Frankly Speaking: Rams Control Own Fate

By Greg Urbanoski

After a disappointing 31-5 loss to the University of Calgary Dinos, the University of Regina Rams have no time to dwell on what went wrong.

On Saturday they play their second game of the year against the University of Alberta Golden Bears in Edmonton (Kick-off at 1 p.m. heard on 620 CKRM), one of two remaining games for the Rams.

“If we win the next two we’ll be in the playoffs,” said Rams Head Coach Frank McCrystal. “We might get in the playoffs winning just one. But we are taking it a game at a time and we’re going in and we’re hoping to win our next six games.

“We started the season 0-2 which put us in a hole. I think defensively we did a pretty good job the first game, the second game we didn’t do anything very well. But we have shown steady improvement, we stumbled a little bit but we’re working to be successful this weekend.”

For the second consecutive weekend the Rams are venturing into Alberta. To mitigate the impact of another bus trip to Alberta, the Rams will be flying to Edmonton to try to reduce wear and tear.

“The schedule is nonsense,” said McCrystal. “Here we are going back to back to Alberta. The teams we are playing are coming off byes. Calgary was coming off a bye when they played us last weekend and this weekend the U of A is coming off a bye. These guys (U of A) are playing us back to back with two weeks to prepare in between.

“It’s a tough schedule for everyone. Sometimes coming off a bye can be just as difficult as playing the previous weekend, but time will tell.”

McCrystal said the relative familiarity with the University of Alberta having just played them two weeks ago is helpful. The Rams reviewed the tapes of the Calgary game and have moved onto the Alberta tapes.

“We are playing against a team that is out of the playoffs with nothing to lose, but to be the spoilers,” said McCrystal. “That’s what they are going to try to do the next two weeks first against us and then the U of C.”

McCrystal said the loss against the University of Calgary was disappointing for everyone in the Rams organization.

“It’s not any more disappointing for a director than for an equipment person, or a coach or a physio guy,” said McCrystal. “It matters to everyone. If we can understand that and focus on the fact that it matters to everybody then I think we have a real strength and we can put that into a positive and be successful.

“I think we’re fed up and I think everyone is fed up. I think at all levels of the organization are fed up with mediocrity and we’re fed up losing games.”

McCrystal said the Rams offence was hurt their first two games not having Jordan Sisco in at receiver and he has struggled to get into a rhythm since returning to the line-up. However McCrystal said injuries to various players have not caused the Rams to stumble.

“Obviously we have to eliminate turnovers,” said McCrystal. “We’re working on these things and we’re trying to be fundamentally sound. We are addressing these issues and time will tell.

“The number of turnovers we’ve had and still being where we are in the league probably speaks pretty well for our preparation and the ability of our players. If we keep these things steady and on course I think we have a chance but there are no guarantees.”

McCrystal said the competitiveness in Canada West has arisen as a result of the new rules that have created a level playing field regarding age of players. He said as more teams in Canada West have the same eligibility numbers in regards to post-high football players, the games will be more competitive.

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