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| Date | November 30, 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | BC Place | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Vancouver,British Columbia | ||||||||||||||||||
| Most Valuable Player | Bo Levi Mitchell, QB (Stampeders) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Most Valuable Canadian | Andy Fantuz, WR (Tiger-Cats) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favourite | Stampeders by 8 | ||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Nikki Yanofsky withCoastal Sound Music Academy | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coin toss | Thomas J. Lawson | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | André Proulx | ||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | Imagine Dragons | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 52,056 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Broadcasters | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network |  TSN,RDS ESPN2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | (TSN):Chris Cuthbert,Glen Suitor,Rod Smith,Jock Climie,Matt Dunigan,Chris Schultz,Milt Stegall | ||||||||||||||||||
| Ratings | 4.1 million (average) 10 million (total)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
The102nd Grey Cup was aCanadian football game played November 30, 2014, between theWest Division championCalgary Stampeders andEast Division championHamilton Tiger-Cats, to determine theCanadian Football League (CFL) championship for the2014 season. The contest was held atBC Place stadium inVancouver,British Columbia. The Stampeders won the contest 20–16 to claim their seventhGrey Cup championship in franchise history and first since 2008. Calgary quarterbackBo Levi Mitchell was named theGrey Cup Most Valuable Player, while Hamilton'sAndy Fantuz received theDick Suderman Trophy as most outstanding Canadian.
In 2008, the CFL awarded an expansion team to Ottawa and named the city host of the 2014 Grey Cup, conditional on the franchise being ready to play by 2010.[2] Lawsuits and construction delays during the renovation ofFrank Clair Stadium pushed the start date for the city's expansion team, theOttawa RedBlacks, to 2014.[3] As a consequence, the CFL sought a new venue for the contest.[4] The CFL moved the game toBC Place Stadium inVancouver,British Columbia, which had most recently hosted the99th Grey Cup in 2011.[5] (Ottawa would eventually be awarded the105th Grey Cup.)
TheCalgary Stampeders finished the regular season with the top record in the CFL at 15–3. Their 15 wins also tied the franchise record.[6] They advanced directly to theWest Division final where they hosted theEdmonton Eskimos. Led by running backJon Cornish, the Stampeders eliminated the Eskimos with a 43–18 victory.[7] Cornish was named theMost Outstanding Canadian for 2014 after leading the CFL in rushing with 1,082 yards despite missing nine games due to injuries. He was one of two award winners for the Stampeders as centreBrett Jones was namedMost Outstanding Offensive Lineman.[8] The team was led by 24-year-old quarterbackBo Levi Mitchell, who stood 15–2 in his career as a starter and who won his first playoff game in the victory over Edmonton.[9]
TheHamilton Tiger-Cats finished atop theEast Division with a 9–9 record. They hosted theMontreal Alouettes, who also ended the regular season at 9–9, in the East Final. The contest was the first playoff game atTim Hortons Field, which opened mid-season and where Hamilton won all six home games played there.[10] Hamilton advanced to their second consecutiveGrey Cup final with a 40–24 victory that featured two punt returns for touchdowns byBrandon Banks.[11] Hamilton's offence was led by quarterbackZach Collaros, who played his first season as a CFL starter in 2014 after serving as the back-up toRicky Ray with theToronto Argonauts for two seasons.[12]
The Stampeders entered the game as 81⁄2-point favourites to win the title as the dominant story line entering the game centred around whether Hamilton could complete an upset of Calgary.[13] The Stampeders won both regular-season games, 10–7 at Calgary in week four and 30–20 at Hamilton in week eight.[14] Both teams were without key players during those games as both Jon Cornish and Zach Collaros were unavailable for both contests.[15] The Grey Cup game pitted the best rushing offence in the CFL – Calgary averaged 143.4 yards per game rushing – against a Hamilton team that allowed the fewest rushing yards, 73.4 per game.[16]
The 2014 Grey Cup represented the third time the Stampeders and Tiger-Cats had met in the championship. Hamilton won the87th Grey Cup in 1999 by a 32–21 score, which avenged a Calgary 26–24 victory at 1998's86th Grey Cup.[17] Hamilton made its second consecutive appearance in the title game; they lost the101st Grey Cup to theSaskatchewan Roughriders. Calgary's most recent appearance came in 2012 when they lost the100th Grey Cup to the Toronto Argonauts.[17]
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats were unable to get their offence working early in the game as they ended the first quarter with −12 yards rushing and only +4 net yards. Calgary had 120 net yards, 117 passing, but began the second quarter with only a 7–0 lead following a one-yard touchdown rush byDrew Tate at the 9:48 mark.[18] Tate scored a second touchdown 48 seconds into the second quarter and Calgary added a field goal to extend their lead to 17–0.[19] The Stampeders maintained the score whenDemonte Bolden blocked Hamilton's attempted field goal with six minutes remaining in the half,[20] however the Tiger-Cats scored their first points of the game three minutes later when quarterbackZach Collaros connected withBrandon Banks on a 45-yard pass play; Calgary led 17–7 at the half.[18]
Stampeders quarterbackBo Levi Mitchell completed ten consecutive passes midway through the game, tying him for the third longest streak in Grey Cup history, but the Stampeders could add only a field goal in the third quarter to take a 20–7 lead.[19] Hamilton scored a field goal early in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to ten points, then regained possession afterDelvin Breaux intercepted Mitchell for the only turnover of the game. Collaros moved the Tiger-Cats offence to within three yards of the goal line, but Hamilton was forced to settle for a field goal.[18] The Tiger-Cats against marched the ball into Calgary territory but were again prevented from scoring a touchdown afterCorey Mace sacked Collaros on second down. Hamilton scored a third consecutive field goal to cut the lead to 20–16 with 2:05 remaining in the contest.[19][20]
Calgary was forced to punt with less than a minute to play. Brandon Banks received the punt and ran the ball 90 yards for an apparent touchdown to give Hamilton a lead; however, the play was called back whenTaylor Reed was penalized for an illegal block.[19] Instead, Hamilton's offence began at their defensive 12-yard line. The Tiger-Cats subsequently ran out of time as Collaros' attempted pass on the final play of the game fell incomplete.[18]
The 20–16 victory represented the franchise's seventh Grey Cup championship and first since 2008.[17] Bo Levi Mitchell was named theGrey Cup Most Valuable Player after completing 25 of 34 passes for 334 yards. Hamilton'sAndy Fantuz received theDick Suderman Trophy as the Most Outstanding Canadian. He received six passes for 81 yards.[18]
Alternative rock bandImagine Dragons headlined the contest's half time show. It was the third time an American band has been brought in to perform, a decision that some Canadians have criticized due to a preference for using the stage to promote local talent.[21] Canadiancountry androck artistDallas Smith performed during the pre-game festivities andNikki Yanofsky (accompanied by 102 members of theCoastal Sound Music Academy) sangO Canada.[22] In Vancouver, organizers opted to host events and festivities in a single location around the city's convention centre in a bid to create a "small-town feel" and try to "overcome the big-small divide that is apparent between CFL cities".[23]
The 2014 Grey Cup game was not a sellout, with 1,423 tickets remaining unsold. Vancouver having hosted the event just three years prior was cited as the main cause for the slump, while the mediocre performance by home sideBC Lions provided few opportunities to drum up interest over the course of the season.[24]