By Greg Urbanoski
Sept. 10, 2009
The University of Saskatchewan
Huskies like their view on top of the Canada West football
conference and definitely do not want to share the view with the
University of Regina Rams.
The Rams will visit the Huskies
Friday night where the two 1 -0 teams will share a stage that
has a number of intriguing storylines.
The Rams are coming off a 28-10 win
over the University of Manitoba Bison last week which was costly
because of injuries to starting offensive linemen Devin Hillier,
Bruce Bennett and Chris Mercer, in addition to defensive back
Daniel Knaus. Of the four, Mercer will be back for this game.
"It’s not great but last week guys
like (offensive linemen) Brent Jones and Dane Eremenko did
well," said Rams Head Coach Frank McCrystal. "We’ve got good
players on this team and if we manage the game and work within
our system, we will do well.
"Jeff Lukomski will step in for
Knaus and they were pretty well neck and neck. Would we prefer
to have more experience in there? Of course, but it is what it
is. Every team will run into injuries and we’re no different."
While the Huskies are undoubtedly
the glamour team of Canada West playing in front of a fanatical
fan base and only a few years off of hosting a Vanier Cup game,
McCrystal said the secret to their success is not hard to figure
out.
"They are very disciplined, very
well prepared and they execute very well," said McCrystal. "They
don’t do a lot but what they do they do very well and they are
very disciplined in how they run their plays."
Fans in Saskatoon are still buzzing
over their game last week against the University of Calgary
Dinos in front of a sold-out house. McCrystal said he is looking
forward to experiencing the atmosphere there this week.
"It’s always fun when there are lots
of people there," said McCrystal. "It’s exciting and it’s
interesting whether they are hostile or they are yelling for or
against you. It’s always more fun when you play in an atmosphere
like that.
"The challenge for us Friday night
is to remain disciplined and on task. We have to accept they
will get their gains and move the move and it will be up to our
defence to do what they can to get the ball back into our
offence’s hands."
With the injuries on the offensive
line, it is likely the Huskies will attempt to put a great deal
of pressure on the Rams young offensive line and try to disrupt
Rams quarterback Marc Mueller. McCrystal said the Huskies are
not known as a pressure defence but the injuries to the Rams
offensive line will likely have the Dogs licking their chops.
"We’ll have to see what they do and
we’ll have to do we have to do to counter that if necessary,"
said McCrystal.
"The schedule in Canada West is
tough on everybody. Last week we have a tough game against a
tough physical team and this week we go into their stadium
against the biggest away crowd we will face this season. That is
going to be very challenging."