Frankly Speaking: Frankie Goes To (Football) Hollywood

[Cyrus]

Frankly Speaking: Frankie Goes to (Football) Hollywood

By Greg Urbanoski

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies like their view on top of the Canada West football conference and definitely do not want to share the view with the University of Regina Rams.

The Rams will visit the Huskies Friday night where the two 1 -0 teams will share a stage that has a number of intriguing storylines.

The Rams are coming off a 28-10 win over the University of Manitoba Bison last week which was costly because of injuries to starting offensive linemen Devin Hillier, Bruce Bennett and Chris Mercer, in addition to defensive back Daniel Knaus. Of the four, Mercer will be back for this game.

"It’s not great but last week guys like (offensive linemen) Brent Jones and Dane Eremenko did well," said Rams Head Coach Frank McCrystal. "We’ve got good players on this team and if we manage the game and work within our system, we will do well.

"Jeff Lukomski will step in for Knaus and they were pretty well neck and neck. Would we prefer to have more experience in there? Of course, but it is what it is. Every team will run into injuries and we’re no different."

While the Huskies are undoubtedly the glamour team of Canada West playing in front of a fanatical fan base and only a few years off of hosting a Vanier Cup game, McCrystal said the secret to their success is not hard to figure out.

"They are very disciplined, very well prepared and they execute very well," said McCrystal. "They don’t do a lot but what they do they do very well and they are very disciplined in how they run their plays."

Fans in Saskatoon are still buzzing over their game last week against the University of Calgary Dinos in front of a sold-out house. McCrystal said he is looking forward to experiencing the atmosphere there this week.

"It’s always fun when there are lots of people there," said McCrystal. "It’s exciting and it’s interesting whether they are hostile or they are yelling for or against you. It’s always more fun when you play in an atmosphere like that.

"The challenge for us Friday night is to remain disciplined and on task. We have to accept they will get their gains and move the move and it will be up to our defence to do what they can to get the ball back into our offence’s hands."

With the injuries on the offensive line, it is likely the Huskies will attempt to put a great deal of pressure on the Rams young offensive line and try to disrupt Rams quarterback Marc Mueller. McCrystal said the Huskies are not known as a pressure defence but the injuries to the Rams offensive line will likely have the Dogs licking their chops.

"We’ll have to see what they do and we’ll have to do we have to do to counter that if necessary," said McCrystal.

"The schedule in Canada West is tough on everybody. Last week we have a tough game against a tough physical team and this week we go into their stadium against the biggest away crowd we will face this season. That is going to be very challenging."