In the storied history of Laurier football, there have been some legendary passers. 

When discussing the passing exploits of Laurier alumni, the names Kubas, Elgersma, Pyear, and Philp are a few names that always get mentioned, but maybe another name should be added to that list: Devlin!

Brian Devlin is best known for kicking the game-winning field goal in the dying seconds of the 2005 Vanier Cup to defeat the Saskatchewan Huskies 24-23. He handled the place-kicking and punting duties for the Golden Hawks from 2003 to 2005. 

A native of Sarnia, he was a kicker and receiver with his high school team, but never, at any level of football, had he ever attempted a pass until a key moment in a semifinal playoff game at Queen's in 2003. 

On the first day of November 2003, the Golden Hawks travelled to Kingston. The Hawks were the underdog against the Queen's Golden Gaels, who were led by Hec Crighton-winning quarterback Tommy Dennison and two All-Canadian wide receivers. 

Trailing late in the game 24-17, Laurier quarterback Ryan Pyear threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to rookie receiver Andy Baechler to tie the game at 24, so the game went to overtime.

For those of you unfamiliar with the overtime rules of football, it was a shootout format. Each team would get a possession starting at the other team's 35-yard line. The advantage is to go on offence second so you know exactly how many points you'd need to win. Unfortunately, the Laurier offence had to go first.

The Hawks advanced the ball about 20 yards but had to settle for a field goal attempt. Now, as for what happened next, I will let a few different individuals convey their recollections:

Former head coach Gary Jeffries: It was late in the game, and Brian Devlin made an incredible play that you don't see very often. It was one of those reactive things where the kick was blocked, he picked it up, and instantly made the right decision to throw the ball to Bryon Hickey, who thankfully was on the same page. 

It was a huge play that got us down to the one-yard line, and from there we scored a touchdown. Ultimately, later on, we won the game in the second overtime session, but had Brian NOT made that play, we would have lost in the first overtime session.

Brian Devlin: I can't emphasize enough how sloppy the conditions were that day. The middle of the field was especially muddy; it was almost as if they flooded the field to give their offence an advantage (as they were a passing team that liked to stick to the outsides of the field while we were very much a run-first offence that liked to pound the ball between the tackles). Interestingly enough, the end zones were dry, though. 

As we lined up for the field goal, the snap went to the holder, and I kicked it, but it was immediately blocked. Then it bounced off the ground into mid-air where I quickly grabbed it, took a couple of steps to the right, and with some guidance from above, Bryon Hickey and I locked eyes, and I threw it to him. 

He caught it, evaded a few tacklers, and got the ball down to the one-yard line. We scored a touchdown on the very next play. 

Unbelievably, on the ensuing convert attempt, the snap went right through the holder's hands and came to me again. I actually had more time to throw this time, and I spotted Hickey wide open again, but this time, I overthrew him. 



We always practiced for that unlikely scenario in practice. When there would be a bad snap, likely the holder would have the ball, and he'd yell "FIRE, FIRE!" so our ends on the line of scrimmage would go out to be possible receivers. But this time, it was me who had to throw the ball. 

Note: One other time in my career I had a passing attempt on a botched field goal attempt, and I threw a pass that unfortunately went through the receiver's hands. It should've been a touchdown pass! So, I ended up 1 for 3 throwing the ball in my Laurier career. 

Two other times, I ran for my life on high punt snaps, and both times I picked up first downs (against Waterloo and McMaster). 

So, we were up by six. Queen's got the ball and scored a touchdown, but their convert attempt actually went UNDER the crossbar. 

In the second overtime, Queen's got the ball first and kicked a field goal to go up 33-30, but we won the game 36-33 when Ryan Pyear connected on a long touchdown pass to Joel Wright. It was a big upset win over the #2-ranked team in the country.

Bryon Hickey: We got the ball first in overtime and got a couple of first downs before we had to settle for a field goal. 

I was one of the edge blockers/wingbacks on the line, and I knew if the snap was bad, my role was to roll out and try to get open to catch a pass. 

On this particular play, we were expecting to make an easy 15-yard field goal. I heard a thud, spun around to take a quick look, and then I knew for sure it was blocked. 

I saw Devlin catch the ball off the bounce and look at me to throw the ball. I knew Devlin wasn't going to be able to outrun the defence, so I quickly put my hand up to signify to throw it to me, and he was right on target. 

Note: Devlin said he did, in fact, rush for two first downs in his career on botched punt attempts!

When I caught it, I was still likely behind the line of scrimmage, and it was third down, so I still needed to get more. I wanted to score, but I knew I needed to at least get a first down. After catching the ball, I cut back inside and got the ball down to the one-yard line. Right after that, we scored a touchdown.