Kevin Mitchell
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
The Canada West football schedule is short — tight, compact, just eight games per team spread over nine weekends.
Contrast that to the CFL, where everybody plays 18 times before moving into playoffs.
“It goes by in a hiccup,” University of Saskatchewan Huskies’ head coach Scott Flory said a few years back, and that has not changed.
The brevity lends added importance to every game, including this weekend’s Huskie home clash against Alberta.
Where is the Huskies’ season at now?
Saskatchewan is preparing for its sixth game of the regular season, so their trek into the playoffs is nearly three-quarters complete. They’re 4-1, the same record as the Regina Rams. Those two teams are the only ones in the conference with plus-.500 records.
What’s happening this weekend?
The Huskies host the Alberta Golden Bears in a Saturday-night home game, 7 p.m. at Griffiths Stadium.
Saskatchewan beat Alberta 29-20 in the season opener for both teams. The Golden Bears then lost three more times before finally notching a W this past weekend against the British Columbia Thunderbirds. They won 38-18, thanks in part to a combined 223 receiving yards and three touchdowns from Chevy Thomas and Carter Kettyle.
Alberta’s 1-4 record is currently the worst in Canada West.
Saskatchewan, meanwhile, clobbered Calgary 45-22 on the road last weekend.
What stat stories are worth watching?
Huskies’ quarterback Anton Amundrud dominates the leaderboard. The fourth-year pivot leads all conference passers in completions (115), attempts (166), yards (1,641) and touchdown passes (14). He has yet to throw an interception, after getting picked off nine times in eight regular-season games last year.
Saskatchewan tailback Ryker Frank went into the season needing 1,031 rushing yards to break the team’s career record held by Doug Rozon. He has 475 through five games, which leaves him second in the conference behind Regina’s Marshall Erichsen (725).
Fifth-year Huskies’ receiver Daniel Wiebe — who played two preseason games with the Saskatchewan Roughriders earlier this summer — has 38 catches for a league-best 663 yards and six touchdowns. His 2,468 career air yards leaves him third on the Huskies’ list, behind Colton Klassen (2,513) and Mitch Hillis (2,961).
Huskies’ second-year linebacker Jacob Goldstone is second in conference tackles with 34, just behind Alberta’s Dayton Ingenhaag (34.5).
How does the playoff picture look?
Four of the six teams in Canada West make the playoffs, and there’s a tight grouping in the league’s second tier right now.
The Huskies and Rams are 4-1, with Calgary, UBC and Manitoba locked up at 2-3. Alberta trails at 1-4.
What comes next?
In Saturday’s other games, Manitoba hosts UBC and Calgary visits Regina. The entire league will then take a Thanksgiving-week bye.
Saskatchewan wraps up its regular-season schedule with an Oct. 17 game at UBC and an Oct. 25 home contest against Manitoba.
The Canada West semifinals — first hosts fourth, second hosts third — goes Nov. 1 followed by the Hardy Cup Nov. 8. The conference champion will host the Mitchell Bowl Nov. 15, and the Vanier Cup is slated for Nov. 22 in Regina.
