54th Grey Cup


The 54th Grey Cup was hosted at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia on November 26, 1966. The Saskatchewan Roughriders won their first Grey Cup after 53 years of competition for this trophy, after losing eight times. With Eagle Keys as head coach the Roughriders defeated the Ottawa Rough Riders led by Frank Clair by a score of 29-14. George Reed was the MVP with 31 rushes for 133 yards and one rushing touchdown. Ottawa lost despite two TD passes of over 60 yards to the speedy long-ball threat Whit Tucker. The gooseneck or slingshot field goal posts, invented by Jim Trimble and Joel Rottman, were installed for this game, marking its first appearance in a football championship game. They made their debut a week earlier at Montreal's new Autostade for the Eastern Conference finals. The game was called with four seconds left in regulation when fans swarmed the field in celebration.

Starting quarterbacks

threw three touchdown passes for Saskatchewan while Russ Jackson had two for Ottawa. It was the only Grey cup win as a starter in Lancaster's career, as he lost his four subsequent Grey Cup appearances in 1967, 1969, 1972, and 1976, the first two under Eagle Keys as head coach, and the last two under Dave Skrien and John Payne, respectively. It was also the only Grey Cup loss in Jackson's career, who was the starting quarterback for Ottawa victories in the 48th Grey Cup of 1960, the 56th Grey Cup of 1968, and the 57th Grey Cup of 1969, his final year, all under head coach Frank Clair.

Box score

First Quarter
Ottawa – TD – Whit Tucker 61 yard pass from Russ Jackson 12:30 OTT 6 SSK 0
Saskatchewan – TD – Jim Worden 6 yard pass from Ron Lancaster 4:56 SSK 7 OTT 6
Second Quarter
Saskatchewan – TD – Alan Ford 18 yard pass from Ron Lancaster 10:18 SSK 14 OTT 6
Ottawa – TD – Whit Tucker 85 yard pass from Russ Jackson 10:04 SSK 14 OTT 13
Ottawa – Single – Bill Cline 51 yard punt 4:37 SSK 14 OTT 14
Third Quarter
No scoring.
Fourth Quarter
Saskatchewan – TD – Hugh Campbell 5 yard pass from Ron Lancaster 14:55 SSK 21 OTT 14
Saskatchewan – TD – George Reed 31 yard run 6:30 SSK 28 OTT 14
Saskatchewan – Single – Alan Ford 43 yard punt 3:19 SSK 29 OTT 14

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