UoG improves to OUA best 7-0
As students and staff may have returned to their homes for the Thanksgiving holiday, the 7-0 Guelph Gryphons travelled to Ottawa to play the Carleton Ravens in what ended up being a big win for the OUA’s No.4 ranked squad, who put away the Ravens 48-12.
The stats sheet tells a different version of a game that, looking at the score alone, seems like a blowout. Carleton amassed a highly efficient 494 yards on offense, 20 more yards than Guelph. The Ravens also ran more offensive plays, passed for more yards and had a higher yards-per-carry average on the ground, possessing the ball for roughly five more minutes than the Gryphons.
The first quarter began with a Carleton drive that ended in a 26-yard field goal by Andrew Banerjee for the home team to obtain their one and only lead of the game up 3-0.
Guelph responded two minutes later with a 24-yard field goal by Daniel Ferraro, and two minutes after that, a 23-yard rushing touchdown by veteran running back, Rob Farquharson, put the Gryphons up 10-3 going into the second quarter.
Early in the second, Ravens quarterback Nick Gorgichuk threw his first ever CIS touchdown pass to Dexter Brown on a 49-yard catch and run.
However, the Brown touchdown reception was the last time the game was close. A combination of a Jazz Lindsey one-yard rushing touchdown and a special teams touch down on a 66-yard punt return by Andrew Graham, sent the Gryphons into half up 24-10.
The second half was more of the same, with Farquharson getting an early third quarter touchdown. With a comfortable lead, Guelph sat Lindsey and gave backup quarterback, Lucas Nangle, a chance to throw. Nangle finished the game strong, going 4-6 passing for two touchdowns and 61 yards through the air.
The Gryphons have now won an unprecedented 15 straight regular season games; their last loss coming away to last years OUA champions, the McMaster Marauders, on Sept. 3, 2012.
The final test for Guelph will be in Kingston on Saturday, Oct. 19 as the nations No.5 Queen’s Golden Gaels will host the Gryphons in their nationally televised homecoming game. The Golden Gaels are 6-1 on the season, their only loss coming to No.1 ranked Western Mustangs, and are going to be looking to exact revenge on a Guelph team that managed to score 22 points in under 10 minutes in what is touted as the greatest comeback in Guelph football history – last year’s final regular season game at Alumni Stadium.
The game will air at 1 p.m. and will ultimately decide whether Guelph finishes a school-best – first place overall in the OUA – or drops as low as third.