Queen's defensive back Jimmy Allin intercepts a pass thrown into the end zone by Erik Glavic in the Vanier Cup on Saturday at Quebec City. Glavic was the most outstanding university player in Canada this year, but he couldn't pull off a championship. (Jacques Boissinot/Canadian Press)

The lesson of the day at the Vanier Cup was simple: Never count out Danny Brannagan.

Down 18 points at halftime, the Queen's Golden Gaels quarterback brought his school all the way back to beat the Calgary Dinos and take the 45th Vanier Cup on Saturday afternoon in Quebec City.

The 33-31 victory, in a rivalry with Dinos QB and two-time national player of the year Erik Glavic, marked the end of Brannagan's outstanding Canadian Interuniversity Sport career, one that saw him become the second-leading passer ever.

It was the Kingston, Ont., university's first football national championship since 1992.

Queen's took the lead early in the fourth quarter when Brannagan rolled left and, with the rush breathing down his neck, tossed to Scott Valberg for the receiver's second touchdown of the game.

With the convert it was 26-25 for the Golden Gaels.

They expanded that when Brannagan put together another long drive that ended with a handoff to Marty Gordon, who rumbled right for a touchdown that made it 33-25.

Glavic brought his Dinos back with a major by Anthony Parker, who had an outstanding game (more than 170 yards in receptions), but the two-point convert to tie failed, and Calgary, hurt by a late fumble, could not get close again.

A beautifully handled final drive by Brannagan ran out the clock and gave the victory to the Gaels in front of 19,000 fans at Laval University who had hoped to see their own team playing at home in the first Vanier Cup ever held in Quebec.

But Queen's had upset the No. 1 ranked Rouge et Or the week before.

"We were down but we knew that we had the plays in the system that were going to work — we just had to take a deep breath," said Brannagan, who threw for 286 yards and three scores. "We had to just go out there and execute."

Nightmare third quarter

After a great first half, luck turned nasty on Glavic and the Dinos in the third quarter.

Brannagan came out and hit Devan Sheahan on his second play from scrimmage for a 60-yard pass-and-run that cut Calgary's lead to 11 and started the comeback.

Gaels coach Pat Sheahan, the receiver's dad, called it the turning point.

"We knew we had to score first in the second half — if we did that then we could make a game out of it."

After Calgary gave up a safety, Glavic found himself under a big rush and, as he danced around trying to stay on his feet, fumbled the ball to set the Gaels up for a first down on the Dinos' six.

The defence held for a field goal to make it 25-19 for Calgary, but more was to come.

First, there was a blocked field goal that denied the Dinos points.

Then after getting the ball back, Glavic sailed one against the wind into the end zone that hung up long enough for defender Matt Vickers to count the stitches on the ball before he picked it off.

What should have been a restored safe margin for Calgary turned into just a six-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

First half controversy

Calgary led 25-7 at halftime by taking advantage of a stiff wind in the second quarter to score 18 unanswered points.

Right off the start, the Dinos showed they were willing to use whatever weapons were needed, including a little theatricality.

Facing a third and one from the Queen's 15, Glavic made a big show of being angry on the sidelines that coach Blake Nill wanted to settle for a field goal.

Instead, the Dinos tried a fake and, thanks to a pass interference penalty, wound up with the ball on the Gaels' one. Matt Walker ran it in from there for a 7-0 Calgary lead.

Queen's came smartly back down the field, and when Brannagan hit Valberg in the end zone for a 7-7 tie with the kick, it seemed to set up what would be a close battle for the rest of the day.

That lead to the controversial play of the day.

On the next possession, Glavic was blitzed. He pivoted out of the pocket and rolled right, where he was brought down and either fumbled or was able to get a toss away of about four feet (as the referee eventually ruled).

The ball hit the ground and was picked up and run in for an apparent Queen's touchdown by Frank Pankewich, but it was called back and declared incomplete.

From there Calgary took off, riding three field goals by Aaron Ifield, a dive into the end zone by Glavic and a conceded safety to its halftime lead.