By Dashawn Stephens
In today’s world of U SPORTS football, the Western Mustangs are often referred to as “Running Back U”, a name that pays homage to the program’s rich tradition of fielding a punishing ground game that has proven to be the nucleus of their championship runs.
However, among all of the glitz and glamour that exists in the history of Western’s backfield, lives another positional moniker that the program boasts proudly: “Quarterback U”.
In addition to serving as home to some of the game’s greatest ball-carriers, the University of Western Ontario - yes, we just called it that - has served as home to some of the game’s greatest signal-callers on a consistent basis for over 15 years, and it all started with a simple text message.
The year was 2005, and a young Canadian redshirt freshman quarterback named Michael Faulds was in the mix for the starting job at the University of Toledo - an NCAA Division 1 FBS school. Faulds had spent a couple of years there as the understudy to future NFL journeyman Bruce Gradkowski.
Coming off a 9-4 season where he had thrown for 3,518 yards and 27 touchdowns while leading the Rockets to the MAC Championship, many projected Gradkowski to be a late-round pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. Having been compared to some of the MAC’s top quarterbacks such as Chad Pennington of Marshall and Ben Rothlisberger of Miami Ohio, it appeared as though Gradkowski’s time with Toledo had come to an end.
Instead, Gradkowski surprised the college football world and announced his intentions to return to Toledo for his senior year.
At the time, the thought of returning to Canada had never crossed Faulds’ mind, until he received a message from former high school teammate Donnovan Bennett.
“He had messaged me saying he heard Bruce is coming back,” Said Faulds. “He said ‘here at Western, our starter has just left. Have you ever thought about transferring back to Canada?’”
Faulds and Bennett had been teammates together during their high school years at St. Andrews College. After graduating, both kept in touch as Faulds went to Toldeo in Ohio, and Bennett went to Canisius College in New York. Unfortunately for Bennett, the Golden Griffins program folded in 2002. This led Bennett back to Canada, where he landed at Western and took over as one of the primary ball-carriers.
Recognizing his former teammate was in a tough situation with tons of remaining eligibility, Bennett jumped at the opportunity to recruit Faulds to Western.
“[Donnovan] set it up with Western coach Larry Haylor,” Said Faulds. “We went out for a dinner in London, Ontario, and basically right there I said I’m coming back to Canada….it was all credit to [Donnovan]”
Just like that, a message from his former RB and dinner with the late great Hall of Famer Haylor was more than enough to lure Faulds back to the north. In a matter of months, he had traded in his locker at the Glass Bowl in Ohio for a Locker at Western Alumni Stadium in London.
The 2005 arrival of Faulds in London marked a changing of the guard for the Mustangs. In his first season at Western, Faulds led a high-powered offence, starred by Hec Crighton Award winner Andy Fantuz, to the program’s first Yates Cup appearance since 1998. Although Faulds would coincidentally fall to the Laurier Golden Hawks in the 98th Yates Cup, it was evident that the future was bright for the Mustangs with Faulds at the helm.
Michael Faulds - Photo courtesy of the Western Mustangs
By 2007, despite going 4-4 in the regular season, Faulds and the Mustangs were hoisting Western’s first Yates Cup since 1998. For Faulds, the Yates Cup victory was special for many reasons.
“It was in Guelph, and Guelph’s my hometown.” Said Faulds. “It was on The Score, and the sideline reporter in his first year was DJ Bennett.”
The 2007 Yates Cup victory was the first of back-to-back OUA Championships for the Mustangs. Faulds led Western to another Yates Cup in 2008, as well as an appearance in the 44th Vanier Cup.
When Faulds retired in 2009, he did so as Canadian university football’s all-time leading passer. Having quarterbacked the Mustangs to four Yates Cup appearances and one Vanier Cup appearance, it was clear that Faulds was the greatest quarterback to play for the program since Jamie Bone.
Two years after Faulds’ departure, the Mustangs found themselves searching to fill the void left behind by their former leader. After a season where future NFL-er Tyler Varga carried the Mustangs on his back, Western finally landed their next starting signal-caller.
He was dubbed by many as the next great Canadian quarterback.
At 6’3 from Burlington, Ontario, Will Finch was the nation’s most sought-after quarterback when he graduated from Nelson High School in 2012. Taking over as the full-time starter halfway through his rookie campaign, Finch never looked back. In four seasons playing for the Mustangs, Finch was a three-time OUA All-Star, two-time U SPORTS All-Canadian, and a two-time OUA MVP.
Will Finch - Photo Courtesy of the Western Mustangs
Finch’s greatest season came in 2013 when he broke the record for most passing yards in a single-season, a record that was set by Faulds in 2009. Along with the record-breaking performance, Finch helped the Mustangs win their 30th Yates Cup in program history.
After the 2015 season, a series of injuries forced Finch to forgo his senior year and instead retire. Unlike the first time around, the transition to Western’s next program-defining quarterback came a lot sooner than most expected.
Nearly nine years after Faulds, another St. Andrews College alumni found themselves being a young Canadian redshirt freshman who was in search of a new home. Chris Merchant had spent two years at the University of Buffalo before deciding to come back to Canada to continue his university football career.
Merchant won the starting job at Western by halftime of his first game in a Mustang uniform. The Calgary, Alberta native was the heart and soul of Western’s offence for four seasons, leading the team to four consecutive Yates Cup appearances, two Yates Cup victories, and the program’s first Vanier Cup victory since 1994.
Chris Merchant - Photo Courtesy of the Western Mustangs
When Merchant’s career came to an end in 2019, he walked away as arguably the most accomplished U SPORTS quarterback of the 2010s. Having thrown for 8,202 yards and 57 touchdowns, it was clear that Merchant successfully continued the growing lineage of elite quarterbacks to pass through London, Ontario.
Like his predecessors, Western rookie Evan Hillock didn’t begin the 2021 season as Greg Marshall’s hand picked starter. But, halfway through a week 3 slugfest that saw the Mustangs enter halftime trailing Faulds’ Laurier Golden Hawks, Hillock got the call and never looked back.
Hillock would go on to the lead the Mustangs to four regular season wins in 2021, while throwing for 926 yards, and six touchdowns. Under Hillock, the Mustangs would run the table in the playoffs, dominating the undefeated Queen’s Gaels to win the Yates Cup, and running roughshod over the St.FX X-Men in the Mitchell Bowl, before claiming the eighth Vanier Cup in program history. Hillock was named OUA Rookie of the Year, and Vanier Cup MVP for his outstanding individual performances.
Primed to continue engineering success, there’s no question that Evan Hillock is already on path to becoming the next great Western quarterback.
Nowadays, being the starting quarterback for the Western Mustangs is a job that carries high expectations. To many, in the city of London, those expectations were reignited by Michael Faulds.
His legacy at Western branches far beyond any of his on-field accolades. In fact, Faulds’ five-year career set the standard for what it means to be a quarterback at the University of Western Ontario. Now known also known as “Quarterback U”, Western dons an identity that began with Faulds but has been continued by his successors in Finch, Merchant and now Hillock.
Crazy to think it really all started with just one simple text message from Donnovan Bennett.
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