Well, Golden Hawks fans, here we are once again. It is a familiar place to be after all. The purple and gold have adorned this proud stage many times in the past, and this year's team has a chance to do something special that has not been achieved in program history in nearly 53 years.
Win back-to-back Yates Cup titles.
Back in 1972, the school was called Waterloo Lutheran University, as the institution traces its roots to the opening of the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary in Waterloo in 1911.
On Nov. 11 of that year, Lutheran, as the school was known, defeated Western 38-27 at Seagram Stadium, now known as Knight-Newbrough Field in Waterloo. It would be the school's first Yates Cup title in its history.
The very next year, 1973, proved to be a momentous one for the school, as it changed its name to the one we know now: Wilfrid Laurier University.
That same year, the Golden Hawks would dismantle the Ottawa Gee-Gees 48-4 in the Yates Cup for their second straight provincial title, marking the first and only time in program history that the Golden Hawks won consecutive titles.
Fast forward over 50 years, and the 2025 Golden Hawks have a prime opportunity to do it again.
Obviously, the team's aspirations have always been national ones, and the '24 team came so close to achieving its goal of winning a Vanier Cup under Michael Faulds.
But for now, let's focus on what is ahead: a date with the much-hated Queen's Gaels in the 117th Yates Cup. There is no love lost between these two football programs, as tensions consistently run high when they share the field, and blood tends to be spilled in the name of attaining victory.
A dogfight, really, is what a game between the Golden Hawks and Gaels is like to take in for a spectator.
Led by quarterback Alex Vreeken and head coach Steve Snyder, the Gaels have been a force to be reckoned with all year.
They sit right up at the top of the national list with Laurier for points scored per game (40.8) and yards per game as well (499.0).
They have a plethora of dangerous weapons, such as bruising 900-plus yard rusher Jared Chisari, receivers Nathan Falconi, Cedric Smith, and Mateo Tuioti, as well as a great all-purpose player in Russell Weir.
They are a handful to contain from a defensive perspective, with Vreeken quarterbacking the offence in a methodical, rhythmic fashion.
Defensively, they shine under the guidance of a brilliant mix of veterans and young guns.
Their front seven is composed of some maulers, including linebackers Justin Pace and Jacob Baldwin, along with defensive linemen Oliver Jackson and Steven Kpehe.
The secondary is just as proficient with a veteran presence in Keegan Vanek at halfback, a dynamic playmaker on defence, and special teams in cornerback, Iain St Arnault, and a free safety in John Corscadden, who intercepted a team high four passes in 2025.
As of the Thursday before the game, 12 Queen's players were named to the OUA All-Star team, notably, Chisari, Corscadden, and Falconi as first-teamers with Vreeken, Tuioti, and defensive stalwarts like Pace and Ollie Jackson on the second team.
In short words, if there is a team that is built to defeat the reigning Ontario champions, it is these Gaels, who went 5-3 in the regular season with losses to Western, Laurier, and Windsor.
They have the capabilities to play up to their competition. They will no doubt be salivating at the possible scenario of taking down the high-flying Golden Hawks that have had their way with the rest of the competition in the OUA all year.
For Laurier, this is the first of a three-stop plan as they try to do what last year's team could not: lift a Vanier Cup.
A revenge tour like no other, led by Ohio University transfer Cal Wither at quarterback and head coach Michael Faulds, saw the Golden Hawks achieve back-to-back undefeated regular seasons.
Wither, a first-time starter in U SPORTS, wasted no time in his ascension to gridiron greatness by helping procure that undefeated record and also by becoming the Golden Hawks' single-season passing touchdown record holder with 26 this year.
Laurier countered Queen's 12 total OUA All-Star selections with 12 First-Teamers ALONE. Among them are Wither, Layomi Ojutalayo, Jessie Wilkins-Flaricee, Sebastian Parsalidis, Matteo Laquintana, Johari Hastings, and Tayshaun Jackson, to name a few.
Wilkins-Flaricee would also take home the Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year Award alongside Coach Faulds, winning the David "Tuffy" Knight Award as the conference's best coach for the third season in a row.
Photo credits: Hailey Tripodi, Laurier Athletics.
It was also announced on the same Thursday that a Golden Hawks player had won the OUA's MVP Award for the third season in a row, a feat no other program in Ontario has achieved.
Ethan Jordan, take a bow. Not only for this season, but for the entirety of your illustrious U SPORTS football career that has seen you record back-to-back 1,000-yard plus receiving seasons, become the record holder for most catches in OUA history, win a Yates Cup, and break numerous school records, including most receiving yards and touchdowns in Laurier history.
Jordan is the first receiver to win the award since another Laurier pass-catcher did it back in 2017: current Edmonton Elks standout, Kurleigh Gittens Jr.
The atmosphere in Waterloo on Saturday, November 8th, will be absolutely frantic.
Thousands of Golden Hawks' fans, alums, and parents will pack the stands at University Stadium in the hopes that they will witness the first of a three-step journey to national glory.
If the purple and gold do end up raising the trophy once again, a new question will begin to emerge that many football fanatics will ponder until the start of provincial competition in 2026.
Is Laurier the conference's new juggernaut for the foreseeable future?