84th Grey Cup

The 84th Grey Cup, also known as The Snow Bowl, was the 1996 Grey Cup Canadian Football League championship game played between the Toronto Argonauts and the Edmonton Eskimos at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton, Ontario. The Argonauts won the game by a score of 43-37.

Game Summary

Toronto Argonauts (43) - TDs, Jimmy Cunningham, Robert Drummond, Doug Flutie, Adrion Smith; FGs, Mike Vanderjagt (5); cons., Vanderjagt (4).

Edmonton Eskimos (37) - TDs, Eddie Brown, Jim Sandusky, Henry "Gizmo" Williams, Eric Blount, Marc Tolbert; cons., Sean Fleming (5); safety, Team.

First Quarter
EDM -- Safety Flutie concedes 3:37
EDM -- TD Brown 64 yard pass from McManus (Fleming convert) 11:48
Second Quarter
TOR -- FG Vanderjagt 37 yard field goal 1:35
TOR -- TD Cunningham 80 yard punt return (Vanderjagt convert) 2:59
TOR -- FG Vanderjagt 32 yard field goal 7:09
EDM -- TD Sandusky 75 yard pass from McManus (Fleming convert) 7:34
TOR -- TD Drummond 1 yard run (Vanderjagt convert) 12:16
EDM -- TD Williams 91 yard kickoff return (Fleming convert) 12:31
TOR -- TD Flutie 10 yard run (Vanderjagt convert) 14:20
Third Quarter
TOR -- FG Vanderjagt 17 yard field goal 4:22
Fourth Quarter
TOR -- FG Vanderjagt 28 yard field goal 3:06
EDM -- TD Blount 5 yard run (Fleming convert) 7:53
TOR -- FG Vanderjagt 27 yard field goal 13:26
TOR -- TD Smith 49 yard interception return (Vanderjagt convert) 13:38
EDM -- TD Tolbert 7 yard pass from McManus (Fleming convert) 14:51

The temperature at game time was minus 10 C, with 20 kilometre-an-hour winds and heavy snow. Tractors had to remove snow from the field prior to the game, as well as at halftime.

Edmonton had all the points in the first quarter on a safety touch conceded by Toronto quarterback Doug Flutie and a 64-yard touchdown pass from Danny McManus to Eddie Brown, a shoestring catch that is considered to be of the most memorable plays in Grey Cup history. [cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/grey-cup-2005/features/feature_tenplays.html|title=Ten plays to raise a Cup to|publisher=CBC Sports|accessdate=2008-08-11]

In the second quarter, Toronto's Mike Vanderjagt kicked a field goal and Jimmy Cunningham returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown. Another Vanderjagt field goal put Toronto up 13-9. Edmonton regained the lead with a 75-yard pass and run from McManus to Jim Sandusky but lost it again when Robert Drummond scored for Toronto from the one. Edmonton's Henry "Gizmo" Williams reversed that in one play as he returned the kickoff 91 yards for the touchdown, a Grey Cup record that stood until the Eskimos' Tony Tomkins topped it with a 95 yard kickoff return in the 93rd Grey Cup. Flutie marched the Argos to the Edmonton 10 then ran in himself for the touchdown with 20 seconds left in the half to give Toronto the lead 27-23 at halftime, closing a quarter that saw the teams combine for 41 points.

Two Vanderjagt field goals were all the scoring in the first 23 minutes of the second half as Toronto receiver Cunningham dropped certain touchdown passes in the third and fourth quarters.

Edmonton made the score 33-30 on Eric Blount's five-yard touchdown run with seven minutes remaining. But Flutie marched Toronto 71 yards, including a controversial third-down gamble in which the ball came loose, setting up Vanderjagt's 27-yard field goal at 13:26.

Toronto's Adrion Smith iced the win, returning a Danny McManus interception 49 yards for a touchdown with 1:22 remaining.

McManus hit Marc Tolbert with a seven-yard touchdown pass at 14:51 to round out the scoring at 43-37. An onside kick attempt was recovered by Toronto to end any Edmonton comeback threat.

Trivia

Edmonton Kicker Sean Fleming missed three field goal attempts.

The dismal weather didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the raucous gathering of 38,595, which was the biggest ever at Ivor Wynne Stadium but still 1,805 short of a sellout. It was also the smallest announced Grey Cup attendance since 32,454 attended the 1975 game in Calgary.

Before the game, many people believed that Flutie could not play well in cold weather. Flutie, who was the CFL's Most Outstanding Player this season, was also named the game's top performer. Teammate Mike Vanderjagt, who booted five field goals, was voted the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian.

It was the second-highest scoring Grey Cup game, next to Saskatchewan's 43-40 win over Hamilton in 1989.

It was the Argonauts' first Cup win since 1991. Ironically, they did it in the stadium that had often been called "Never Win" by the Argo fans due to the team's consistent failure to beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at that venue.

Toronto's 27 points in the second quarter tied a Grey Cup record.

1996 CFL Playoffs

West Division

* Semi-final (November 10 @ Edmonton, Alberta) Edmonton Eskimos 68-7 Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* Final (November 17 @ Calgary, Alberta) Edmonton Eskimos 15-12 Calgary Stampeders

East Division

* Semi-final (November 9 @ Montreal, Quebec) Montreal Alouettes 22-11 Hamilton Tiger-Cats

* Final (November 16 @ Toronto, Ontario) Toronto Argonauts 43-7 Montreal Alouettes

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