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The 110th Grey Cup was played to determine the Canadian Football League (CFL) champion for the 2023 season.[5] The game was played on November 19, 2023, at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario, between the West Division champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the East Division champion Montreal Alouettes.[5][6] The Alouettes defeated the Blue Bombers, 28–24. It was the 12th time that Hamilton had hosted the Grey Cup, the previous having been in 2021.[5]
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| Date | November 19, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Tim Hortons Field | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Hamilton, Ontario | ||||||||||||||||||
| Most Valuable Player | Cody Fajardo, QB (Alouettes) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Most Valuable Canadian | Tyson Philpot, WR (Alouettes) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favourite | Blue Bombers by 7.5[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Simone Soman | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coin toss | Mary Simon | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Tim Kroeker[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | Green Day | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 28,808 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Broadcasters | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | Canada (English): TSN Canada (French): RDS Worldwide: CFL+ | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers |
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Due to Ontario COVID-19 public health orders still in effect as of mid-October 2021, all in-person entertainment festivities for the 108th Grey Cup in Hamilton in 2021 were cancelled. It was therefore announced on October 14, 2021, that the 110th Grey Cup in 2023 would be awarded to Hamilton, in order to allow organizers to host the Grey Cup and all associated festivities as originally planned.[5][7]
Entertainment
The Hamilton Sports Group announced that the Grey Cup Festival would be held in downtown Hamilton from November 16 to 18, 2023. A 35-yard football field was planned to be constructed at the John Weir Foote Armoury; it hosted a multi-day flag football tournament. The Hamilton Convention Centre, FirstOntario Centre, and Bridgeworks hosted parties for all CFL teams and the annual CFL Alumni Association Legends Luncheon was held on November 17, 2023, at LIUNA Station.[8]
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Per the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement signed in 2022, the league had the option of starting the 2023 season by up to 30 days sooner, which could have significantly altered the date of this game.[9] However, the league chose to continue with the existing scheduling formula and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats confirmed that the game would be played on November 19, 2023 (the third Sunday of November).[6]
Pop singer and Ontario native Jamie Fine sang during the pre-game kickoff show.[10] The Canadian national anthem was sung by Canada's Got Talent semifinalist Simone Soman,[10] making her the first blind singer to perform the anthem at the game[citation needed]. American rock band Green Day performed during the halftime show.[11] They performed four songs, "The American Dream is Killing Me", "Basket Case", "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", and "Holiday".
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The game featured the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, playing in their fourth consecutive Grey Cup, versus the Montreal Alouettes, holders of the record for the longest Grey Cup appearance drought, having last appeared in a championship game in 2010.[12] The Alouettes made their 19th Grey Cup appearance while the Blue Bombers made their league-leading 28th appearance in the title game.[12] The Alouettes were attempting to win their eighth championship and the Blue Bombers were attempting to win their 13th, including their third in four years.[12]
Montreal Alouettes
The Alouettes finished in second place in the East Division after qualifying for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.[12] The team finished with an 11–7 record, but notably won every game against teams that finished with losing records, and lost every game against teams that finished with winning records.[12] Because they faced the Blue Bombers, Lions, and Argonauts back-to-back in their schedule, the Alouettes started the season on a two-game winning streak, followed by a three-game losing streak, then a four-game winning streak, then a four-game losing streak, and finally a five-game winning streak.[13] The Alouettes qualified for the playoffs following their week 17 win over the Ottawa Redblacks.[14] In the playoffs, the team handily defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 27–12 in the East Semi-Final as they held their opponent to four field goals and no touchdowns.[13] In the East final, the Alouettes would face the heavily favoured 16–2 Argonauts, a team to whom the Alouettes had already lost three times during the regular season. However, the Alouettes forced nine Toronto turnovers: four interceptions including two that went for touchdowns, four turnovers on downs, and a fumble recovery.[15] The Alouettes dominated the Argonauts and won the game 38–17 in front of the largest crowd to watch an Argonauts game at BMO Field.[15]
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Blue Bombers were again a force to be reckoned with in the regular season as they finished with a 14–4 record.[16] The Blue Bombers secured a playoff spot for the seventh straight season in their 13th game with a victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Banjo Bowl on September 9, 2023.[17] However, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers did face a challenge for first place in the West Division from the BC Lions as the two teams had identical 11–4 records heading into their week 16 match-up that would determine who won the season series.[16] The Blue Bombers won the game in overtime and the Lions lost the following week, so the Blue Bombers secured their third consecutive division title.[18] Winnipeg played two games that were meaningless in the standings to end the season, but still won both despite resting some starters in both games.[16] Following their playoff bye week, the Blue Bombers faced the BC Lions in the West Division Final, but had a dominant defensive performance as they tied a league playoff record with nine sacks and held the Lions to just one Hail Mary touchdown and the Blue Bombers won 24–13.[19]
Head-to-head
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Montreal Alouettes in both regular season meetings in 2023, with the Bombers winning 17–3 on Canada Day and then winning 47–17 at IG Field on August 24, 2023.[12] In their first meeting, the Blue Bombers had 185 rushing yards, including 120 from Brady Oliveira, and Zach Collaros threw for 177 yards and two touchdowns.[20] The Winnipeg defence held Montreal to three points, led by Willie Jefferson, who had two sacks and a fumble recovery, and Cameron Lawson who had two sacks and a forced fumble, and Brandon Alexander who intercepted Cody Fajardo in the red zone.[20] In the second meeting, the Blue Bombers' defence again held the Alouettes' offence to three points as the Alouettes scored their only majors from interceptions from Marc-Antoine Dequoy and Tyrell Richards.[21] The Winnipeg defence held Fajardo to just 137 yards passing and one interception and leading rusher William Stanback to 32 yards rushing.[21] Collaros threw for four touchdowns and three inceptions and Oliveira nearly matched his previous total with 119 rushing yards and one touchdown.[21]
While this was the first Grey Cup game played between these franchises, it was their third postseason meeting. The teams split their previous two playoff contests.[12][a]
Uniforms
As the East Division representative in a Grey Cup held in an East Division city, the Montreal Alouettes were the designated home team for the game and used the home team's dressing room.[23] The Alouettes wore their blue jerseys and blue pants and the Blue Bombers wore their white jerseys with gold pants and used the visitors' locker room.[23]
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The Alouettes won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half.[24] Winnipeg opened the scoring with a field goal by Sergio Castillo at 6:28 in the first quarter.[25] After a Montreal two-and-out, Winnipeg then went on an eight-play, 66-yard drive that ended in Brady Oliveira scoring a five-yard touchdown.[25] Montreal then responded with a seven-play, 77-yard drive, highlighted by Austin Mack's 31-yard catch, which ended with William Stanback scoring a 32-yard rushing touchdown to close out the first quarter.[26]
In the second quarter, Montreal was unable to capitalize on a turnover after rookie defensive back Kabion Ento stripped Winnipeg's Oliveira of the ball.[25] The two teams then punted back and forth until Winnipeg's special teams forced a fumble from returner James Letcher Jr.[25] Alouettes' head coach Jason Maas challenged the play for a no yards penalty, but the call stood and the Blue Bombers took possession on the Alouettes' 29-yard line with 5:33 remaining in the half.[25] After five plays, Winnipeg's Dakota Prukop scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak to extend their lead to 17–7.[25] On the ensuing possession by Montreal, Letcher returned the kickoff to the team's 50-yard line, where quarterback Cody Fajardo marched the team down to Winnipeg's three-yard line.[25] Stanback ran for two yards on first down and then Caleb Evans was stopped twice on Winnipeg's one-yard line which led to a turnover on downs.[25] The Blue Bombers then ran out then remaining eight seconds on the clock to maintain their 17–7 lead to close out the first half.[25][26]
Montreal received the kickoff to begin the second half where Fajardo completed a 33-yard pass to Mack who made a one-handed catch while being pulled down by his left arm by Demerio Houston.[24][25] On the next play, Fajardo threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Cole Spieker to cut the Blue Bombers' lead to three points.[25] On the next drive, Winnipeg began on their own 45-yard line and advanced the ball down to Montreal's nine-yard line in seven plays.[25] However, Winnipeg's Zach Collaros was intercepted by Ento in the endzone on a pass that was intended for Kenny Lawler.[24][25] The Alouettes were unable to score on the ensuing drive, but a 61-yard punt by Joseph Zema pinned the Blue Bombers on their own nine-yard line.[24][25] Winnipeg was able to advance the ball to their own 42-yard line, but were still forced to punt to end the third quarter with the score remaining 17–14.[25]
On the second play of the fourth quarter, Fajardo was intercepted by Evan Holm on a deep pass intended for Mack, which gave Winnipeg possession at their own 21-yard line.[24][25] However, after Collaros was sacked by Reggie Stubblefield, the Blue Bombers were forced to punt after a two-and-out, where returner Tyson Philpot returned the ball 30 yards to the Winnipeg 28-yard line.[25] The Alouettes had a quick three-play drive that ended in a Mack 13-yard touchdown reception from Fajardo and Montreal took their first lead of the game.[25][27] On the following kickoff, Janarion Grant returned the ball to Winnipeg's 54-yard line to set up good field position for their next drive.[25] The Blue Bombers then marched down the field in nine plays where Prukop scored his second touchdown on a four-yard run where the team reclaimed their lead and made the score 24–21 with 5:28 remaining.[25] The two teams exchanged punts on short drives and Montreal got the ball back at their 27-yard line with 1:55 remaining in the game.[25]
The Alouettes advanced to the 55-yard line, but Fajardo took an eight-yard loss on first down as he was sacked by Shayne Gauthier.[24][25] Fajardo then rushed for 13 yards to set up a third-and-five where Maas called for a deep pass to Spieker, who made a 31-yard catch at the Winnipeg 19-yard line.[24][25] On the next play, Fajardo threw a 19-yard pass to Philpot for a touchdown to put the Alouettes ahead 28–24 with 13 seconds left.[24] After Grant returned the ball to the Winnipeg 42-yard line, the Blue Bombers had eight seconds to try to score a touchdown.[24] The Blue Bombers advanced to the 54-yard line where, on the last play of the game, Collaros completed a 14-yard pass to punter Jamieson Sheahan who had a 35-yard open field kick which was alertly recovered by the Alouettes' Marc-Antoine Dequoy who ended the game by conceding on the five-yard line to give Montreal the win.[24]
Fajardo was named the Grey Cup Most Valuable Player and Philpot received the Dick Suderman Trophy for being the Most Valuable Canadian Player of the game.[28][29]
Scoring summary
First quarter[25]
- WPG – FG Castillo 25 yards (8:32) 3–0 WPG
- WPG – TD Oliveira 5-yard run (Castillo convert) (3:00) 10–0 WPG
- MTL – TD Stanback 32-yard run (Côté convert) (0:00) 10–7 WPG
Second quarter[25]
- WPG – TD Prukop 1-yard run (Castillo convert) (2:52) 17–7 WPG
Third quarter[25]
- MTL – TD Spieker 23-yard reception from Fajardo (Côté convert) (13:17) 17–14 WPG
Fourth quarter[25]
- MTL – TD Mack 13-yard reception from Fajardo (Côté convert) (11:12) 21–17 MTL
- WPG – TD Prukop 4-yard run (Castillo convert) (5:28) 24–21 WPG
- MTL – TD Philpot 19-yard reception from Fajardo (Côté convert) (00:13) 28–24 MTL
Individual statistics
Sources: CFL 110th Grey Cup Boxscore
| Alouettes passing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | CP/AT | Pct | Yards | TD | Int |
 Cody Fajardo | 21/26 | 80.8% | 290 | 3 | 1 |
| Alouettes rushing | |||||
| Player | Car | Yards | Avg | Lg | TD |
| William Stanback | 9 | 68 | 7.6 | 32 | 1 |
| Cody Fajardo | 2 | 18 | 9.0 | 13 | 0 |
| Caleb Evans | 5 | 14 | 2.8 | 7 | 0 |
| Alouettes receiving | |||||
| Player | Rec | Yards | Avg | Lg | TD |
| Austin Mack | 6 | 103 | 17.2 | 33 | 1 |
 Tyson Philpot | 6 | 63 | 10.5 | 19 | 1 |
| Cole Spieker | 3 | 62 | 20.7 | 31 | 1 |
| Tyler Snead | 4 | 51 | 12.8 | 23 | 0 |
| James Tuck | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Jeshrun Antwi | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 |
| Alouettes defence | |||||
| Player | DT–ST | QS | Int | FR | FF |
| Darnell Sankey | 8–0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tyrice Beverette | 7–1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wesley Sutton | 6–1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reggie Stubblefield | 5–0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lwal Uguak | 5–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Avery Ellis | 3–1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mustafa Johnson | 3–0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shawn Lemon | 3–0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Almondo Sewell | 2–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Avery Williams | 2–1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marc-Antoine Dequoy | 1–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dionté Ruffin | 1–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Austin Mack | 1–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kabion Ento | 1–0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Ciante Evans | 1–0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Frédéric Chagnon | 0–2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Louis-Philippe Bourassa | 0–1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alexandre Gagné | 0–1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tyrell Richards | 0–1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alouettes placekicking | |||||
| Player | FM–FA | Lng | Avg | Sng | CM-CA |
| David Côté | 0–0 | — | — | 0 | 4–4 |
| Alouettes punting | |||||
| Player | No | GAv | NAv | Sng | Lng |
 Joseph Zema | 5 | 35.6 | — | 0 | 61 |
| Alouettes punt returns | |||||
| Player | PR | Yards | Avg | Lg | TD |
| Tyson Philpot | 3 | 49 | 16.3 | 30 | 0 |
| James Letcher Jr. | 2 | −5 | −2.5 | 7 | 0 |
| Alouettes kickoff returns | |||||
| Player | PR | Yards | Avg | Lg | TD |
| James Letcher Jr. | 3 | 77 | 25.7 | 32 | 0 |
| Tyson Philpot | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 |
| Blue Bombers passing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | CP/AT | Pct | Yards | TD | Int |
| Zach Collaros | 19/23 | 82.6% | 236 | 0 | 1 |
| Blue Bombers rushing | |||||
| Player | Car | Yards | Avg | Lg | TD |
| Brady Oliveira | 19 | 119 | 6.3 | 14 | 1 |
| Dakota Prukop | 9 | 33 | 3.7 | 8 | 2 |
| Zach Collaros | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 |
| Nic Demski | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 2 | 0 |
| Blue Bombers receiving | |||||
| Player | Rec | Yards | Avg | Lg | TD |
| Kenny Lawler | 3 | 77 | 25.7 | 42 | 0 |
| Nic Demski | 8 | 74 | 9.3 | 18 | 0 |
| Dalton Schoen | 3 | 36 | 12.0 | 15 | 0 |
| Rasheed Bailey | 2 | 18 | 9.0 | 10 | 0 |
| Jamieson Sheahan | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 |
| Drew Wolitarsky | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 9 | 0 |
| Brady Oliveira | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Blue Bombers defence | |||||
| Player | DT–ST | QS | Int | FR | FF |
| Evan Holm | 7–0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Shayne Gauthier | 5–0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Demerio Houston | 3–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jake Thomas | 3–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brandon Alexander | 3–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Jamal Parker | 2–1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Deatrick Nichols | 2–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyrie Wilson | 2–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Redha Kramdi | 2–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Drew Wolitarsky | 1–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Willie Jefferson | 1–0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ricky Walker | 1–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jackson Jeffcoat | 1–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Adam Bighill | 1–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kenny Lawler | 1–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Malik Clements | 0–2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tanner Cadwallader | 0–2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Hallett | 0–2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Benson | 0–1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Blue Bombers placekicking | |||||
| Player | FM–FA | Lng | Avg | Sng | CM-CA |
| Sergio Castillo | 1–1 | 25 | 25.0 | 0 | 3–3 |
| Blue Bombers punting | |||||
| Player | No | GAv | NAv | Sng | Lng |
| Jamieson Sheahan | 5 | 40.4 | — | 0 | 49 |
| Blue Bombers punt returns | |||||
| Player | PR | Yards | Avg | Lg | TD |
| Janarion Grant | 3 | 23 | 7.7 | 9 | 0 |
| Blue Bombers kickoff returns | |||||
| Player | PR | Yards | Avg | Lg | TD |
| Janarion Grant | 5 | 119 | 23.8 | 39 | 0 |
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The following diagrams illustrate the teams' depth charts that were released one day prior to game day. Starters are listed in boxes in their respective positions with backups listed directly above or below. As per CFL rules, 45 of the 46 players for each team would dress in the game.
Montreal Alouettes
22 Ruffin
37 Sutton
24 Dequoy
4 Evans
48 Ento
47 McNary
26 Beverette
2 Williams
43 Richards
1 Sankey
49 Chagnon
34 Gagné
35 Stubblefield
96 Uguak
98 Gowanlock
90 Sewell
94 Johnson
91 Desjardins
0 Lemon
23 Ellis
62 Callender
53 Gagnon
64 Jamieson
54 Lawrence
51 Matte
61 McGloster
55 Rice
81 Mack
7 Fajardo
5 Evans
6 Philpot
89 Letcher Jr.
85 Snead
31 Stanback
20 Antwi
19 Harty
40 Tuck
83 Cibasu
39 Dallaire
17 Spieker
87 Fervius
15 Côté
36 Zema
50 Bourassa
89 Letcher Jr.
Italics indicate American player
Bold indicates global player
|
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
|
35 Houston
39 Exumé
1 Nichols
37 Alexander
21 Hallett
31 Holm
7 Parker
19 Wilson
34 Briggs
47 Cadwallader
4 Bighill
33 Clements
44 Gauthier
41 Cole
17 Kramdi
94 Jeffcoat
3 Hansen
95 Thomas
99 Lawson
9 Walker
98 Bennett
66 Bryant
68 Gray
64 Dobson
67 Kolankowski
65 Eli
53 Neufeld
51 Hardrick
89 Lawler
8 Collaros
6 Brown
12 Prukop
82 Wolitarsky
88 Bailey
80 Grant
20 Oliveira
27 Augustine
10 Demski
48 Jackson
83 Schoen
14 Castillo
18 Sheahan
40 Benson
80 Grant
Italics indicate American player
Bold indicates global player
Reference: bluebombers.com
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The highest-rated officials during the 2023 CFL season from their respective positions were selected for the game and announced on November 15, 2023.[2] The numbers below indicate their uniform numbers.
- Referee: No. 74 Tim Kroeker
- Umpire: No. 24 Troy Semenchuk
- Down Judge: No. 27 Andrew Wakefield
- Line Judge: No. 63 Rob Hill
- Side Judge: No. 18 Pierre Laporte
- Back Judge: No. 59 Larry Butler
- Field Judge: No. 37 Jason Maggio
- Backup Referee: No. 60 Tom Vallesi
- Backup Official: No. 19 Chris Shapka
- Backup Official: No. 40 Kevin Riopel
- Backup Official: No. 73 Brian Chrupalo
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- The teams' previous postseason games were the 2000 East Division Final (won by Montreal) and the 2007 East Division Semi-Final (won by Winnipeg), both played when the Blue Bombers were members of the East Division due to the absence of a CFL team in Ottawa. This does not include two playoff losses by Winnipeg to the Baltimore Stallions, the organization that re-activated the Alouettes franchise after the end of the CFL's U.S. expansion era. Neither the Blue Bombers nor the Alouettes ever qualified for the playoffs as a cross-over team up to and including the 2023 season. Overall, the 2023 campaign was the 55th non-consecutive season of professional Canadian football since the end of World War II in which Winnipeg and Montreal fielded teams in different divisions.[22]
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