Live blog: The Battle of the 613

And we're up and rolling! Kickoff should be in just a moment. My previews of the game are here [Sporting Madness] and here [Queen's Journal]. Neate also has a good one here. The game is also on the radio at CFRC and is being webcast at SSN Canada. Post comments here or send them to me at andrew_bucholtz (at) hotmail.com.

First quarter:
-Dan Village kicks off for Queen's: Ottawa returns it to around their own 20.
- Dave Mason runs off the left tackle for about five yards.
- Josh Sacobie completes a short pass, but his receiver is stopped less than a yard short. Gee-Gees are going for it.
- Sacobie sneaks for the first down. 1 and 10 on the Ottawa 33.
- Mason carries off right tackle, picks up 5. 2 and 5 on the Ottawa 38.
- Mason carries for two, stopped by Mike Botting. 3 and 3 Ottawa: they decide to punt.
- Awful snap and the punt's almost blocked by Tim Poffley. Ottawa gets it off, though, but the ball only travels about 35 yards. Jimmy Allin pulls off a nice return and Ottawa's called for no-yards as well. 1 and 10 Queen's on the Ottawa 53.
- Short pass to inside receiver Scott Stinson is good for about 4 yards. 2 and 6.
- Brannagan's pass is right to Ottawa linebacker Joe Barnes, who really should have made that pick. He drops it, though, and Queen's punts.
- Village gets a great punt off, punning Ottawa deep: they take it out to about the 1315.
- Mason runs for a gain of about 2. Queen's linebacker Thaine Carter is hurt on the play: he's still down.
- 2nd and 8 Ottawa on their own 17. Carter's limping off with help from Botting. That's a big loss for Queen's if he doesn't come back: Carter's the defensive captain and the key linebacker in stopping the run.
- Queen's linemen Osie Ukwuoma and Dee Sterling break through, flushing Sacobie from the pocket. He has to throw it away and Ottawa will punt. The punt goes out of bounds at the Ottawa 43, giving the Gaels some great field position.
- Realized I forgot to put an official prediction up in my preview. I think it's going to be close, but I see Queen's winning by 7.
- A short Brannagan pass to (I think) Chris Ioannides winds up going for a first down with a great run after the catch.
- Marty Gordon runs for two: 2 and 8 Queen's on the Ottawa 33. Gordon will have to carry most of the running load today: it's been confirmed that Mike Giffin isn't going to play. Looks like my doom and gloom on that front was justified.
- Brannagan hits Scott Valberg with a great pass over the middle: he's brought down around the Ottawa 12. First down, Queen's.
- Gordon runs for five off-tackle. Second and five.
- Brannagan's pass for Devan Sheahan falls incomplete. 3 and 5 Queen's.
- Queen's fakes a field goal, with Allin taking off and running. He isn't getting anywhere though, so he throws an end-zone pass, but it's picked off by an Ottawa DB. Ottawa ball on their own 20.
- I like that call, even though it didn't work. Queen's has been very successful on the fake field goals this year, particularly with Allin running. I think he might have been able to get the five yards they needed if he'd kept going instead of dropping and trying a pass.
- Mason runs for four or five yards, stopped by T.J. Leeper. 2 and 5 Ottawa.
- Mason runs for a first down off the left side. 1 and 10 Ottawa on their own 40.
- Mason runs for two: second and 8.
- It's surprisingly warm and nice here, which is probably good for Queen's: they're playing more of a finesse game, while Ottawa's going for the old smash-mouth power running game.
- Sacobie throws deep, and it's almost picked. Both David Rooney and Allin has a chance at that one. Ottawa will punt.
- It's not a great punt, and it soars out of bounds. Looks like Ottawa's trying to keep the ball away from Allin on the returns. Queen's ball on their own 42.
- Jimmy Therrien runs off right tackle for QUeen's and picks up about 4. 2 and 6 Gaels.
- Brannagan throws a beauty of a sideline pass to Valberg, who picks up a first down and more. 1 and 10 Queen's on the Ottawa 52.
- Brannagan has all day in the pocket, and finds Devan Sheahan at about the 10-yard line with a sideline bomb. Sheahan sidesteps a tackle and jumps in for the TD. That was fantastic protection from the O-line. Brannagan had about seven seconds without a defender getting anywhere near him, allowing him to make that deep play. It was a hell of a throw, too: right into Sheahan's arms 40 yards down the field. Village hits the EP: Queen's 7, Ottawa 0.
- Village kicks off right to the end zone and Ottawa's Chayce Elliott misfields it. He runs back to get it and is hit in the end zone for a single. Queen's 8, Ottawa 0.
- Ottawa ball on their 35.
- Sacobie throws a 8-yard pass or so, and the receiver picks up the first down.
- 1 and 10 Ottawa on their own 45.
- Mason runs up the middle for about eight.
- Ottawa tries another run, but Ukwuoma comes over the top and makes a great stop. 3 and 1 Ottawa: they're going for it.
- Sacobie sneaks up the middle for the first down. End of the first quarter.
- That's cool: the Kingston high-school football all-stars are being honoured on the field, and Saskatchewan Roughrider and former Gael Rob Bagg is in attendance to shake hands with all of them. Bagg had a fantastic game this Thursday against the Argonauts. Good to see him doing so well and making the trip back to his school. He gets a big round of applause, as he should.

Second quarter:
- Sacobie drops and throws deep for Justin Wood-Roy, but Botting makes a great play to break it up. 2 and 10.
- Sacobie drops and has plenty of time this time: good protection from the O-line. He fires it deep to about the 15 and backup quarterback Brad Sinopoli makes a nice catch. It takes two tacklers to drag Sinopoli down, and he gets to the 1.
- Mason punches it in from the 1: TD Ottawa. They hit the extra point, so it's Queen's 8, Ottawa 7.
- Ottawa kicks off and Allin busts a nice sideline return, getting up to about the Queen's 37. Ottawa was offside on the play, but Queen's declines the penalty. 1 and 10 Gaels.
- Gordon rushes up the middle and finds a hole, picking up about 6. A nice run, but he's brought down by one tackler: if that was Giffin, he'd have the first down. Gordon and Therrien are doing a decent job so far, though.
- Brannagan completes a short sideline pass to Blaise Morrison, good enough for a first down on Queen's 54.
- Gordon rushes out near the left sideline and picks up another 6. 2 and 4 Queen's.
- Gordon gets some fantastic blocking and rushes outside left again for the first down, then cuts back inside for more yards. He gets all the way to the Ottawa 28. First down, Queen's.
- Therrien runs up the middle for another six or so. Ottawa's having all kinds of trouble stopping the Gaels' run game, even without Giffin. Perhaps they underestimated his backups, who are both very capable themselves.
- Brannagan has to scramble and throws for Mark Surya, but the pass falls short. Surya almost reels it in with a diving grab, but can't hang on. Third down, Queen's.
- Village hits the 29-yard field goal, making the score Queen's 11, Ottawa 7.
- Ottawa takes the ball on their own 35.
- Mason runs outside left for about seven yards. 2 and just over 3 for the Gee-Gees.
- Mason goes up the middle and is hit at the line of scrimmage: he fights for an extra couple of yards, but it's going to be third and short after a measurement.
- Sacobie sneaks for the first down.
- Sacobie hits Sinopoli with a short pass, and he fights through the middle for a gain of 9. It's going to be second and short on Queen's 54.
- Sacobie keeps and picks up the first down. 1 and 10 Ottawa on Queen's 52.
- Mason runs off left tackle and picks up a first down. He's down at Queen's 38.
- Good protection by Ottawa's line and Sacobie completes a pass to Ivan Birungi, who makes a nice sliding catch at around the 15. A penalty's tacked on, giving Ottawa the ball on the 5. 1 and goal Ottawa.
- Mason runs up the middle and gains about 4. 2 and goal from the 1. A Queen's defender is down on the play.
- It's defensive end Neil Puffer, who's limping off now. With him and Carter both gone, that's two big losses for the Gaels' defence.
- Mason punches it in for the TD. Matthew Falvo kicks the extra point, making it Ottawa 14, Queen's 11.
- Well, we knew this one wasn't going to be easy. There are two kinds of 4-4 teams: the mediocre ones who gut out a few wins, and the brilliantly talented but inconsistent ones. Ottawa was always the latter, and it looks like the good Gee-Gees showed up today, rather than the mediocre ones. Queen's has to find a way to shut down Mason on the run: he's opening up too much space for Ottawa's deep passing game.
- Great coverage on the kickoff by the Gee-Gees: Allin only gets to about the 25. Now, that makes much more sense than just kicking it out of bounds all the time.
- Brannagan's pass falls incomplete.
- Brannagan is flushed and has to throw away the ball. 3rd down, Queen's.
- The Gaels punt: Ottawa returns it to about their own 53.
- Mason runs for about 6.
- Mason runs again and gets close to a first down, but he's hurt on the play.
- Mason limps off. That's not good for Ottawa by any stretch of the imagination: he's been tremendous so far. 3 and short.
- Sacobie keeps and gets the first down.
- Craig Bearss is in the game for Mason, and he runs for about 6 up the middle.
- Bearss runs off the right tackle and gets the first down, plus more. 1 and 10 Ottawa on the Queen's 26.
- Looks like there's about 3:16 left in the half, but the scoreboard's tough to read from here. The Gaels could really use a stop at this point.
- Sacobie is flushed and almost sacked: he gets off an underhand toss to Bearss as he's falling down. Bearss made a good move to come back and help his QB. Loss of 2 on the play, but a sack would have been a loss of 7 or so at least.
- Sacobie tries a swing pass, but Ukwuoma gets a hand on it and knocks it down. 3 and 12 Ottawa on Queen's 28. Looks like they'll try for the field goal.
- Falvo hits the FG from about 35 yards out, making it Ottawa 17, Queen's 11. Less than three minutes left in the half.
- Gaels take the ball on their 35.
- Therrien takes it up the middle but gets only about 3 yards. 2 and 7 Queen's.
- Brannagan gets tons of time in the pocket and has Sheahan open up the middle, but the throw is behind him. Sheahan gets a hand on it but can't hang on, and Queen's will have to punt.
- 2:15 left in the half. Time out Ottawa.
- Village punts to around Ottawa's 30-yard line. Elliott gets nowhere on the return. 1 and 10 Ottawa on their own 31.
- Felix Dejardins-Potvin runs up the middle for a gain of about 2. 2 and 8 Ottawa.
- Sacobie has time in the pocket and completes a 15-yard pass up the middle to Cyril Adjeity. First down Ottawa on their own 48.
- Queen's finally gets some pressure. Ukwuoma almost brings Sacobie down. He escapes, but runs into T.J. Leeper, who records the sack.
- Sacobie completes a pass to Matthew Bolduc who makes a nice diving catch, but he's hit about 2 yards short of the first down. Ottawa will punt.
- A poor punt by Falvo loops off his foot and tumbles end over end out of bounds. Queen's ball on their own 46: they'll have less than 2 minutes to make a drive.
- Brannagan throws sideline for Valberg, who makes the catch but is called out of bounds. Doesn't matter: Gaels were offside on the play.
- A great play call by Queen's on second and 10: Ottawa's looking pass, and Gordon rumbles up the middle for the first down.
- Swing pass to Gordon gets the Gaels another first down. 1 and 10 on the Ottawa 33.
- Brannagan's pass to Blaise Morrison is incomplete and almost picked off. 2 and 10.
- Brannagan tries a short sideline pass to Valberg, who can't reel it in. 3 and 10 Queen's. Field goal attempt, or maybe a fake?
- Nope, it's a real field goal, but Village's attempt falls short and wide. That's the last play of the half. Ottawa leads 17-11.

Third quarter:
- Queen's kicks off, Ottawa returns it to around their own 30.
- A run from Bearss picks up a first down.
- Short pass gets Ottawa about 8: second and two.
- Bearss rumbles up the middle, stopped just short of the first down. Third and very short.
- Sacobie sneaks for the first down.
- 1 and 10 Ottawa on their own 54.
- Sacobie scrambles, throws a pass to Bolduc, but he can't reel it in in tight coverage from Botting.
- Sacobie throws deep, but his receiver slips and falls down.
- Ottawa punts: the snap flies over Falvo's head, but he does a great job to race back and recover. He gets a weak punt off just before it would have been blocked and it rolls out of bounds at the Queen's 46. Great field position for Queen's.
- Gordon rushes twice, but only gains a combined seven yards. Queen's will punt.
- Village gets off a good punt to the Ottawa 21, but Elliott returns it to about the Ottawa 40. It's coming back for holding, though. First and 10 Ottawa on their own 21.
- Bearss rushes up the middle, gets nowhere.
- Sacobie is rushed and almost sacked by Sterling, but he gets the pass off as he falls. Sacobie's down and hurt, receiving attention.
- Injury update here: Puffer is back in the game for the Gaels, but Carter's still out. Sacobie hobbles off. Ottawa will punt from their own 10 or so.
- Good snap this time and a good punt to Queen's 45. Allin doesn't have much room, but still picks up a 15-yard return or so. Queen's ball on the Ottawa 52. They need to get something going here.
- Gordon rushes, but he's stopped by Ottawa defensive end Ian Hazlett, a former Queen's linebacker.
- Brannagan is flushed and almost sacked, but he makes a great throw off the scramble to find Surya. Surya would have been well short of the first down, but he makes two tacklers miss and picks up about 7 yards after the catch.
- Therrien powers through a hole up the middle for about 12: another first down.
- Therrien goes off the right tackle for about 8. 2 and 2 Queen's on the Ottawa 19.
- Therrien runs, but is stopped for a loss of 2. 3 and 4 Queen's. Field goal team on: Allin to hold, might be a fake.
- No fake, but Village misses from about 30 yards: Elliott runs it out to the Ottawa 20. That's a bad one to miss.
- Sacobie is back in, so he can't have been hurt too badly.
- It's getting a bit chilly out here: the wind's picking up.
- 1 and 10 Ottawa on their own 20.
- Sacobie hits Wood-Roy on a play-action fake, picks up 15. 1 and 10 Ottawa on their 35.
- Bearss runs up the middle for 2: nice stop by Ukwuoma. It's a battle of the second-string backs now, with Mason and Giffin both out.
- Sacobie's pass is short: 3 and 8 Ottawa.
- Good snap, and Ottawa's Steve Fievet gets off a good punt. Looks like they've gone away from Falvo after some of his struggles earlier. Queen's ball on their 39.
- Brannagan is hit, but gets off a pass over the middle to Scott Stinson, who picks up the first down. 1 and 10 Queen's on their 54.
- Sheahan runs a great outside route and beats two defenders, but then drops the ball when he's wide open. He would likely have had a touchdown if he'd caught it. It's those hands that prevent Sheahan from being a great receiver, as opposed to a good one.
- Ottawa lineman Evan Prokipchuk breaks through and sacks Brannagan: he's been getting good protection most of the day, but not on that play.
- Queen's punts deep: good coverage means that Ottawa will start on their own 19.
- Swing pass from Sacobie's good for a first down: 1 and 10 on the Ottawa 35.
- Bearss runs up the middle for a gain of 1: 2 and 9.
- Pass over the middle to Adjeity: no one near him and he gets the first down. 1 and 10 Ottawa on their 54. That's where Carter's injury might hurt the Gaels: backup middle linebacker Matt Ritchie hasn't played much this year, and he's looking rusty.
- Great rush by Queen's sees Sacobie throw a pass that's almost picked by Sterling. 2 and 10.
- Sacobie throws into double coverage: incomplete. Ottawa will punt.
- Great punt by Fievet pins Queen's deep. Allin drops the ball and recovers just before he's hit. Queen's ball on their own 13. They have to get something going here.
- Therrien runs up the middle for about four or five, stopped by Hazlett. End of the third quarter.

Fourth quarter:
- Queen's is running out of time here: they've got to get the offence together. The defence is holding, but the offence isn't getting much done without the running threat posed by Giffin. Ottawa's defence is favouring the pass. Therrien and Gordon are doing okay, but not well enough to open up passing lanes for Brannagan.
- Therrien runs off the right tackle for a first down. 1 and 10 Queen's on their
own 25.
- Brannagan gets clocked by Prokipchuk but gets a deep pass off. Sheahan makes a great diving catch, but it's coming back: offensive holding by Queen's. I think it's a face mask: it's 15 yards. 1 and 25 Queen's on their own 13.
- Time out Queen's. This could be a crucial series here. They've got a long way to go, but Ottawa will have great field position if the Gaels fail to get the first down.
- Brannagan is flushed, short pass to Valberg incomplete, but flags on the play. Pass interference on Ottawa. It's now 1 and 12 on the Queen's 22.
- Queen's called offside: 1 and 17.
- Therrien runs up the middle, but gets nowhere.
- Gaels' left tackle Matt O'Donnell is hurt on the play and limping off. As anyone who's read The Blind Side knows, that's a big loss.
- Jordan Kirchberger is in to replace him. The inexperience is shown on the next play: Ottawa right end Tyler Dawe breaks through and hits Brannagan, but Ottawa's called for a face mask. First down Queen's on their own 35.
- Brannagan throws deep to Valberg, but he's in double coverage and can't pull it in. 2 and 10.
- Ottawa's defence breaks through, and Dawe and Sebastien Tetreault sack Brannagan, who drops the ball. Tetreault recovers the fumble. Ottawa ball on Queen's 34.
- That could be the decisive play if Ottawa can score here.
- Bearss runs for a couple.
- Bearss runs for about 6 more: 3rd and 1.
- Ottawa's going for the FG. Falvo hits it, making the score Ottawa 20, Queen's 11. That missed field goal by Village is looking bigger all the time.
- 10:30 left in the fourth quarter.
- Queen's offence is running out of time.
- Gordon carries up the middle but he's stopped by Hazlett for no gain.
- Interesting call on 2 and 10: Gordon rumbles up the middle again, and gets 9 this time. 3 and 1 Queen's: they're going for it.
- Brannagan sneaks for the first down. Queen's has to be careful, though: he's been stopped on a couple of those this year. Remember that he's still got a rookie left tackle protecting the blind side.
- Dawe breaks through again and should have had a sack. Brannagan breaks free and gets a deep pass off, but Blaise Morrison can't reel it in. 2 and 10.
- Brannagan over the middle for a wide-open Stinson, but he can't make the catch. Too many drops by the receivers today. Queen's will punt.
- Good punt by Village, down to the Ottawa 15. Excellent coverage means they'll start around their 18. The Gaels need to get a quick stop here: they're down by 9 with eight minutes to go.
- Different Gaels' players have looked good at times, but the whole hasn't come together. When Brannagan's on, his receivers aren't. When they're in form, his passes are off.
- Bearss rumbles outside for a first down, but a flag on the play. He's having a hell of a day as well. Looks like Ottawa doesn't miss much from Mason to him.
- Objectionable conduct is the call: Ottawa gets the first down, but they're back to their own 19. Lousy time for that kind of a penalty.
- Bearss carries off the right side, doesn't get too far. Offside against Ottawa is declined. It will be second and 9.
- Deep pass to Sinopoli, a tremendous play by Botting to knock it down. Ottawa will have to punt. Queen's should get good field position out of this.
- The punt's blocked! Great play by Queen's special teams. I couldn't tell who it was: maybe Alex Daprato? The ball rolls out of the end zone for a safety, so a huge two points for Queen's. It's now Ottawa 20, Queen's 13. They're within one TD.
- Kickoff to Queen's 30: Allin returns it to the 42.
- Therrien runs for four up the middle.
- Brannagan's pass is tipped and almost picked off, but the Ottawa DB can't make the catch. Queen's will punt.
- Village's punt is almost blocked, but he gets it to the Ottawa 20. Ottawa's Ezra Millington returns it to the 34.
- About five minutes left: Queen's still trails by a TD.
- Bearss runs up the middle for about two: nice stop by Sterling. Looks like maybe they're finally getting somewhere against the run.
- Sacobie flushed by an unblocked Ukwuoma, but hits Adjeity over the middle with a short pass. Adjeity gets the first down and more. 1 and 10 Ottawa on their own 51.
- Bearss runs up the middle for four. 2 and 6.
- 3:15 left. Bearss runs up the middle again for 4. 3 and 2 Ottawa; looks like they'll punt.
- This is turning into rather a defensive struggle. Queen's is running out of time to get something done, though: they need to get somewhere on this drive.
- 2:56 left. Fievet is in to punt. His punt's almost blocked by Stephen Laporte, who was lucky not to draw a roughing the kicker penalty. He pins Allin deep, though, and the Gaels can only get it back to about the 17. Rough play's called on Ottawa though, so 1 and 10 on the Queen's 32.
- Brannagan throws a deep sideline route to Valberg, who gets open, but can't hang on: he's stripped from behind, and the ball falls incomplete. 2 and 10.
- Another O-line injury for Queen's: right tackle Colin Boyle is out.
- Brannagan finds Sheahan wide open over the middle again, and again Sheahan drops the ball. That might have cost Queen's their season unless they do something quick here. 2:26 left.
- Village punts deep: Millington returns it to about the Ottawa 40. 1 and 10 Ottawa.
- 2:13 left: Queen's needs to make something happen.
- Bearss runs up the middle for 1: good stop by the defensive line.
- Pass over the middle to Wood-Roy, looks like he made a diving catch, but he couldn't pull it in: 3 and 9, and Ottawa will have to punt.
- Good punt: Allin makes the catch, but he gets stripped and Ottawa recovers. Ottawa ball on Queen's 29, and that might be it.
- 1:34 left, and the fans are starting to leave. A comeback now would be a miracle. Time out, Ottawa.
- Bearss up the middle for about 6. 2 and 4. Time out, Queen's.
- Bearss up the middle for about 2, but he's stopped. 1:26 left: Ottawa's going to try a 33-yard FG.
- Falvo hits the FG, and it's Ottawa 23, Queen's 13. 1:05 to go.
- Queen's takes it on their 35, and Brannagan throws up the middle for Stinson: incomplete, almost picked off.
- Brannagan throws deep for Morrison, incomplete, again almost picked. 3 and 10
- Brannagan deep for Valberg in double coverage. Incomplete. The curtains are starting to go down on this season.
- Sinopoli takes the snap and runs around for a bit to kill the clock, putting the ball back on Ottawa's 39. 2 and 45, 40 seconds left.
- Sinopoli takes a knee: 37 seconds left. 3 and 47: Ottawa runs the clock down to 16 seconds, then takes a time out. They'll punt, and that should do it: no way to score 10 points in that little time. It's another season of high expectations and great moments at times, but a failure in the playoffs for the second year in a row.
- Punt's out of bounds on the Ottawa 53: 10 seconds left. Queen's sends everyone deep this time, but pass to Valberg is incomplete: he only threw it to about the 30, so even a catch wouldn't have been enough. They should have gone end zone.
- Last play: Brannagan to Valberg, he punts it down field and Millington falls on it. That's the season, folks. A tough way for it to end for the Gaels. I'll have much more in a post-game writeup here later today.

The GBU: Queen's football versus Western

Breaking down Queen's win over Western [myself, Queen's Journal]...

The score: Queen's 46, Western 13.

How I saw it: In person.

The Good:

-Queen's defensive line: The Gaels put tremendous amounts of pressure on Western quarterback Michael Faulds all day long, sacking him four times and forcing him to throw the ball away several other times. Dee Sterling and Osie Ukwuoma were particularly effective, recording one sack each and seven solo tackles between the two of them. I particularly liked Neate's take, evoking memories of Grantland Rice: You could almost write of the Queen's D line, "In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Osie Ukwuoma, Kyle MacDonald, Dee Sterling, and Neil Puffer and they formed the crest of the Kingston cyclone."


-The turnover ratio: Queen's forced 11 Western turnovers (four interceptions, three fumble recoveries and four more turnovers on downs, I believe) during the game while refusing to concede a single one. Always good to see that kind of a turnover ratio.

-The fake field goals: The Gaels twice employed a fake field goal to brilliant effect, first picking up an early first down off a Jimmy Therrien bootleg and then getting another crucial first down in response to Western's threat in the fourth quarter. The second one was particularly impressive, given that they were already leading by nine points: many coaches would have just gone for the long field goal attempt, but Jimmy Allin faked a hold and made a tremendous run outside to get 20 yards or so, which eventually led to an important touchdown.

-Alex DaPrato: DaPrato had a tremendous game on several fronts. He was effective in coverage all day, recording five solo tackles and several breakups. More impressive still was his crucial pick in the second quarter near the Gaels' end zone, which he then returned 96 yards to set up Mike Giffin for an easy touchdown plunge on the next offensive series. His play was the difference between a narrow 9-8 lead and a dominating 17-1 margin, huge in terms of momentum.

-The linebacking corps: Thaine Carter, Chris Smith and T.J. Leeper were a dominant unit all day, holding Western running back John Leckie to just 44 yards on 12 carries and getting through to put several big hits on Faulds.


The Bad:

-Western's offence: The Mustangs put up some very impressive offensive numbers Saturday despite the loss, picking up 33 first downs and 510 total yards of offence. They were ineffective in the red zone, but some of their close-in fumbles and turnovers were just gifts. They also spent 46 minutes with the ball, which is far too much for comfort from a Queen's perspective. The Gaels did a good job of restricting their big plays and shutting them down near the end zone, but there's still room for improvement.

-Queen's running game: Western did a tremendous job of shutting down Giffin for most of the game. In fact, if not for a 29-yard touchdown run in the last couple minutes, Giffin would have been held to just 40 yards on the day. His streak of 14 straight 100-plus rushing yard games came to an end. It's not all Giffin's fault: Western was clearly keying on him most of the day and stacking linebackers inside to stop the run, and the horribly muddy field certainly didn't help. I think Giffin is a bit misrepresented as a power back: he's got some good power, but his real strength comes from his ability to read the play and make quick lateral cuts, which is obviously more difficult on a slippery field. He still was effective on shorter runs and punched in three touchdowns, but this game showed that he can be contained with the proper defence and weather, which may be a concern going forward.

The Ugly:

-The on-field vandalism: Some RMC students apparently broke into Richardson Stadium Friday night and burned their school's initials into the centre of the field. Classy move, cadets. It was an eyesore and a half, but the bigger problem was this meant even more mud around midfield, which wasn't good for the game.

-Devan Sheahan's drops: This wasn't entirely Devan, as the rest of the receivers dropped some reasonably easy catches as well, but he was the most prominent suspect. Again, he showed plenty of promise on running routes and getting open, but he didn't seem to be able to reel much of anything in, only making three catches for 19 yards.

-Queen's offensive numbers: The Gaels didn't put on an offensive clinic, finishing with just 295 net yards of offence and 18 first downs. As mentioned, Western shut down the run early, but Queen's was only able to achieve marginal success on the pass. Quarterback Dan Brannagan completed 16 of 36 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns. Those numbers could have been better if his receivers had pulled in some catches, but there were still plenty of times when he overthrew or underthrew them. On the plus side, he was composed in the pocket and didn't try to force too many throws, avoiding interceptions in the process. That's good to see, even if the completions and yards numbers weren't as high as normal.

-Western's long-snapping: Initial Western long-snapper Conor Elliott botched his first two snaps, sending them both a mile over the head of Western kicker Daryl Wheeler. The first led to a safety, the second to a forced fumble and a Queen's touchdown, giving the Gaels a 9-0 lead. Elliott was relieved of his snapping duties after the second mistake.

The Reaction:

Alex DaPrato, Queen's defensive back:

-On what it was like to get revenge on Western: "It's unbelievable. These guys have been consistently the biggest rival we've had."

-On the impact of his interception: "Everyone got pretty pumped up afterwards."

-On the amount of time the defence had to spend on the field, and if they were getting fatigued: "There were a few of us who were getting pretty tired."

Jimmy Allin, Queen's defensive back:

-On if he was concerned with the early offensive struggles: "No, our offence is just way too good to be held down forever."

-On if he was nervous or excited to get the chance on the second fake field goal attempt: "I think everyone on the team wants the ball in their hands."

Dan Brannagan, Queen's quarterback:

-On the impact of the field conditions: "Everyone would like ideal conditions all the time, but it doesn't happen. ... It's not really an issue."

-On if the passing game was harder to get going than normal due to the running game being shut down: "This is a team game, and if one aspect of the team doesn't play as well as you expect, you have to adjust."

-On if he was disappointed with the offence's play: "Our defence was awesome, our special teams were awesome. As long as we're getting the wins, it doesn't matter where we're getting the wins from, [but] as an offence, it's a little unsettling. You don't want to be loafing."

Pat Sheahan, Queen's head coach:

-On Queen's defensive play: "Unbelievable defence today. ... It was more slow 'em down, bend but don't break."

-On Queen's offence: "We didn't move the ball well on offence all day."

-On Faulds and Western's offence: "They've got a very prolific offence. ... He's a very good quarterback, and their kids caught the ball."

-On what Queen's had to do to stop Western: "This week was a huge challenge for the defence. To their credit, they were fired up. ... They fought them for every inch."
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-On the impact of DaPrato's pick: "The DaPrato interception there where it's 9-1, in my mind, that's the TSN Turning Point."

-On the importance of the turnovers: "All those turnovers we got today had a major impact. Almost every one had ramifications."

-On how the rain affected the defensive line, particularly in the second half: "We're very athletic on the defensive front, and one of the concerns about the mud out there is we lose some of our mobility."

-On the importance of the fake field goals to the team's motivation: "They were timely, they were explosion plays. They shook everyone up and they elevated the psyche."

-On why they chose to go for the second fake field goal after their offence stalled, and why Western wasn't expecting it: "We needed something. Oftentimes, when you see a fake kick in a ball game, you never see another one."

Greg Marshall, Western head coach

-On the problems they had early on: "We kind of dug ourselves a pretty big hole in the first half. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong."

-On how it was disappointing to see Michael Faulds, who had been so effective on third and short situations, stopped by Queen's defence on third down with less than a yard to go early in the fourth quarter, setting up a decisive drive for the Gaels: "That's disheartening a bit that we were on third and one with a chance to win the football game and we couldn't get it done."

On how his defence should have read the second fake field goal attempt: "There was no way they were going for a field goal. A field goal didn't give them anything." (A good point: a field goal there would have merely made it a two-TD game instead of a two-possession game, whereas the touchdown made it a three-possession game).

On the importance of the trench war: "Most games are won and lost on the offensive/defensive line."

On the impact of Dee Sterling (98) and Osie Ukwuoma (91): "98 and 91 there didn't surprise us. I knew what they could do. ... We worked on blocking Dee Sterling all week, but seeing him live is different than watching him on tape."

On how his team never gave in: "The one thing I thought our guys were doing was they were battling, they were fighting. When you put that kind of effort in and you try and you still lose, that's disappointing."

On why he went for it on third and long so much in the final half: "I don't care if we lose by 100 points. I never do. ... We're not going to win the game by punting the football away. ... All I want our guys to always think about is keeping trying to win."
[Note: I thoroughly approve of this strategy. Too many coaches are overly concerned with keeping the scores close these days rather than throwing caution to the wind in an attempt to earn the W. ESPN's Gregg Easterbrook had a great column on this a little while ago, and I think he'd love Marshall's strategy.]

On what he liked from the game: "If there was a bright spot in today's game, it was the play of our defence."
[Note: An interesting statement for a team that gave up 46 points, but most of those were off atrocious field position picked up off of turnovers. If you look at yardage and first downs, Western's defence did amazingly well against a powerful Queen's offence.]

On how there's still plenty of hope for the Mustangs: "We still have an opportunity to get first place or second place. We still have an opportunity to win the Yates Cup."

On what they'd do differently against the Gaels next time on the offensive line: "We'd better get our pass protection schemes where there's a little more simplicity, a little less complexity and focus on their big guys. ... Instead of trying to double [team] one guy, we'd double a couple guys."

On what they'd do differently in the running game: "We have to use different guys, bite the bullet and say maybe we need to run the ball better [instead of switching to a pass-first offence like they did Saturday]."

On how they'd need to give their defence better field position: "We've got to hold the ball better. We can't have our long-snapper fire the ball over our punter's head a couple of times. ... We put our defence in bad situations."

On how the real test will come if they face Queen's again in the playoffs: "They have Round One, but Round Two is worth all the marbles."

Campus Corner: Preview of Queen's-U of T football game

Today’s football game between the 3-0 Gaels and the 2-1* University of Toronto Varsity Blues, which will be live-blogged right here (kickoff at 1 p.m.), should be an interesting clash. It’s a great matchup for Toronto, as the vast majority expects them to be beaten to an unrecognizable pulp, so the weight of expectations on the Blues is reduced to a single feather.

*It still feels weird writing Varsity Blues with a number other than zero in front.

For Queen’s, the situation’s approaching Kobayashi Maru-like levels of difficulty, as there’s almost no way this game can improve their standings. Everyone expects a big win, so even a superlative performance will be shrugged off with a “aw, it was against Toronto.” A closer game would lead to intense questioning, while a loss would lead to calls for heads, perhaps displayed John the Baptist-style on a platter. Very little good can come from this game, and there’s the potential for a lot of negatives to arise.
Looking on the bright side of life, as we should always do, this still should be a relatively easy victory for the Gaels. U of T has improved drastically from last year, but so has Queen’s, and the Gaels were a far better team in the first place.

Moreover, the Gaels have depth on their side. U of T has a few stars like quarterback David Hamilton and wide receiver/running back/everything else Mark Stinson, but they’re relatively young and have a lot of players without a ton of CIS experience. If Queen’s shuts down their marquee players, it’s tough to imagine where the offence will come from.

On the other hand, Queen’s has a tremendous variety of star players in the likes of quarterback Dan Brannagan (second in the country with 1163 passing yards), running back Mike Giffin (leading CIS players with 472 rushing yards), wide receiver Scott Valberg (who has 405 receiving yards, second in the CIS), defensive tackle Dee Sterling (top of the league with five solo and one assisted sack) and halfback/punt returner Jimmy Allin (leading CIS players with 327 punt return yards, and he also has two interceptions).

What may be more significant, though, is the calibre of the rest of the team. If the offensive line decides to double-team Sterling, that opens up holes for the likes of Osie Ukwuoma and Kyle MacDonald. Valberg is nicely supported in the receiving corps by the likes of Scott Stinson and Chris Ioannides, while Giffin can be spelled off by the also-effective Marty Gordon. If Toronto decides to keep their punts away from Allin, backup returner Jimmy Therrien has picked up a measly 119 yards so far, second amongst OUA players and fifth-best in the country.

The danger for Queen’s is if their players start looking past this one to next weekend’s Homecoming game against Western. That probably would be pretty easy to do, given Toronto’s past performance and the magnitude of next week’s clash, and it could be dangerous. The Blues have shown plenty of talent so far, so if the Gaels’ minds start to wander, there’s the chance of a comeback and perhaps even an upset.

I spoke with head coach Pat Sheahan about that very possibility at the team’s media session on Thursday afternoon. His quotes on focus, and a few other matters of interest, are below.

On the Varsity Blues:
“Toronto’s a better football team than they have been in the last couple of years. ... Their quarterback looks like he’s playing the best football of his career.”

“Their depth could be an issue. ... They have their strengths. If they can get the ball to their key contributors, they’re going to have a good day.”

“They do some things on offence that make you have to conjure up some good answers.”

On if Toronto can make the playoffs this year (an unthinkable question last year): “They’re in the hunt.”

On what he told the team this week in practice: “The challenge [to them] was to stay focused.”

On how the team will be looking to build confidence with a strong performance against Toronto:

“That 10-letter word, confidence, is everything in football.”

On how one of their goals will be to reduce the number of turnovers they committed last week:
“We have to eliminate turnovers moving forward.”

On the play of the receiving corps so far:
“We have had a few drops, but on a positive note, the guys are getting open.”

On Queen’s defensive line:
“We also thought [at the start of the season] that our defensive line could be a dominant unit in the league, and they’re really stepping up and showing their mettle.”

On what happens if the Toronto offensive line double-teams Sterling:
“If you have a plan for one, you create some space for the others.”

On avoiding injuries: “We can’t afford to lose too many of our key contributors.”

On the loss ["Goodbye, Moose," myself, Queen’s Journal] of legendary coach Hal “Moose” McCarney Tuesday night:
“He’s done more living in his 81 years than people have in centuries. ... One of his laments was that he was really upset about aging. His body had failed him but his mind was brilliant. I couldn’t imagine him living hooked up to machines or incapacitated in any way. ...I talked to his son this morning and his instructions were to give Toronto what for in his [McCarney’s] name.”

On the plans to honour McCarney next week:
“We certainly are planning a tribute for the Homecoming game where we will have a lot of our supporters.”

On how the loss of McCarney came in the same week as that of former CFL star Ron Lancaster, who passed away early Thursday:
“Those are two names that are synonymous with Canadian football. They will be missed. ... It has not been a good week.”

On Lancaster:
“Anyone who’s a CFL fan knows not only the history of Ron Lancaster but the relevance. He was a football icon in this country.”

On Toronto director of football Bob Howes, a former Queen’s coach:
“To go in there and be able to impart his knowledge and philosophy on some of their guys has been extremely valuable. ... He’s done a great job there.”

On pulling receiver Rob Bagg last season before he could break the Queen’s and CIS single-game receiving record, which he later told Tyler King(for a Journal piece, shockingly enough: this was before he unleashed the full venom of his hatred for our media outlet) was because he didn’t want to see the record tainted. Here’s the original quote: “I felt that, with all due respect to Robert [Bagg], that for him to set a record against a team that is winless would have been tainted,”
And his quote Thursday:
“That’s what I said at the time because I didn’t know how many yards he had, to be honest.”
Sheahan said he’d consider leaving starters in to break records this time around, as long as it wasn’t too late in the game and the score wasn’t too lopsided.
“There’s breaking records and then there’s maintaining professional decorum and sportsmanship. ... I don’t think Rob’s losing any sleep over not getting another 15 yards.”