Frankly Speaking: So What Happened?
November 4, 2009

By Greg Urbanoski

Frank McCrystal may be looking for a new job.

The coach of the University of Regina Rams was last seen Friday night on the turf of Taylor Field at Mosaic Stadium, speaking after the Rams 42-17 loss to the University of Saskatchewan Huskies that seemed to have ended the Rams season with a 3-5 record.

“Maybe they played an ineligible guy and we’ll get in the playoffs anyway,” said McCrystal sarcastically after the game, referring to Simon Fraser having wins stripped away that along with a three game losing streak helped end the Ram season.

Saturday morning McCrystal got a call from Dick White at the University of Regina who wanted to talk to him about the team. McCrystal’s first reaction was something had gone on with his players, but White assured him that wasn’t the case.

“After talking to him I knew that it was possible we could be in the playoffs on Saturday morning, but I didn’t know the details of what was going on,” said McCrystal. “On Saturday we talked to the coordinators and reviewed the video and we hoped to have heard something on Sunday.

“When we didn’t hear anything by 12:30, we said let’s do it and have a practice. We called the team together and told them what we knew, which wasn’t much. On Monday at 3:30 the CIS denied the U of M appeal but CanWest needed to deal with the penalty and we didn’t hear the final word until 10 a.m. Tuesday.”

It is a comeback from the dead that Count Dracula would be proud of.

Now the University of Regina Rams will play the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in a playoff game 1 p.m. Saturday at Griffiths Stadium because the University of Manitoba Bison had two wins stripped for using an ineligible player.

When reminded of his comment after the game Friday and asked if he knew at that time what was happening, McCrystal laughs.

“No, but I should be a prophet,” said McCrystal. “We know we are really fortunate to be in this situation, especially after losing our last three games.

“This is not the way we would have wanted to go into the playoffs. We know we did not play as capably as we could have, and we should not have got beaten like we did against them at home.”

Now that the Rams are in, they face not only the Huskies, but a problem that has faced them for the whole season – slowing down the other team teams running game. McCrystal nods when told an opposing coach would look at the Rams and say to beat them, just run at them until the Rams stop them.

“That’s what I would do,” agrees McCrystal. “We haven’t stopped the run well at all, but we also have to score points. Our stats are pretty good passing and all things considered, we have run the ball pretty well.

“Our first downs and time of possession are good, but when you don’t score, the other team can take the ball and run it down your throat. We need to score touchdowns and we need to be more consistent in moving the ball and stopping the run.”

The situation that has landed the Rams in the playoffs is something McCrystal has never run across in his football career. The closest situation he can remember is a three way tie in the standings, but how the season has turned out has enhanced greater awareness of player eligibility.

“I can’t speak for other teams, but we work hard to avoid situations like this,” said McCrystal. “I get involved, but we have someone at the university who checks what I’ve done and then we have someone academically at the university who also checks what I’ve done.

“Really, who needs distractions likes this in the middle of a season like Simon Fraser or at the end of the season like Manitoba? We don’t want those types of distractions and doing due diligence helps to avoid situations like that. It’s unfortunate what happened but here we are.

“I don’t know if this is a chance at redemption for us on Saturday. It is a chance for us to show ourselves and them that we are a better team than what they played on Friday. We’ve got nothing to lose in this game because if we win, we go to the Hardy Cup. We could go from being out of the playoffs to playing in a championship game in the next four quarters.