Frankly Speaking: Win or Go Home
By Greg Urbanoski
The schedule may read one game left, but for the University of
Regina Rams the bottom line is simple – beat the University of
Manitoba Bisons, the defending Vanier Cup Champions, on Friday
night at Mosaic Stadium – or finish out of the playoffs.
“It’s really the playoffs now,” said Rams Head Coach Frank
McCrystal. “We will likely finish third if we win and if we
lose we are out of the playoffs.
“The other games in the conference are equally as important.
The University of Calgary plays the University of Alberta and
the University of Saskatchewan plays the University of British
Columbia. If everyone finishes 5-3 we finish third behind the
University of Saskatchewan and University of Calgary.”
The Bisons have had an up and down season following their
Vanier Cup win, but McCrystal said even with the team suffering
various injuries, he expects the Bisons to be athletic and with
experienced players providing leadership, he expects them to be
a formidable opponent for the Rams.
“If you look over the last eight years its been Manitoba,
Saskatchewan and ourselves battling to get out of the
conference championship,” said McCrystal. “In the last eight
conference finals, we have been there four times, Manitoba has
been there four times and Saskatchewan has been there four
times.
“It seems it always comes down to these battles and we are
fortunate to be here at home for this game. We need to get a
handle on our penalties, especially things that kill drives
like off-sides. It’s pretty easy if you are the offence,
because you know the snap count, and if you are the defence,
you just need to watch the ball.”
McCrystal is working with the Ram coaches to help the players
eliminate the penalties and turnovers that have plagued the
team at times this season. Eliminating unnecessary penalties
will go a long way to determining how far the Rams go.
“Those type of things are the result of not playing smart,”
said McCrystal. “In terms of talent we are very good, but
emotionally we can be immature at times and the frustration
they experience comes out.”
The Rams can dress 50 players for the game and do not expect
running back Luke Derkson to be playing. At press time, no
diagnosis had yet come back on an injury Derkson suffered
against the University of Alberta.
“Austin Kappel and Sheldon Tillotson will be in the backfield
for us and we’ll adjust a few of the things we do on offence to
accommodate their talents,” said McCrystal. “The depth we have
for this game also gives us some more options for players.”
The Rams 38-31 win over the University of Alberta saw
quarterback Teale Orban pick up Canada West offensive player of
the week honours. “Teale has done OK,” said McCrystal. “He
played better this last game, and he is still leading the
conference in a number of categories. He is close to 60 per
cent completion percentage which is doing pretty well
considering the number of drops he has had.
“Defensively we have played well. We’ve defended the run well
with the exception of a couple of runs against Calgary, and our
pass coverage has been good. If you look at the defensive
stats, we are in the middle of the pack and we know we can do
better.”
McCrystal has been saying to anyone who will listen that there
are no easy games in Canada West this season. Any number of
possibilities could emerge in the games coming up and McCrystal
is prepared for a number of challenges.
“This year we have been underachieving,” he said. “We have done
well at times but we have not realized our potential. We have
been improving and we are doing our best each time out.
“Offensively last week we had five touchdowns which is good for
us but defensively we lacked focus by the number of penalties.
At least twice they had penalties that helped to sustain
drives. Of the 24 first downs they got, 10 were by penalty.
This is a tough league and this week we have a tough game.”
