CIS FOOTBALL PICKS, WEEK 3

Here's some Uneducated Guesses on how Week 3 of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport football season might shake out, or more likely, how it won't shake out. Yours truly did go 12-1 on last week's picks -- the one miss was deliberate, seriously -- but to borrow someone else's phrase, a drunken primate could have done that. But hey, I had to make my picks while stone-cold sober.

FEATURED GAMES

#9 UBC THUNDERBIRDS (1-0) at #10 ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS (1-1)
Saturday, 3 p.m.
Alberta should come out a little ornery, given its slow start to the season -- namely, getting stomped in the second half by Saskatchewan and barely beating rebuilding Calgary, scoring a total of just one touchdown over two games. If the Bears, who got 187 yards on the ground from Tendayi Jozzy last week, manage to keep it simple, they should be able to get by UBC, which is coming off a bye week. The Thunderbirds are mostly a passing team, and Alberta has played the pass fairly well, holding Saskatchewan to 153 aerial yards in the opener and not allowing a TD pass against Calgary. The Call: Alberta 29-17.

WATERLOO WARRIORS (0-2) at U OF T VARSITY BLUES (0-2)
Saturday, 1 p.m.
Wait, why is this a featured game? It's a featured game since, as noted Wednesday, this presents U of T's best chance in quite some time to end that five-year losing streak. Waterloo (outscored 102-11) lost coach Chris Triantafilou, who resigned earlier this week. If the Blues can get out of the first quarter not down by more than 10 points for a change, they should pull this off. The Call: U of T 22-20.

#5 McMASTER MARAUDERS (2-0) at #3 OTTAWA GEE-GEES (2-0)
Saturday, 7 p.m.
Possible preview of the Yates Cup final sees probably hinges on the line matchups. It says here the Gee-Gees, with 240-pounder Davie Masson running behind a big front five, should be able to control McMaster's defensive front seven, wearing them down until quarterback Josh Sacobie can test a suspect Mac secondary. On the other side of the ball, the Gee-Gees are probably fast enough to keep up with Mac backs Jordan Kozina and Andre Sadeghian from running wild. The jury remains out on Marauders QB Adam Archibald, who save for his performance coming off the bench against Laval in the 2003 national semifinal, often has struggled against tough opponents. Give this one to the Gee-Gees by virtue of their having played tougher opponents to open the season. The Call: Gee-Gees 27-24.

CANADA WEST

CALGARY DINOS (0-2) at #6 MANITOBA BISONS (2-0)
Saturday, 2 p.m.
After losing their first two games by a total of eight points, Calgary looks like a team that's going to score some moral victories. The Bisons, though, look just too solid on both sides of the ball to have a slip-up in their home opener. The Call: Manitoba 27-20.

#2 SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES (2-0) at SIMON FRASER CLAN (0-1)
Saturday, 10 p.m.
Eep for Simon Fraser, a rebuilding team that lost 77-7 last week. The instinct here is to take this game off the board, but that hasn't been done for the U of T and Mount Allison, so no dice for the Clan. The Call: Saskatchewan 42-8.

ONTARIO

#8 LAURIER GOLDEN HAWKS (1-1) at YORK LIONS (0-2)
Saturday, 2 p.m.
Laurier did well to stay with a bigger and stronger Ottawa team for most of the way last week. Against York, size and team speed won't be so much of an issue for the Golden Hawks. Look for Hawks running back Ryan Lynch to easily top the century mark. The Call: Laurier 34-17.

WINDSOR LANCERS (2-0) at QUEEN'S GOLDEN GAELS (2-0)
Saturday, 2 p.m. (The Score)
Queen's Homecoming game shapes up as a show-me contest between two teams that each piled up lopsided wins over weaker opposition the first two weeks. So is Queen's better equipped to contain Windsor's running backs, Nick Romain and Daryl Stephenson (a combined 11 TDs the first two weeks), or is Windsor better prepared to contain the Gaels' passing attack, namely QB Danny Brannagan and receiver Brad Smith?

Stephenson tore through the Gaels for about 250 yards last season, and that was before the Lancers added Romain and a running quarterback, Dan Lumley, as decoys. Brannagan also threw four interceptions last season against the Lancers, but he was a rookie then. If the Gaels D, led by linebackers Ian Hazlett and Adam Ross, flows to the ball well and can keep Romain and Stephenson contained, Queen's has a shot. How well Windsor can pass will also loom large. The Call: Queen's 20-18.

GUELPH GRYPHONS (1-1) at WESTERN MUSTANGS (1-1)
Saturday, 7 p.m.
Western is mediocre, but not so mediocre that they can't win this one and delude their fans into thinking they are a legit contender. Guelph isn't consistent enough (seven turnovers last week) to have a serious shot at beating Western for the first time since '96. The Call: Western 35-22.

QUÉBEC

#1 LAVAL ROUGE ET OR (1-0) at McGILL REDMEN (0-1)
Saturday, 1 p.m.
Gonna be a long year for you, McGill. The Call: Laval 49-10.

CONCORDIA STINGERS (1-0) at #4 MONTRÉAL CARABINS (0-1)
Saturday, 1 p.m.
How is yet another loss at Laval -- 25-21 last Sunday, with eight turnovers to help seal their fate -- going to affect the Carabins? Arguably Montréal has more pressure on them, but they are at home, while Concordia didn't really inspire a lot of confidence in observers with a three-point win over Sherbrooke in their opener. The Call: Montréal 18-14.

BISHOP'S GAITERS (1-0) at SHERBROOKE VERT ET OR (0-1)
Saturday, 7 p.m. (RDS)
Sherbrooke probably turned some heads by playing Concordia tough (losing just 18-15) last week, in a game they might have won if not for rookie QB J.P. Shoiry throwing four interceptions in his first career start. Field position will likely loom large, so if one or more of Sherbrooke's three main kick returners -- running back Alain Dorval, receiver Samuel Giguère and d-Back David Vaillancourt -- can break loose, that might turn the tide. The Call: Sherbrooke 28-21.

ATLANTIC

#7 ACADIA AXEMEN (1-0) at SAINT MARY'S HUSKIES (0-1)
Friday, 6 p.m.
Last week provided a lot of ammo for those who remain unconvinced that SMU can win the conference with Billy Robinson Jr. playing quarterback -- the Huskies contrived to lose to St. FX despite a 25-12 advantage in first downs and 488-274 edge in total offence. The Huskies rarely lose at home, and the Atlantic league is very much a home-field league, so they have more of a chance against Acadia than some folks may realize.

Acadia's rebuilt line only cleared the way for a garden-variety rushing day (123 yards, no runs over 20 yards) against rebuilding Mount Allison, leaving one to speculate that it could have trouble against a much better Saint Mary's defensive front seven. Acadia quarterback Chris Judd and his trio of receivers -- Ivan Birungi, Matt Carter and Sean Higgins -- will likely need to have a big day. Even then, it may not be enough. The Call: Saint Mary's 25-22.

ST. FRANCIS XAVIER (1-0) at MOUNT ALLISON MOUNTIES (0-1)
Saturday, 1 p.m.
St. FX is probably good enough to get by, but Mount A and quarterback Kelly Hughes should be able to stay with them for 2½ to three quarters. The Call: St. FX 25-18.

Last week: 12-1 (.923)
Season to date: 19-1 (.950)
Closest call: Ottawa 27-20 over Laurier (actual score 29-19)

Related:
Listen and Listen Good, U of T: Time To End The Varsity Blues (Sept. 13)
"You're With Me, Leather" Is Now Officially Dated (Sept. 9)
CIS Football Picks, Week 2 (Sept. 8)
CIS Football Picks, Week 1 (Sept. 1)

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.