Colder weather, a few homecomings, and a few top 10 matchups, don’t you just love the halfway point of the season?
Here’s a quick read of must-watch games happening this weekend.
Note: Click “where to watch” links to view games
#2 Saskatchewan Huskies (3-0) at #9 Alberta Golden Bears (2-1)
When: Friday, September 23 at 7 PM MDT
Where to watch: Canada West TV (Paid)
Once again Saskatchewan has themselves in a top 10 matchup, which means for the second straight week, another nationally ranked Canada West team has to go through the Huskies Litmus test.
The Huskies came close to catching their first loss of the season last weekend after escaping with an 11-10 win over the No. 6 Regina Rams. Even in such a low scoring game, quarterback Mason Nyhus threw for 279 yards, continuing to build his case for the Hec.
Defensively, Saskatchewan’s veteran unit continues to impress, only allowing 8.3 points per game through three weeks (lowest in U SPORTS) and a total of only 25 points on the season (lowest in U SPORTS).
Approaching the midway point of the season, Scott Flory’s squad may be ranked 2nd in the nation, but a lot of fans are pointing to the Huskies as the best team in Canadian university football right now.
Many fans were shocked to see Alberta slide into this week’s top, but lowkey, the Golden Bears have been impressive in 2022.
To the surprise of many, head coach Chris Morris and offensive coordinator Ricky Walter have assembled one of the most productive offences in the country behind quarterback Eli Hetlinger. Let’s peep the stats.
Offence is averaging 317.3 passing yards per game (2nd in U SPORTS)
Offence has produced 952 total passing yards (4th in U SPORTS)
Currently averaging 473.0 total yards of offence per game (2nd in U SPORTS)
7 passing touchdowns (T-2nd in U SPORTS)
For the Golden Bears offence, there’s no better defence to make a statement against than the one they’ll be lining up against tonight.
Like we saw last week with the Rams, win, lose, or draw, we’ll learn all we need to know about a team when they face the Huskies. Rest assured, the same applies tonight for the Golden Bears.
#4 Queen’s Gaels (3-1) at Guelph Gryphons (1-3)
When: Saturday, September 24 at 12 PM EDT
Where to watch: OUA TV
Some may try to say this game is important because Guelph’s offensive line coach, Pat Sheahan, is facing the team he coached for 19 years and won a Vanier Cup with, at homecoming - how ironic.
Others may try to say this game is important because the Guelph Gryphons are 1-3, with their their playoff hopes already in serious jeopardy, and are about to go up against the 4th ranked team in the nation.
For reasons related to the now, I would prefer to go with the later. But, no matter which way you slice it, this is the most important game in the OUA this weekend.
#7 StFX X-Men (3-0) at #10 Mount Allison Mounties (3-0)
When: Sunday, September 25 at 7 PM ADT
Where to watch: AUS TV
The super rare top 10 matchup in the AUS, you already know AUS-haters are livid!
The reality is, however, the StFX X-Men and the Mount Allison Mounties are two of the final five undefeated teams across the nation - along with Western, Saskatchewan, and Laval - and both have found themselves nationally ranked heading into this week 5 matchup.
Gary Waterman’s X-Men haven’t lost a regular season game since 2019 - the longest streak of any U SPORTS football team. Behind reigning AUS MVP quarterback Silas Fagnan and ball-carrier Malcolm Bussey, StFX has the most productive offence in the conference, as well as a defence that’s 8th in the nation in stopping the pass and 7th in the nation in stopping the run.
Mount Allison on the other hand, aren’t quite as well rounded as the X-Men. Their offence has proven to be quite mid at best, producing only 142.7 passing yards per game (25th in U SPORTS) and 133.3 rushing yards per game (15th in U SPORTS).
Where the Mounties thrive, though, is on the defensive side of the ball. They’re currently allowing only 10.0 points per game (2nd in U SPORTS), while limiting opposing offensive production to only 96.0 passing yards per game (1st in U SPORTS) and 121.7 rushing yards per game (11th in U SPORTS).
If you put your bias against the AUS aside, this is actually set to be a good game.
And if you can’t put bias against the AUS aside, you can sleep peacefully knowing this will most likely be the last time we have two Atlantic teams in the top 10 for awhile, because the loser of this game, is out.
About 57th Vanier Cup
The 2022 Vanier Cup is the 57th edition of the championship and will be hosted at Western Alumni Stadium in London, Ontario on November 26th with kick-off at 1pm. The winner of the Uteck and Mitchell Bowl will face off against one another for the right to engrave their school’s name onto this historic trophy. The Western Mustangs are the defending champions, making it only the second time in U SPORTS history that the defending champions will be hosting the game and have the opportunity to defend their title on home turf. Tickets are on-sale now starting at only $25! Visit www.VanierCup.com to learn more and to purchase your tickets today!
About PRSVRE
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