Rams, Huskies looking for more in 2022 Canada West football campaign

The University of Regina Rams and University of Saskatchewan Huskies didn’t finish as well as they’d hoped in the 2021 Canada West football season.

The Rams had trouble finishing games, blowing fourth-quarter leads in three games en route to a 1-5-0 record.

“Last year was definitely a disappointing year,” head coach Mark McConkey told The Green Zone. “We finished 1-and-5 and lost (three) games by six points, so we were right there.

“(We) had a couple of big leads and just couldn’t finish those games, so we definitely learned a lot from that.”

Meanwhile, the Huskies’ season didn’t finish on the right note, as they fell 27-21 to the Western Mustangs in the Vanier Cup. Saskatchewan is looking for a different ending in 2022.

“Going 1-and-0 each and every week is the plan and setting yourself up for the playoffs,” Huskies head coach Scott Flory said. “Then (you need) a little bit of good luck and fortune and try to put yourself in the title game and then who knows? It’s anybody’s ball game when you get there. At least you’ve got an opportunity.”

Both the Rams and Huskies will look to start the 2022 season on the right foot Friday. Regina is to take on the Manitoba Bisons in Winnipeg, while Saskatchewan is to face the host Calgary Dinos.

A new approach

McConkey feels more comfortable as the 2022 season begins, in large part because he learned a lot as a first-year head coach in 2021.

“The big (lesson) is just don’t panic,” he said. “Things are going to go wrong or you’re going to have your highs and lows and you’ve just got to stay consistent.

“I’m the leader they all look to, so if I’ve got poor body language on the sideline, the team’s going to see that and feed off that — (and it’s) the same with the other coaches.

“That’s one thing I’ve really focused on with our staff and our players this year is, ‘Hey, we can have good plays (and) we can get excited, but we can’t get too high and we can’t get too low when things go wrong.’ That’s what happened last year when we started losing some of those big leads late in games.”

In 2021, Regina led Manitoba 17-10 in the fourth quarter before losing 21-17, was ahead of the UBC Thunderbirds 23-0 entering the final frame but lost 31-30 in overtime, and had a 22-5 fourth-quarter lead on the Alberta Golden Bears before falling 23-22.

The Rams have experience in running back Kyle Borsa and receivers Riley Boersma and D’Sean Mimbs, but veteran quarterback Josh Donnelly is still recovering from a concussion. That means redshirt freshman Noah Pelletier will run the offence.

“He’s a leader on the team already even though he’s a younger guy, and the guys are all buying into him,” McConkey said. “He’s doing the right things, but he’s still a first-year quarterback.

“I’m confident he’ll make some first-year quarterback mistakes that Josh Donnelly would have made, that Noah Picton would have made (and that) Marc Mueller and all of those guys would have made. He’s not far off from being an elite quarterback and he just has to keep developing.”

An established tradition

The Huskies went 5-1-0 in the Canada West regular season before knocking off UBC and Manitoba in the conference playoffs.

Saskatchewan then bounced the Montreal Carabins in the Uteck Bowl to advance to the U Sports final, but fell to Western with a national title on the line.

Flory is excited about his team’s prospects in 2022.

“I get kind of giddy on the sidelines,” he said. “I don’t get to do (things on the field) anymore, but I get the best seat in the house and it’s a lot of fun.”

Unlike the Rams, Saskatchewan has a fifth-year man — Mason Nyhus — controlling the offence.

“I want to see Mason have a career year; I really do,” Flory said. “I want him to lead us to win football games and I know he is.

“We’ve also had some shifts along the offensive and defensive lines, some new personnel, and I want to see those guys play.”

Flory is confident newer players and established veterans will mesh to give the Huskies a shot at another Canada West championship.

He said the team was so deep, it left four or five guys at home Friday who could easily be starting. That bodes well for the Huskies’ chances.

“We know that we’re going to need them all to get to where we want to go in November,” Flory said.