Gryphons fail to capitalize on field position and special teams
The No.5 Guelph Gryphons’ hopes of reaching their second straight Yates Cup ended in Kingston last Saturday, when the No.4 Queen’s Golden Gaels executed a brilliant four-quarter performance to win their 14th straight at home, 34-17, setting up a classic Yates Cup final versus Western on Nov. 9.
Going into the OUA semi-final versus Queen’s, it was no secret that for Guelph to beat Queen’s, Rob Farquharson was going to need to play nothing short of the game of his life. Guelph’s leading running back averaged 104.4 yards-per-game during the regular season and only failed to rush for under 100-yards once, versus the Gaels in the final game of the regular season.
However, once again, Guelph’s inability to run consistently versus the Gaels was evident during the semi-final; Farquharson managed only 85 grit-fuelled yards.
While the benchmark of 100-yards by Farquharson was seen by pundits as the minimum for a Guelph win, the reason Guelph lost certainly had little to do with the productivity of their senior running back.
The strife began in the third quarter, with Guelph up 17-16 and kicking against the wind. With Guelph backed up inside their own 20 yard line in two drives that quarter, coach Stu Lang elected to concede the safety on both occasions, surrendering four total points in the third to go down 20-17.
Granted, punter Daniel Ferarro averaged just 34 yards-per-punt on the season, which made the decision to concede a safety more sound, but it begged the question of whether or not it is worth giving away points to be compensated for field position. For Lang, field position was clearly the name of the game, especially with Queen’s running back Ryan Granberg’s ability to run all over Ontario’s leading rush defense in the first half.
Guelph failed to score a point in the second half; a statistic more conducive to losing a football game than debating whether or not to punt or surrender a safety.
The lack of scoring in the second half was due to Queen’s ability to hone in on Guelph’s run game, which showed as the yards-per-carry average diminished over the four quarters. This inability to move the ball on the ground late in the game was part-in-parcel due to the inability to execute through the air. Jazz Lindsey went just 17-for-35 for 212 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Lindsey never commanded the offense with the type of rhythm needed from a starting quarterback to win versus an opponent like Queen’s. In moments where the special teams came up big, such as the onside punt recovery by Patrick McGrath, quick drives highlighted by massive sacks and overthrown receivers led to almost immediate losses of possession for the Gryphons.
It is easy to suggest in hindsight that errors were made on special teams and cues on offense, but there is no hindsight needed to admit that Queen’s is a premier football program – a program that had Guelph’s number this season. The superiority of the Gaels began on offense with starting quarterback Billy McPhee and, in both meetings, was exemplified on defense with a shutdown run game and an agile secondary.
Despite the loss to Queen’s, coach Lang preaches that Guelph needs to show consistency in their winning to stay a contender year in and year out.
This ability to sustain success will be tested on a year-to-year basis, obviously; but looking at Guelph’s returning veterans for 2014, their ability to sustain their success next season should prove plausible. Jazz Lindsey will be returning for his senior year, and while the run game will miss Farquharson, Brsyon Wishloff-Dobush and Johnny Augustine will provide one-two punch with great potential.
On defense, Guelph will welcome back a slew of effective starters including Cam Walker, Ian Marouf and Jordan Thompson – three defensive linemen that will seek to reclaim their title as the OUA’s best rush defense.
The returning players, along with a coaching staff that is dedicated to making Guelph a household name in Canadian university football, will be looking to prove that the ability to sustain success for the Gryphons football program is possible moving forward.