“It’s a lot of the same parts and pieces, but to me, this is a different football team than 365 days ago.”
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They’re playing around with different endings up at Griffiths Stadium, trying to find something happier than what happened last season.
The University of Saskatchewan Huskies are headed into the playoffs again, but things are different this year than last. They started 4-1 last season, then lost two of their last three games before getting throttled 40-17 by Alberta in a semifinal.
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This time, they were 1-3 at the season’s halfway point and have since won four straight contests heading into Saturday’s post-season clash in Vancouver with the British Columbia Thunderbirds.
“To be blunt, yes, absolutely,” Huskies’ head coach Scott Flory said this week when asked if things feel different now than they did last year on this date.
“It’s a lot of the same parts and pieces, but to me, this is a different football team than 365 days ago.”
How that translates into Saturday’s do-or-die clash remains to be seen. Here’s some things to know as the teams wrap up preparations.
WHEN LAST THEY MET
The landscape has shifted, in many ways, since the Huskies and Thunderbirds met on Sept. 20.
Both had stumbled to a 1-2 start. UBC pushed Saskatchewan deeper into the doldrums with a 38-24 victory, dropping the Huskies to 1-3.
Saskatchewan has won four straight games since then, and UBC captured another three before losing 51-38 to first-place Manitoba this past weekend.
So now both are 5-3. The Thunderbirds get second place, and the Huskies third, because UBC picked up that head-to-head win.
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THE STREAK
Saskatchewan’s 4-0 record in the season’s second half has not been pieced together easily.
They beat Alberta 33-30 on Lukas Scott’s 47-yard field goal with 54 seconds on the clock, thumped Manitoba 42-24, then won a couple of squeakers — 22-20 over Regina followed by a 16-11 victory over Calgary this past weekend. In the latter game, Ryker Frank’s four-yard touchdown run with seven seconds on the clock sealed the win.
The Huskies’ only win in the first four games of the season was a 44-40 double-overtime victory over Calgary.
That means that four of their five victories have come by a combined margin of 14 points.
“We’ve got to clean up some things in the first 57 minutes of the game,” Flory said earlier this week, “but we know in the last three minutes that we can move the ball, we can shut people down and we can score points.”
STATS LEADERS
Huskies’ quarterback Anton Amundrud led the conference in passing attempts (282), completions (194), throwing yards (2,275) and touchdown passes (11). His nine interceptions were tied for second in the conference.
Amundrud threw for just 10 more yards than his UBC counterpart Garrett Rooker.
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Saskatchewan’s Ryker Frank was the conference leader in rushing yards (152 carries for 952 yards), just ahead of Manitoba’s Breydon Stubbs (162-937) and UBC’s Isaiah Knight (136-914).
Huskies receiver Daniel Wiebe led Canada West with 52 catches for 807 yards and seven touchdowns through the air.
THE DEFENCE DOESN’T REST
Saskatchewan’s defence gave up 30-plus points in each of its first five games. Since then they’ve allowed 24, 20 and 11.
They’ve dealt with a lot of injury-related shuffling throughout the lineup, and have been bolstered by the late-season returns of veteran defensive linemen Reece McCormick and Charlie Parks.
Linebacker Seth Hundeby, who has a team-high 41-tackles and two sacks, has been a stalwart while playing all eight games.
ELSEWHERE, AND UP NEXT
The winner of the game between Saskatchewan and UBC will play either Manitoba or Regina in next weekend’s conference final. The Bisons placed first this season with a 7-1 record — their only loss coming against Saskatchewan — while the Rams were fourth with a 3-5 mark.
The Canada West champion will host the Quebec champion in the Mitchell Bowl on Nov. 16, followed by the Vanier Cup Nov. 23 in Kingston, Ont.
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