy for the most outstanding defensive player, Harold Miessan, the Carabins won their second Vanier Cup title, defeating the UBC Thunderbirds 16-9 in the 58th Vanier Cup. During their four playoff games, Montreal did not concede a single touchdown and finished with an impressive combined score of 111-21.

While under the Montreal Alouettes colors in a preseason game in 2025, Jonathan Sénécal, Montreal's quarterback from 2021 to 2024, became the Carabins' first-ever quarterback to complete a pass as a professional.^[5][6]

In 2025, starting rookie quarterback José Alejandro «Pepe» Gonzalez Garza won the RSEQ's Rookie of the Year award. He threw for 2,284 yards, and scored 19 passing touchdowns, a team record.^[7] « Pepe » also received the Peter Gorman trophy awarded to the best Canadian rookie^[8], and the Ted Morris Memorial Trophy given to the Vanier Cup's MVP^[9]. He led the team to its second Vanier Cup win in three seasons.

^[10]

Montreal is 5-1 in national semi-final games and 3-2 in the Vanier Cup.

• Hec Crighton Trophy: Jonathan Sénécal (2023)
• Presidents' Trophy: Nicky Farinaccio (2022), Harold Miessan (2023)
• Peter Gorman Trophy: Maxime Gagnier (2003), Martin Gagné (2005), Enrique James Leclair (2024), Jose Alejandro Gonzalez-Garza (2025)
• Lois and Doug Mitchell Award: Jonathan Sénécal (2024)