Highlights:
- Sherbrooke to upset No. 6 Acadia in its own backyard.
- If Windsor beats McMaster, it won't be a surprise. That said, it ain't happening.
- The Laurier Golden Hawks still have enough in the tank to handle Western at home.
- Don't look so shocked if Mount Allison (yes, that Mount Allison) ends its losing streak.
WESTERN MUSTANGS (2-1) vs. #8 LAURIER GOLDEN HAWKS (2-1)
Saturday, 2 p.m., The Score (all times Eastern)
After having 35 fewer rushes than its opponents in the first two weeks, Western remembered that the quantity, not the quality of running plays matters and ran the ball 43 times against Guelph.
No doubt Western knows it was held under 100 yards rushing in both its losses to Laurier last season. That begs the question: Can Western push around Laurier's defence this time?
Laurier gave up some long runs in the first two weeks against Guelph and Ottawa, but the lingering impression is that its D, led by stalwarts from the Vanier Cup team such as Jesse Alexander and Yannick Carter, has taken it upon themselves to carry the team. Laurier seems a little sporadic on offence, but has some big-play threats in Andy Baechler and Dante Luciani, who are going up against a much-maligned Mustangs defence who allowed 310 yards through the air against Guelph.
If Western can establish a running game against Laurier for a change, or if QB Michael Faulds has a career day, the Hawks may be in for a long afternoon. Otherwise, though, Laurier should prevail by virtue of defence, home-field advantage and being opportunistic on offence.
The Call: Laurier 27-20.
WINNER: Laurier 34-18.
#9 ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS (2-1) vs. #4 MANITOBA BISONS (3-0)
Saturday, 3 p.m.
The Bisons are at home and have scored three decisive wins. Alberta, whom some folks saw as a pipe-dream pick to disrupt Saskatchewan's coronation as Can West champs, are a couple plays from being 0-3.
Trends like that have a way of not continuing. However, Alberta's passing stats through three weeks -- 46% completion percentage, no touchdowns and seven interceptions -- should make you think twice about picking them to beat a good team on the road. Unless Manitoba beats themselves or gets really banged up, they should get by Alberta. Worth noting: The Bisons will get a bye week before their only regular-season meeting against the Saskatchewan Huskies on Oct. 7.
The Call: Manitoba 27-13.
WINNER: Manitoba 29-14.
#3 McMASTER MARAUDERS (3-0) vs. WINDSOR LANCERS (3-0)
Saturday, 7 p.m.
Maybe last week's win over Queen's was a paradigm game for Windsor -- play kind of vanilla, don't really strike any great fear in the other team and its fans, and then all of sudden in the fourth quarter, everyone looks up and says, "Hey, when did Windsor get the lead?"
Windsor kept the Gaels off-balance all afternoon by constantly giving them different defensive looks -- shifting fronts, different personnel. McMaster quarterback Adam Archibald has been known to make the occasional bad read, and the prospect of winning back-to-back games on the road is normally a lot to ask of most teams, especially in this new wide-open OUA we've been reading so much about (wink-wink, nudge-nudge). Oh, and didn't Windsor only lose 29-22 to Mac last year?
If the Lancers pull this off, it won't be an upset. So why won't it happen?
Well, Windsor's offensive line doesn't look capable of pushing around a physical front seven such as McMaster's, and it doesn't seem to have the kind of offence that usually gives the Marauders problems.
The teams that have given Mac the most trouble -- Laurier in '04-05, Western and Guelph last season -- tend to be teams that were balanced or slightly pass-happy. Windsor is a running team, although Dan Lumley and receiver Glenn MacKay collaborated on all three of their TDs last week (two of which were on play-action). Beating Mac at its own game won't be easy.
McMaster doesn't seem so formidable in some observers' eyes, but it's good enough to pull out this one. Look for Mac defensive back Jesse Card to be a key player.
The Call: McMaster 31-21.
WINNER: McMaster 32-20.
ONTARIO
#5 OTTAWA GEE-GEES (2-1) vs. YORK LIONS (0-3)
Saturday, 2 p.m.
Say this for the Lions: They haven't been blown out of a game, but they haven't really been in one, losing their first three by a combined margin of 58 points against the same three teams -- Mac, Western and Laurier -- that Ottawa has faced. Gee-Gees tailback Davie Masson is looking for his third straight 150-yard game.
The Call: Ottawa 34-14.
WINNER: Ottawa 37-3.
U OF T VARSITY BLUES (0-3) vs. GUELPH GRYPHONS (0-3)
Saturday, 2 p.m.
The Blues might be reeling a little after missing a chance to end The Streak last week against Waterloo. Guelph, which has lost once in overtime and once in the final seconds, should have little trouble. (Running back-kick returner Nick FitzGibbon might put up some numbers). U of T should be good for a couple touchdowns. Quarterback turned slotback Mark Hamilton scored three last week.
Hometown Breakdown note: Gryphons rookie linebacker Scott Puillandre, a recurring character in the Simcoe Reformer sports page when he was captain of his Waterford Wolves high school team, saw some playing time against Western last week and was credited with his first career tackle.
The Call: Guelph 41-21.
WINNER: Guelph 66-14.
QUEEN'S GOLDEN GAELS (2-1) vs. WATERLOO WARRIORS (1-2)
Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
There should be little reason for the author to lapse into his General Jerkishness character, who usually appears during Blue Jays losing skids and after tough Queen's losses. Jon Morbey is a good quarterback, but Waterloo simply isn't very good. After this, Queen's faces McMaster and Ottawa back-to-back.
The Call: Queen's 35-10.
WINNER: Waterloo 14-13.
ATLANTIC-QUÉBEC INTERLOCK
#10 MONTRÉAL CARABINS (0-2) vs. SAINT MARY'S HUSKIES (0-2)
Saturday, 12 p.m.
No telling how long some people have waited for the day when Sm-you would be 0-3. Montréal should be fine so long as it stops turning the ball over. It lost to Concordia despite giving up just 241 yards. Fun fact: Defensive lineman Nickolas Morin-Soucy is the team scoring leader, having scored 12 points by returning a punt block and a fumble for touchdowns.
Saint Mary's will probably stay in the game for three-plus quarters, which will be the kind of performance it needs to turn around its season. This is a .500 regular-season team, but it has the potential to win in the Atlantic playoffs.
The Call: Montréal 28-17.
WINNER: Montréal 13-9.
ST. FRANCIS XAVIER X-MEN (2-0) vs. #7 CONCORDIA STINGERS (2-0)
Saturday, 1 p.m.
Question: Is it a little much to call yourself "unbeaten" after only two games? Concordia's fully deserving, though, after its road win over Montréal last week. A lot of the elements of the plot -- road game, experienced Stingers defence -- suggest this will be one of the "Hyde" games for the inconsistent X-Men.
The Call: Concordia 37-10.
WINNER: Concordia 37-0.
MOUNT ALLISON MOUNTIES (0-2) vs. McGILL REDMEN (0-2)
Saturday, 1 p.m.
After a decade of doldrums, Mount A is starting to build a positive vibe and Kelly Hughes and Gary Ross are becoming a pretty good passing combo. McGill, which led Laval at the half last week but got outscored 30-3 over the final two quarters, looks a lot like a team that has taken a trip to Negative Town. You've seen it before. A team does fine, sometimes for two or three quarters, than one or two bad plays and it's all downhill.
This very well might be the week for the Mounties, who haven't won a game since 2002. However, the passing numbers they allowed St. F.X.'s Justin Connors to put up last week (288 yards on just 18 attempts) suggest Matt Connell and the Redmen are in for a big day. The Call: McGill 34-27.
WINNER: McGill 42-14.
SHERBROOKE VERT ET OR (1-1) vs. #6 ACADIA AXEMEN (2-0)
Saturday, 1 p.m.
There's the X-Men and the Axemen, but the Vert et Or may be the true Team X. They hardly ever come up in discussion at cisfootball.org, due to the language barrier and the program's relative newness. No one seems to know much about them. Acadia is rising up the national ranks and is a defending conference champion playing at home, so naturally they'll be favoured.
Make no mistake, though, Sherbrooke is going to win. They're playing good defence (just 407 yards and one touchdown allowed in two games, with the TD coming on the first series of the opener). They run the ball well, and run it often (plus-36 in attempts, compared to Acadia, who is dead even through two weeks). Defensively, they've given up just one play over 35 yards and remember, Acadia has three new starters on the offensive line, meaning it might have trouble protecting the passer against a good defence.
These interlocking games are the tough to predict -- largely since the teams are unfamiliar with each other. However, if Sherbrooke can contain Acadia receiver Ivan Birungi and hold him to short catches, that will go a long way toward taking Acadia out of its rhythm on offence.
The caveat here is rookie Sherbrooke QB Jean-Phillippe Shoiry is making just his third start. Also, the Vert et Or have some kicking woes, having gone 0-for-4 on field goal tries last week.
The Call: Sherbrooke 21-16.
WINNER: Sherbrooke 42-28.
QUÉBEC
BISHOP'S GAITERS (1-1) vs. #1 LAVAL ROUGE ET OR (2-0)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Oh, the hypocrisy! Last week, Rouge et Or botteur Cameron Takacs kicked five field goals, which is more than Laval used to kick in an entire season. Takacs' 28 points are the most of any player in the country whose team has played only two games. Gee, maybe his hometown paper, the Brantford Expositor (see July 12 post), should get off their duffaroonies and a do a story on him. Oh, wait, the Brantford Blast just started their exhibition schedule. And there was a probably a high school junior girls basketball game that needed attention.
The Call: Laval 45-13.
WINNER: Laval 29-0.
CANADA WEST
UBC THUNDERBIRDS (1-1) vs. SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES (3-0)
Saturday, 2:30 p.m.
OK, we get it: Saskatchewan, with an average winning margin of 30 points so far, is very, very good. UBC is a mid-level team that isn't quite good enough to stay with a rough, tough Huskies crew for four quarters, especially when they're the visitors.
The Call: Saskatchewan 30-11.
WINNER: Saskatchewan 35-33.
SIMON FRASER (0-2) vs. REGINA RAMS (0-2)
Saturday, 4 p.m.
Pass. Simon Fraser looks like it will be hard-pressed to avoid a second straight winless season. The Call: Regina 42-14.
WINNER: Regina 53-16.
Last week: 8-5 (.615)
Season to date: 27-6 (.818)
Closest call: Alberta 29-17 over UBC (actual score 18-17)
Related:
Queen's Homecoming: There's No "I" In Golden Gaels... (Sept. 16)
CIS Football Picks, Week 2 (Sept. 8)
CIS Football Picks, Week 1 (Sept. 1)
Back with more later. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment