The charge of the Golden brigade

There are some moments in sports that transcend the usual prose used to describe such encounters, when art, life and competition collide in a surreal mix. Saturday's football game between Queen's and the Ottawa Gee-Gees was one of those moments, at least from this perspective: I've been trying to find the proper way to give it justice for two days now. In the end, there was one poem that kept flashing through my mind high up in the chilly Richardson Stadium press box while watching the Gaels' dream season reduced to ruins on the gridiron below. I present it below, with annotated commentary on its relevance to this occasion.

[The full text of The Charge of the Light Brigade, by Lord Tennyson, can be found here...]

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
"Charge for the guns!" he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Much like the famed Light Brigade, the Gaels perhaps came into this game without an idea of what they were truly up against. Yes, the coaches and players said all the right things beforehand ["Have the tables turned?", myself, Queen's Journal: the question mark I added into that title seems like a bloody good idea in retrospect, as today's game showed that the tables haven't changed too much since the 2006 loss]. Even in their guarded comments, though, the confidence came through, and they were right to be confident: they were an 8-0 team playing at home against a 4-4 team that barely stumbled into the playoffs. As I mentioned in my live blog of the game, though, "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."

That latter group of teams is scary, and it exists across all sports, but especially in football: the small sample size of the regular season and how each game can often turn on a play or two makes it so there isn't often that much difference between a perfect or near-perfect team and a team that just snuck into the playoffs. The ultimate case in point is last year's Super Bowl, where the 14-6 New York Giants knocked off the 18-0 New England Patriots, but there have been plenty of other examples. The 2006 Pittsburgh Steelers are another great case in point; they earned the sixth seed in the AFC playoffs with a 11-5 record, but went on to win Super Bowl XL in Detroit. The 12-7-1 Toronto Argonauts knocking off the 14-5 B.C. Lions in the 2004 Grey Cup also is a good example, as is 4-4 Western's run to the Yates Cup last year. There's a good reason why they made Any Given Sunday a football movie.


"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Someone had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Was there a man dismayed? There certainly didn't seem to be on the Queen's side. In my pregame interviews for the aforementioned preview piece, there was a huge atmosphere of confidence. No Giffin, no problem; Queen's hung a 38-16 pasting on Ottawa in Week Six with Giffin in a limited role, and that win was convincing enough for me to write a regrettable lede.

"Saturday’s football game was a tale of two programs. The 6-0 Gaels were off to their best start in ages and ranked second in the country, while the 3-3 Ottawa Gee-Gees were a former powerhouse in sharp decline. Queen’s helped Ottawa continue their slide from pre-season favourites to a team struggling to make the playoffs, beating the Gee-Gees 38-16."

That was probably justified at the time: Ottawa struggled for most of the season, and they never found consistency until this week. Still, I didn't think this one was going to be anywhere near as easy, especially given Ottawa's returnees from injury and Giffin's possible to probable absence. Even after the Waterloo game, all the talk was that he wasn't that badly hurt and would be back; glad I stayed skeptical there.

In any case, the Gaels weren't dismayed even without their star running back. Marty Gordon and Jimmy Therrien had proven to be capable backups before, even if they didn't pose the same kind of power running threat and force the defence to concentrate on the ground game. They were still an 8-0 team that had been lights-out dominant against most of the OUA (the Western game was a notable exception, but they still took that one by a large margin in the end). There was also every chance that the bad, inconsistent Ottawa would show up, and even a flawless Gee-Gees team would have had trouble competing with a top-notch showing from the Gaels. Maybe it looked too easy; hindsight is always 20-20, and this columnist was surely taken in to a degree as well. I didn't go to the lengths of Jan Murphy from the Whig, but I thought Queen's could win by seven even without Giffin. My confidence, and that of the team, proved sorely mistaken in the end. Like the Light Brigade, the Gaels rode into the valley of death with high hopes that didn't survive the clash of battle.

Someone had blundered. Now, we come to the nub of the problem: assigning responsibility. This is one area where my twin interests of history and sportswriting overlap: both professions are always looking for scapegoats. You can make a case for a variety of causes in this one, though. Neate theorized that a big part of it is the playoff structure and the uneven competition during the season*, but he also assigns some blame to the coaching staff and Queen's ineffectiveness on offence.

*I partly agree on this, but I don't take it to the same lengths. Yes, it's horrible having teams that are basically just a walkover on the schedule. Those games don't accomplish anything for either school, and if we can find a way to reduce them by either forcing every school that wants to play CIS football into a more substantial commitment or realigning/tiering the divisions, I'm all for it. That's going to be a tough sell at the CIS level, though, especially considering that the current model favours the participation of the many. I disagree that there's something inherently wrong with a league where a 4-4 team can win the Yates Cup, though, and I think the reason for that dissent is my sports background. As Neate wrote, his first love is baseball, which takes the sustained-excellence model further than pretty much any other sport these days due to the length of the regular season and the limited number of teams in the playoffs. I come from more of a soccer, hockey and football background, at least originally, and in all of those sports, it's more about getting hot at the right time. I live for the crazy upsets in the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League, the deep playoff runs of the likes of the 1982 and 1994 Vancouver Canucks and the Super Bowl trophy of the 2007-08 New York Giants. For me, it's the playoffs that matter, and I love to see the results no one predicted, which is why I'd probably be thrilled about Ottawa's win if I didn't go to Queen's.


Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.


Back to the scapegoats: I'm not so sure that we need to find too many in this case. Yes, there were plenty of bad plays, including a shocking number of drops by the receiving corps when they were open: if they're able to pull in a few of those, it might have been a different story. From my perspective, though, it just looked like the Gaels could never get everything to click at the same time. When Dan Brannagan was making lights-out throws, the receivers couldn't haul them in. Other times when they got open, Brannagan missed them with a pass. Yes, Dan Village missed two field goals, but he did a great job of punting all day for my money, and a more effective offence might have given him a shorter kick or scored touchdowns on its own. Yes, Giffin's absence hurt, but Gordon and Therrien filled in pretty well. They couldn't force Ottawa to play the run, and that hurt Queen's passing game, but they did their best and created a lot of yards on the ground. It's tough to do that when you haven't seen much of the ball for most of the season. Yes, losing middle linebacker Thaine Carter hurt the Gaels' defence, but as fellow linebacker T.J. Leeper pointed out afterwards, they seemed to rally around their fallen leader. The defence did an admirable job overall of containing an explosive group of Gee-Gees. At times, Queen's rode boldly and well; as the poem shows, though, no cavalry charge can succeed against massed artillery fire.

Probably eight times out of ten, the Gaels would have played well enough to win this one, but this was one of the outliers. Ottawa executed a perfect game, shutting down Queen's passing offence and pounding the ball with running back Dave Mason. Even after he went down, they stayed with the smash-mouth football and Kingston native Craig Bearss stuck it to his hometown. As mentioned above, Queen's defence did a decent job of containment that on most days would have been good enough, especially with their usual lights-out offence. This wasn't most days, though, and what should have been a glorious charge through the enemy lines turned into a nightmarish ride into the jaws of death.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air,
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

While all the world wondered. That summed up this one pretty well. All of a sudden, the mighty Golden machine ground to a halt against an underachieving bunch in garnet and grey. If you look at the previous history, though, it's easy to see the Gaels as the underdogs and Ottawa as the powerhouse army. Queen's hadn't beaten Ottawa in six years before this year's Thanksgiving game, and they'd lost to them in the semifinals two years ago. They'd also lost their first home playoff game in a long while last season against the Western Mustangs, another 4-4 team that underachieved during the regular season based on their talent but got rolling at the right time and went on to win the Yates Cup. Queen's was certainly still the favorite here, but perhaps shouldn't have been favoured by so much. Yet, they were, so all the world wondered when their season ended in tatters.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

Back from the mouth of hell. That could have described the understandably shell-shocked expressions on the players' faces after the game. They that had fought so well during the regular season had ran into far worse than they were expecting, and came up short in the end. Much like the British cavalry units involved in that disastrous charge, they found that past glories were worthless in the face of a new, more powerful foe.

All that was left of them: perhaps that's even more apt. Some will argue that it's just a game. Well, not at this level, and certainly not higher up. Anyone who's read or watched Friday Night Lights knows about the levels they go to in Texas over high school football. Here, the intensity isn't quite that bad, but there are still school reputations and potential CFL jobs on the line. Moreover, anyone who ever argues that university sports (or any reasonably high-level sport, for that matter) are just meaningless games obviously hasn't put in the time on the practice field. For months and years, these students devoted themselves to their university's football team, probably at the expense of grades and friendships, certainly at the expense of countless amounts of time. For some of the graduating ones, they'll never again don a helmet and pads. When you play any sport for a long period of time, your identity begins to get bound up in it: believe me, I know. When that all comes crashing down weeks before you thought it would, in the worst way possible, it's awfully tough for there to be much left. I've been through the soul-crushing defeats as an athlete, and it can just ruin your life for a while. The Queen's guys are all smart types, and I know there's more to their lives than football, but it's still certainly going to be an adjustment for them.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made,
Honor the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred.

When can their glory fade? The traditional view of sports would argue that it should have already dissipated. In the end, there can only be one, and nothing short of the ultimate prize is worth celebration. I take exception to that, though. Yes, this is not what they hoped for and not what they could have acheived, but this team should be honoured and celebrated on its own merits. This is surely one of the best squads ever to don Queen's uniforms, even if they didn't claim the Vanier Cup. They were the only Gaels team to ever go 8-0, and only the eighth team ever to go undefeated in the regular season. They set a school record for offence with 374 points, averaging over 47 points per game and only allowing over 16 points twice. Giffin led the OUA in rushing yards and might still pick up Ontario's Hec Creighton nomination, while Brannagan threw for the third-most yards in the country, Osie Ukwuoma led the CIS in sacks (with Dee Sterling tied for third) and Scott Valberg led the country in receiving yards. Valberg also put up the third-best season in Queen's history in terms of receiving yards (but perhaps the best ever, considering that he averaged more yards per catch than either Jock Climie or James Maclean, the two legends in front of him). This team put on a show all year, and those of us who saw them play can proudly attest to that. They also revitalized the interest in university football in Kingston, among both students and local residents.

Let's not blot out the good with the bad; these Gaels should be feted for what they did accomplish, not raked over the coals for what they didn't. As my hero Grantland Rice once penned in Alumnus Football,

"For when the One Great Scorer comes
To write against your name,
He marks-not that you won or lost-
But how you played the game."

The Light Brigade didn't accomplish their goal, and their charge turned into a horrible defeat. Yet, you can make a strong case that it's not the defeat that was noteworthy: after all, those have happened since time began. What's always stood out to me about the poem is the triumph even in defeat.

"Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air,
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wonder'd."

That's a picture of a doomed but heroic force, and I think it's applicable to this year's Gaels football team. Yes, they lost in the end, but boldly they rode and well, back from the mouth of hell, and as Queen's students, fans and chroniclers, we still should honour them; they're our noble six hundred.

The Giffin update: to knee or not to knee

According to Kingston Whig-Standard sports editor Mike Koreen, Queen's football head coach Pat Sheahan has said that star running back Mike Giffin's aforementioned knee injury is just a bad bruise. Here's the important parts:

"The Gaels (8-0) took a sigh of relief yesterday when testing showed Giffin suffered only a badly bruised right knee Saturday in the first quarter of a season-ending 38-22 win over the Waterloo Warriors.
'He would be doubtful [if the Gaels had a game] this week,' Gaels coach Pat Sheahan said. 'But with a week to recuperate, there is a reasonable chance he'll be able to play. I'm optimistic. We've got two weeks and we're just hoping there are no major setbacks. It's not season-ending or career-ending or anything like that.'
Because they finished first in the 10-team league, the Gaels will be spectators for the OUA quarter-final round this weekend. They will play host to the lowest-ranked quarter-final survivor in a semi-final on Nov. 1.
Sheahan expects to keep Giffin off the practice field for the majority of the week.
'All the ligaments are intact,' Sheahan said. 'Give him another week and he'll feel a lot better.'"

I'd be wary of taking this as a sign that all's well though. It must be a pretty bad bruise, considering how Giffin hobbled off the field last week and would be "doubtful" if the playoff game was this week. Even with the bye, Sheahan's only saying there's a "reasonable chance" he'll play. I'd interpret a reasonable chance as in the range of 40 to 80 per cent, which isn't overwhelmingly confidence-inspiring. As mentioned before, this team largely draws its strength from its offensive balance and its defence, so losing Giffin would not be the end of the world. It would be a significant blow, however; backups Marty Gordon and Jimmy Therrien are very capable, but they aren't as much of a threat as Giffin. With Giffin, teams have to pick their poison: either they crowd the box to shut down the run and let Danny Brannagan pick them apart through the air, or they play a coverage-focused defence and Giffin rumbles for 100+ yards. Gordon and Therrien are also more finesse runners than power backs, so you don't need as many guys to stop them. It often takes two to three tacklers to bring Giffin down.

Even if Giffin is back, his knee may not be at 100 per cent. We all know from Bobby Orr (and his Mastercard commercial [Sean Leahy, Going Five Hole]) just how dangerous knee damage can be. Yes, sports medicine has come a long way since then, but knee injuries are still a big concern. A knee injury to Giffin is especially concerning given that many of his biggest gains come from his ability to quickly react to a defense and make rapid cuts. If his knee isn't at full health, it's doubtful that he'll be that effective. We'll see what happens.

The GBU: Queen's football versus Waterloo

Yes, more happened in sports yesterday than just the continued resurrection of the Boston Red Sox [Marcel Mutoni, Deadspin]. For example, there's the Gaels' football win [Neate Sager, Out of Left Field] over the Waterloo Warriors [this blog], which gave them a perfect regular-season record of 8-0...

The score: Queen's 38, Waterloo 22 (CIS box score is here)

How I saw heard it: On the CFRC radio broadcast.

The Good:

-Danny Brannagan: Our Queen's Journal Athlete of the Week from last week turned in another solid performance, completing 23 of his 39 passes for 342 yards and three touchdowns without being picked off. The early injury to Mike Giffin (see below, also here) meant that the Gaels had to take to the air more frequently than normal. As Neate noted, that's a season-high in pass attempts for Brannagan. He was up to the challenge, though. The zero picks is particularly impressive given his number of attempts (although it sounded like he threw a couple of almost-interceptions early on): that's good game management from Brannagan (although it might not help him on DJ Gallo's Gunslinger Index. Brannagan continued his march into the record books, tying Tommy Denison's mark of 24 touchdown passes in one year (set in 2003, but no one else has ever come close to it: Denison's 22-TD 2002 season is the next closest mark, and the third-best until now was Brannagan's 15-TD 2007 campaign). Brannagan overtook Denison's school-record career yardage numbers (7,592 passing yards) last week, but further extended his lead to 8, 133 yards. However, he also has 931 career attempts to Denison's 823. Brannagan finishes second among CIS quarterbacks this season with 2407 passing yards (well short of Denison's record of 3,001, but behind only Western's Michael Faulds this year). He averaged an excellent 9.44 yards per attempt (16.7 yards per completion) over the season as well. Brannagan distributed the ball well Saturday: five different receivers had at least three catches, and only Scott Valberg had over four. That segues nicely into our next item...

-Scott Valberg: Valberg had yet another tremendous game, reeling in 9 catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns. His longest gain was only 22 yards, so most of those were for 15 yards or more. Valberg finishes1 the year with 1,013 receiving yards, the third-highest mark in Queen's history (behind only Jock Climie's 1,091 in 1988 and James Maclean's 1,031 in 2001: he passed Maclean's 993 from 1999 and Craig Spear's 1,000 from 2003 in this game). However, Valberg's average of 22.5 yards per catch, while not good enough to crack Queen's top-ten all-time, is miles better than the averages Climie and Maclean put up in those years: Maclean had 52 catches in 2001 for an average of 19.8 yards per catch, while Climie had 58 catches in that 1998 season, giving him a still-amazing average of 18.8 yards per catch). Valberg only caught 45 passes this year, showing the depth of Queen's receiving corps. He finishes as the CIS leader in receiving yards (almost 150 ahead of the second-place finisher, Joshua Svec of Waterloo, who only picked up 37 yards Saturday), average receiving yards per game (126.63, ten ahead of McGill's Charles-Antoine Sinotte, and receiving touchdowns (11, five ahead of the three receivers tied for second).

-Osie Ukwuoma: Ukwuoma had another outstanding game at defensive end for Queen's, finishing with two sacks, four solo tackles and one assisted tackle. He finishes as the CIS leader in sacks with 9.5: teammate Dee Sterling is tied for second with 7.5. A hell of a season for both of them.

-Marty Gordon: Just two days after I interviewed him, Gordon stepped up for the Gaels in a big way, rushing 10 times for 103 yards. His most impressive carry was a 51-yard touchdown run. That, combined with Jimmy Therrien's 74 yards on six carries, showed that the Gaels didn't miss Giffin too much in this one. It's good to see some depth at running back.

-Jimmy Therrien: In addition to his rushing prowess, Therrien had a great day on special teams, returning two kickoffs for 117 yards and seven punts for another 68 yards.

-The offence: With the 38 points they put up Saturday, Queen's offence finshed with the most points in one season in school history [Mike Grobe, Queen's Athletics] with 374 points, eclipsing the previous record of 361 set in 2003. The Gaels averaged 47 points per game.


The Bad:
-The penalties: Queen's committed nine penalties for a loss of 100 yards, while the Warriors only took seven penalties for a loss of 70 yards. It didn't make a difference here, but discipline may be more important in the playoffs.

-The slow start: Waterloo scored first, which has been extremely rare for the Gaels this season. They seemed to have trouble adapting to the loss of Giffin at first, and the first few drives ended in failure. Eventually, they solved the problem, but it took a little while to get going.


The Ugly:
-Giffin's injury: Yes, his removal was apparently precautionary, but having your star get hurt on the game's first play from scrimmage is never a good thing, and reports of him limping around and wearing ice packs don't make it sound any better. He's supposed to be checked out by team doctors this week, so we'll see how that goes. Fortunately, the Gaels have a bye this coming week, so that will give him a while to recover.

The Implications and Predictions:
Queen's locked up the OUA first seed last week, but this week saw the rest of the playoff picture get filled in. Next week will see games between #3 Laurier and #6 McMaster, as well as #4 Ottawa and #5 Guelph. That should be a pair of interesting contests. Neate has some more on the second match in his nine-story weekend breakdown at The CIS Blog. The predictions in this corner are for Laurier and Guelph victories: Laurier's been coming on strong for the last while, while Ottawa's just imploding at the moment. Queen's gets the lowest-remaining seed, so that would see a Queen's-Guelph rematch at Richardson Stadium in two weeks.

Campus Corner: Football moves to 8-0

It wasn't in spectacular style, but the Gaels got it done Saturday afternoon, winning 38-22 over the Waterloo Warriors to complete their perfect regular season. Questions remain, though, especially around the absence of star running back Mike Giffin, who was removed from the game after the first play. According to the CFRC radio broadcast, Queen's Athletics has announced that Giffin's removal was merely precautionary and not a sign of a serious injury: he did seem to be in some pretty severe discomfort though from the radio call, and he was being worked on by the training staff and had an ice pack on. It sounds like he'll be back for the playoff match in two weeks, but you can bet what most of the talk in those weeks is going to centre around.

As before, Queen's proved that they can succeed without Giffin. It's a very pass-happy offence without him in the backfield, though, and it may be more of a struggle to pull that off against a better team than the 2-6 Warriors. A large part of the Gaels' success this year has come from the balance they've struck between the run and the pass. As I've mentioned before, Marty Gordon and Jimmy Therrien are quite capable as replacements, but they aren't Giffin and teams aren't going to focus on defending the run as much if he's not the featured back. I'm sure there are masses of Gaels fans hoping the Giffinator is back at 100 per cent form in two weeks.

The box score isn't posted yet, so I can't make too many detailed observations, but from the radio broadcast, it certainly sounded like Devan Sheahan was continuing his recent tradition of strong play. As I remarked after the Toronto game, Sheahan's always shown a tremendous amount of promise with his route-running abilities and solid speed. Recently, he's started making more catches, which is terrific to see. This year's receiving corps isn't perhaps as star-studded as the days of Brad Smith and Rob Bagg (although Scott Valberg isn't far behind those two), but it has more depth than ever thanks to guys like Sheahan and Blaise Morrison. Almost every receiver's had a 100-yard game, and many of them have reached that lofty plateau on more than one occasion. That makes it tough for defences to focus on who to cover, and it opens up plenty of passing opportunities for Brannagan, which will be even more important if the run game isn't going.

This game was one of Queen's slower starts this year, though, which is at least partly due to Giffin's absence. A couple of early turnovers might have spelled trouble against a better team. The Gaels eventually adjusted and figured out how to move the ball without Giffin's running, but it took a while. They'll need to get off to a better start when they come up against stronger teams: give Western or Laurier that kind of foothold, and they'll take full advantage.

In a strange way, this might actually be good for Queen's to face some adversity in the final game. Most of their games so far this year haven't been too close, with the notable exception of the Western game until midway through the third quarter (and that one turned into a 46-13 blowout). No one expected Waterloo to put up a fight, and they did, at least for the first part of the game. That should give the Gaels a bit of a reality check heading into the playoffs, and perhaps keep them hungry and grounded. They're not invincible: perhaps this game will remind them of that.

I'll have a GBU post later once the stats are put up.

A disturbance in the force...

Well, the Gaels are winning their final regular-season game at Waterloo, but it may prove to be a Pyrrhic victory. According to CFRC's excellent radio broadcast of the game, star running back Mike Giffin went down with what appears to be a right leg injury on the opening play of the contest. As Ben Kenobi might say, "I felt a disturbance in the force, as if thousands of Gaels' fans from coast to coast cried out in pain." No word yet on how serious this is, but Giffin hasn't returned to the field. That could be precautionary, as there's no point in risking further injury in a meaningless game like this, but it also could mean that this is serious. Fortunately for Queen's, the bye next week means that Giffin will have two full weeks to recover. We'll see if that is enough. Backups Marty Gordon and Jimmy Therrien are certainly capable, but they don't pose the same magnitude of running threat that forces defences to stack the box against Queen's, opening passing lanes for quarterback Dan Brannagan and his talented receiving corps. As this game's shown so far, the Gaels can get it done without Giffin, but they're nowhere near as impressive, and that could spell trouble in the playoffs. This is a talented team and they're bigger than just Giffin, as they've shown by winning games against Western and Ottawa where he was held under 100 yards, but his loss would still be huge. We'll see if he's back in two weeks. I'll post updates if I get more information.

Update: 3:41 p.m. CFRC has just announced that Giffin's continued absence is apparently only a precautionary measure: as they mention though, the ice pack and limping suggest something more. Sounds like he'll be back in two weeks, though.

Campus Corner: A big win for Queen's

Today's 38-16 win over Ottawa [Mike Grobe,gogaelsgo.com] was very impressive (go here for Neate's excellent live-blog of the action). The score doesn't really reflect how absolutely dominant the Gaels were: they led 31-0 at halftime, and didn't seem to be trying particularly hard to pad their stats in the second half. That's a great result against an talented Ottawa team. Sure, the Gee-Gees have struggled on the gridiron this year (today's loss drops them to 3-4), but their talent is immense. All five entrants in our CIS Blog prediction pool had Ottawa finishing first in Ontario before the season began, and three out of the four sets of playoff predictions had them winning the Yates Cup as well. Yes, the Gee-Gees haven't lived up to their potential, but this was still a squad that could have posed a lot of problems for Queen's (as partially demonstrated by their third-quarter resurgence). It's not just the win that's important: the way it happened, with the game all-but-decided shortly after the opening kickoff, speaks volumes for the quality of this Gaels' side.

Another impressive element of this match was how the Gaels won without a huge contribution from Mike Giffin. Giffin ran for a respectable-but-not-dominant 72 yards on 21 carries [OUA box score], but the real offence came through the air. Quarterback Dan Brannagan completed 21 of his 33 passes for 341 yards and four touchdowns, and moved past Tom Dennison for the most passing yards in school history in the process. Brannagan was picked twice as well, but according to Neate, it looks like one of those interceptions may have come from Giffin bobbling a pass. He spread the ball around as well, as both Scott Valberg and Devan Sheahan finished with over 100 yards receiving (131 and 114 yards on six and five catches respectively). It was great to see Sheahan make some big plays: as I've mentioned earlier this year, he's been doing everything right but reeling the ball in, so it's good to see him put up the numbers. All in all, a very impressive day for the passing offence.

The defence was also tremendous, holding Ottawa to 273 total yards on the day (and just 71 in the first half). A lot of the media coverage of Queen's so far has focused on the offence, which can be easy to do: the stats are more readily available, easier to interpret and easier to explain to an audience. Still, in my mind at least, it's really the defence that's been the biggest factor to this point. Queen's has a tremendous offence, but the field position they gain from defensive stops and special-teams returns has given the Gaels a sizeable edge when they have the ball, and that's partly the cause of the increased offensive production we've seen this year.

Another nice thing to see was the quick start. Last year, Queen's would often play poorly in the first couple of quarters and win games with come-from-behind, last-minute drives. This year, they have been scoring early and often, which bodes well for the playoffs. Points are just as valuable whenever you score them, but there's a decided momentum advantage from a big halftime lead: you force the opponent into gambling for big plays, which is a high-risk, high-reward strategy.

One remaining concern is the third quarter, which was pretty similar to what happened against Western earlier this year. In both cases, Queen's went into halftime with a huge lead, but came out flat after the break and the opponent took advantage. This was less frightening than the Western game, given the larger lead Queen's had in the first place, but it might still be a problem that could hurt the Gaels down the road. Thus far, they've done a great job of coming out of the gate with focus and refusing to underestimate or overestimate their opponent. They need to work on maintaining that momentum and focus after halftime, though, and that's something that could be crucial in the playoffs. Strange things happen in football, particularly at the CIS level, and these leads may not be safe in the future if the Gaels choose to take the third quarter off.

It's tough to tell what to take from this one. Yes, it's a very impressive win over a highly-touted Gee-Gees team, and it's probably the most competitive game the Gaels have played other than the match against Western (which was a bit wider in score, but was much closer than this one in reality). Still, Ottawa's in a bit of a tailspin: they've now lost three in a row, and may not even crack the playoffs. If they get in, there will be plenty of OUA teams that won't want to run against them, but a win over them in Week Seven doesn't mean as much as it would have in Week One, given their recent performance.

The Gaels will really have to keep that focus and intensity over the next couple of weeks. They're still ranked second in the country, which could go to their heads. Moreover, they have what's almost a walkover game against Waterloo next week and then a first-round playoff bye. They'll be huge favorites in the second round, but they'll have to be careful: I've got a sneaking suspicion that teams like Laurier and McMaster are better than the way they played against Queen's, and the "Nobody believes in us" factor (trademark of Bill Simmons) may give them an extra edge. Optimism and credit are both deserved from the Gaels' performance thus far, but there's still a long way to go before Queen's can claim the Yates Cup, and no one should even consider the Vanier until that milestone is reached.

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."
.
-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."

The best laid plans of mice and bloggers...

Apologies for the lack of a live blog: I wound up outside the main press box in the stands due to a space shortage, and the pouring rain kept me from even taking out the computer until now. Fortunately, Neate is watching from home and has plenty of live-blogging coverage: check it out at Out of Left Field. Halftime score here is Queen's 23, Western 0. The Gaels are winning this one in the trenches: the offensive line is giving quarterback Dan Brannagan tons of time and opening holes for running back Mike Giffin, while the defensive line and linebackers have been bringing tons of pressure on Western quarterback Michael Faulds and his running backs all day, resulting in a couple of sacks, a number of thrown away balls and little offensive yardage on the ground. The other significant thing thus far has been the play of Western long-snapper Conor Elliot: his first two snaps flew way over the head of punter Daryl Wheeler, resulting in a safety and fumble, which was recovered and shortly led to a touchdown. If you take those nine points off the board, this one's far closer, and maybe the momentum changes completely. Anyways, the rain's coming back, so it's sayonara from Kingston, but I'll check in after the game with a GBU breakdown.

Vent Day, Part II: On Giffin and CIS stats

“Once blood is shed in a national quarrel, reason and right are swept aside by the rage of angry men."
- David Lloyd George

"It's true, I'm a Rageaholic.....I just can't live without Rageahol!" - Homer Simpson

[Satirical letter: please don't think this is real!]

Dear Mike Giffin,

I'm sorry to inform you that the single-game rushing record [myself, "The GBU: Queen's football versus Toronto", Sporting Madness] you set Saturday [myself, "Football: U of T - Queen's live blog", Sporting Madness] has been retroactively removed by the CIS bean-counting machine.

In our infinite wisdom, we've decided that the initial game stats were wrong, and you actually only earned 212 net yards rushing, instead of 215.
Now, we could have informed you earlier, maybe even during the game so that head coach Pat Sheahan could have left you in for another play or two to clinch the record. After all, he did say [myself, "Campus Corner: Preview of Queen's - U of T football game", Sporting Madness] that the reason he pulled Rob Bagg last year before he could break the record was because he didn't know how many yards Bagg had.

We also could have informed the media of the accurate stats right after the game, but we decided it would be more fun to let such outlets as The Canadian Press [via The Globe and Mail], the Kingston Whig-Standard and Out of Left Field let you think that you'd actually broken the record and keep the issue muddy until Monday night, over 48 hours after the game and long after everyone's deadlines.

Better luck next time,

[signed] The Evil CIS Stats Machine [/signed]

[/satirical letter]

Yes, it's three yards, and the above may be overstating the case a little: this is a vent, after all. The problem is that those three yards make the difference between a record-breaking effort and a good game. I don't claim to know better than the official statisticians, and the total of 212 is probably right. I have no problem writing articles with the 212 total either, as I don't have any vested interest in Giffin breaking a record on not.

The issue is the delay until the stats were clarified. In the NFL or the NCAA, the current stats are available instantly, so coaches, reporters and everyone else knows exactly how far someone has to go for a record. Not so much at the CIS level, which is understandable given the resources available. That's fine, and I get that: I'm not expecting professional quality.

The problem is when there are conflicting sources giving different statistical information, which happens far too often at the CIS level in a variety of sports. Those of us who cover the games are usually working on tight deadlines: I filed my Out of Left Field report the instant the game ended, even though I didn't have the full statistics yet. The CP story was filed later that day, the Whig game report Monday and my story came out Tuesday (but the paper was already at the presses when I found out the stat line had changed, so I couldn't alter it). That's three reliable sources that all had the wrong information due to a delay in clarification, and there are now massive omelettes all over all of our faces.

The other problem is that this wasn't avoidable. Each of our media outlets had to go with the best information we had at the time. I made the call that the 215 yards was better supported based on the sources I had it from, and I don't regret that: as shown above, I was in decent company. At the time we went to press, the CIS box score was the sole site giving 212: all the press releases, news articles and game recaps I saw had 215, and I figured it was safer to go with that than what could have been just a missed keystroke in the box score (and what my sources told me until last night was just an error on the CIS end). Also, I'd rather accidentally give a record than take one away, so 215 made more sense from that point of view as well.

Writing the article without Giffin's stats was unthinkable. Writing "Giffin had a good game" without supporting data is not only incredibly vague and useless, but also blatant editorializing. He was the key offensive player of that game, and he certainly deserved to be mentioned. It's awfully fraking* difficult to write about a running back in any meaningful way without including his stats.

*For those of you who don't watch Battlestar Galactica, check out this great AP article by Chris Talbott [via Yahoo! News] on the genesis and the genius of the word "frak" and its related forms.

In my mind, immediately available and accurate stats are the biggest barrier to expanded CIS media coverage. Sportswriting (and broadcasting) has to include a quantitative element as well as a qualitative one these days, and football stats in particular are incredibly important: look at how the popularity of fantasy football has stimulated interest in the NFL.

I've written about the problems with the league's stats before, as have plenty of others with more credibility, including Greg Layson of the Guelph Mercury, Rob Pettapiece of The CIS Blog and James Mirtle of The Globe and Mail.

CIS sports have a lot going for them, as I wrote about here in a news story and here in a column. The problem is that they're underexposed. In order to gain exposure, they need to be more professional with stats, interviews, highlight packages and the rest. I doubt you'd see stats screwups like the ones mentioned above in the NCAA, and I think that's part of the reason it gets more coverage: there's a professional feel, and you know that your stats are going to be reliable.

I'm not trying to bash the SIDs or the athletic departments here: most of them are underpaid and overworked, and many of them have managed to improve the professionalism around CIS sports considerably. The Toronto host crew last week did a terrific job, and I don't blame them for possibly forgetting to include a three-yard loss in Giffin's stats, if that's how it happened.

What should have happened, though, was an instant clarification to all involved SIDs as soon as the stats were changed. The SIDs could have then passed that on to the reporters, and at worst, we maybe get one or two articles that have to be corrected, instead of every article about the game. Instead, we wound up with a muddled situation where no one knew what was really going on until late Monday night, over 48 hours after the game. That needs to improve. I'm fine with making a change in the interests of accuracy, but CIS needs to make sure that everyone involved knows of the change, everyone knows it was intentional and knows the reasoning for it and everyone gets the information as soon as possible. I don't think that happened in this case.

(Note: Vent Day, Part III is postponed until tomorrow later today... the first two took longer than I thought to write. Feel free to vent about my poor scheduling in the comments!)

The GBU: Queen's football vs. Toronto

Breaking down Queen’s win over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues Saturday [myself, Out of Left Field] (which you may have missed while pondering UBC’s stunning loss to Regina [Neate Sager, Out of Left Field] ... UBC now stands for Unbelievably Bad Clock management in my mind)...

The score: Queen’s 58, U of T 14

How I saw it: In person (live blog can be found here): yes, I went to Toronto just to see this one

The Good:

- Running back and all-around superstar Mike “The Giffinator” Giffin:
Giffin ran for a career-high 215 yards 212 yards [see this post for explanation] on 16 carries despite being pulled after the third quarter. He got 4 or so yards on almost every run, which is respectable, and pulled away for some huge ones as well. He also picked up two rushing touchdowns and his 15th-straight game of 100-plus rushing yards. 189 of his rushing yards came in the first half, as he only got three carries in the third quarter. Giffin leads all CIS players with 687 rushing yards. Bishop’s star Jamall Leeis in second with 584 yards, but he has played one less game, so he could still catch up.

-Quarterback Dan Brannagan: It wasn’t an exceptional day for Brannagan, but a good one nonetheless. He completed 13 of 22 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns, despite being picked off twice. Most impressive, though, were his efforts of the scramble: there were several times where either Toronto linemen broke through and forced him to take off and run or the Blues’ defensive coverage meant he had no receivers to throw to, and he looked more mobile than I’ve ever seen him be, picking up 29 yards and two rushing touchdowns on five carries. Brannagan leads all CIS quarterbacks with 1404 passing yards.

-Wide receiver Blaise Morrison: It seems like a different receiver’s been stepping up into the spotlight every week for the Gaels, and Satuday was no exception. Morrison led the team with 6 catches for 121 yards, some of them extremely difficult. There was one ball in particular where he made an impressive catch on a dive right at the sideline. Morrison said afterwards that there was more space for him because the defence was focusing on shutting down Scott Valberg, which is probably the case after Valberg’s 192-yard game last week. Four different receivers (Morrison, Valberg Scott Stinson and Chris Ioannides) have had games with at least 100 receiving yards, which is a good sign. That will make it difficult for defences to shut the passing attack down entirely: if they focus on one guy, someone else will step up.

-Defensive tackle Dee Sterling: Despite Toronto’s line being focused on containing him after he racked up a Queen’s-record five solo sacks last week, Sterling added another sack and brought pressure on Toronto quarterbacks David Hamilton and Mark Stinson all day. He now leads all CIS players with six solo sacks and one assisted sack. The attention he drew also opened holes for fellow line members like Neil Puffer and Osie Ukwuoma, who also threatened all day.

-Defensive back David Rooney: Rooney doesn’t play a lot normally, but he had a great day Saturday, leading the team with seven solo tackles and adding a pass breakup and a sack. Good to see him step up.

-Backup quarterback Jansen Shrubb: Shrubb came into the game late and did very well, completing six of eight passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. It’s always a good thing when your backups look capable: he’s no Brannagan, but he can run this offence quite well.

The Bad:

-Mark Stinson: The Blues’ standout did everything for them, spending time at (at least) fullback, wide receiver, quarterback and punter. He was one of their most effective players all day, running nine times for 37 yards and going one-for-three through the air for a 12-yard pickup. He also should have had credit for a long touchdown pass (see next entry).

-The Blues’ trick plays: Toronto ran several trick plays quite effectively. The most impressive was an early halfback pass, where Hamilton handed the ball to Stinson, who did a good job of faking an outside run. Queen’s secondary was completely fooled and they stepped up, leaving Drew Meerveld wide open for a bomb pass. Meerveld caught Stinson’s pass easily and strolled into the end zone, but the play came back on a holding call (quite unnecessary, as Stinson would have had plenty of time without it). The Gaels’ defence might need to work on trying to pick up these kinds of plays better.

The Ugly:

-Devan Sheahan’s drops: First of all, any nepotism charges (Sheahan is the son of Queen’s head coach Pat Sheahan) are completely unfounded. Devan is a talented receiver, and he’s showcased a lot of speed and an ability to get open that makes him deserving of a continued starting role. Still, his continued drops are getting ridiculous. He wound up with three catches for 31 yards, quite respectable, but he should have had five or six. He created plenty of space against the Blues’ secondary, but just didn’t seem to be able to reel the ball in consistently even when he was completely open, which has unfortunately been a feature of his play this year. Perhaps he’s thinking too much about what to do with the ball and not focusing enough on merely making the catch. He’s got a lot of potential and he could be very good, but he just needs to get more consistent: otherwise, he’ll get less and less chances to make plays if he can’t be relied upon.

-The pronunciations: Toronto’s game-day announcer is quite good overall, and his calls are usually quite accurate and very clear. However, there were a couple of instances where he absolutely butchered some Queen’s players’ names, including Osie Ukwuoma (who he called O-see Osicwoma). It’s a tough job to do and I’d probably be worse, but that wasn’t even close to even a phonetic attempt.

The Reactions:

Wide receiver Blaise Morrison:

Stat line: Six catches for a game-high 121 yards, longest catch for 37 yards

On maintaining focus for this game, despite Western coming up next week:
“The coaches prepared us really well this week, making sure all our focus was on this week’s game.”

On slow starts: “That’s just the way it’s been going this season.”

On Valberg creating room for the rest of the receivers: “After the game Scott Valberg had last week, obviously they’re going to pay a bit more attention to him, so it opens up all the other guys.”

On Western: “We’ve got a week to prepare now, and we’re really excited about this game.”

Defensive lineman Neil Puffer:

Stat line: One sack, two solo tackles

On the expectations placed on the team: “There was a fair bit of pressure on us. Everyone expected us to win, everyone expected us to be perfect.”

On improvement: “We`re not terribly excited about our game today because it didn`t meet our standards for this sort of game. ... We`ve just got to tighten up the loose ends.”

On key things to work on: “We had a couple fumbles, and the trick plays that they were running on us, they got a lot of mileage from. We need to have our heads wrapped around those and know when they`re coming. That`s pretty much it, but we just need to stick to fundamental football.”

On if Dee Sterling`s performance last week opened holes for him:
“He certainly attracted a lot of attention, and if guys are double- and triple-teaming him, it frees me up for a one on one.”

On Western: “It couldn’t get much better than this, a rematch of how things ended last year in the playoffs, and on Homecoming on national TV, and in this case, it’s a battle of the undefeated. ... It’s going to be a good football game, and I’m really excited for it.”

On what they’ll have to do differently from last year’s playoff loss: “We were a step behind all last year’s game. ... They just beat us. They came out, outschemed us, out played us, played with more heart. We’re just going to have to be perfect.”

Halfback/kick returner Jimmy Allin:

Stat line: One solo tackle, one breakup, five punt returns for 90 yards and two kick returns for 27 yards.

On how far U of T has come: “U of T’s obviously a much-improved team. They’ve got some great athletes.”

On what to improve: “Everything. We need to work on everything, we need to get better. We’ve got a big game coming up this week, and we’ll need to play well if we want to win.”

On facing Western: “We need to focus on what we do best. We’re all confident, we’ll all prepare like we always do, and hopefully it comes out for us.”

On if he thinks there will be a good crowd: “We hope so. Homecoming, we always look forward to it because the stadium’s always packed and we’ll hopefully put on a good show.”

On if he thinks his reputation as a returner is causing teams to kick away from him the way Toronto did most of the day: “I hope not. You always like to get a chance, but it’s like last game, they kicked to Jimmy (Therrien) a lot and he did an amazing job, so you can’t really take away our returns. We have two good returners, and guys are doing a great job of blocking for them.”

Quarterback Dan Brannagan:

Stat line: 13 for 22 for 241 yards, three passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns, two interceptions.

On if the team met their goals against U of T: “I think overall there’s a lot of room for improvement, but the ultimate goal, the goal every week is to get a win, and we did that.”

On what’s causing the slow starts: “I’m not too sure. I guess it takes us a while to get going, but it’s something we can work on in the second half of the season.”

On if Giffin’s stellar performance on the ground opened up passing lanes in the second half:
“Definitely. All year long, I think that’s been the case. It definitely helps to have him in the backfield, and teams have to respect that and bring guys up. When you have to gang-tackle a big running back like that, it means less guys in double coverage.”

On his own scrambling performance: “Going into the game, I wouldn’t have predicted that, but it just gets to the point where you have to take what the defence is giving you if they’re going to drop a lot of guys into coverage. I think it’s something they weren’t expecting, so I think I kind of caught them off guard a little.”

On what to improve: “It’s just a matter of execution. We have great players and great plays, it’s just a matter of going out there and being confident, making sure that we’re going out there and fully executing every play.”

On if there’s a desire for revenge against Western after last year’s playoff loss: “It’s not really on my mind. You’re always trying to look forward and not look backwards. It’s a different team and a new season.”

Head coach Pat Sheahan:

On the game overall: “I’m pleased with the win, but I think that we’re still not a hundred per cent polished. We still have a few areas that we can improve on, and my hope is with each passing week, we’re going to gain a measure of consistency and improve our execution. ... Maybe I’m becoming too hard to please, I don’t know. It was a good win, and we want to be better, that’s all.”

On the slow starts: “I think standard practice in football is to do some things early in the game. You unveil your plan, you set your formation, see how they play you. You’d like things to go a little better than perhaps they did today in the early going. ... Being a slow-starting team doesn’t worry me, as we’re a big finishing team. I think we’ve outscored our opponents in the second half of most games, if not all of them.”

On Morrison: “I thought the contribution of Blaise Morrison today was very good. Each week, we kind of have a new hero stepping up. ... The new face that seemed to rise to the occasion was Blaise Morrison.”

On Mike Giffin breaking his career-high mark of 214 rushing yards (Giffin finished with 215 212 [see this post for explanation] yards, and was pulled after the third quarter): “For the number of carries he got, I thought his numbers were good today. ... At times, they shut him up pretty good. I’m afraid with him today, it was kind of feast or famine: he either made a great play or they did a pretty good job on him. With a great runner, when they come in with the plan that they’re going to stack up on the running game, sometimes it works. He just kept at it, he was very determined, he was fired up about having a big game today and he did.”

On other strong performances: “ Valberg was solid today, I thought he made a couple of great big plays. I thought Danny (Brannagan) was pretty good.”

On the injuries to linebacker T.J. Leeper and Kyle MacDonald: “I don’t think it’s anything serious. MacDonald, I think he went down just to give the defence a breather. T.J. Leeper, it’s an ongoing thing, but he could have come back and played today if he had to.”

On Western next week: “There’s a lot of preparation work that needs to be done. I think we have to look at them a whole lot closer. We didn’t look at them this week, we didn’t talk about them, we didn’t even mention them, which was a challenge in itself for our team, knowing that this one was looming large. Anyway, this is a game to get excited about, and it should be a good one.”

What’s on tap:
Next week should be the regular-season game of the year. It’s Queen’s versus Western, a heated rivalry even when the teams aren’t competitive. Throw in that both teams are 4-0 and ranked in the Top 5, that Queen’s lost to Western last year in the playoffs and that the game’s being televised nationally on The Score’s University Rush, and this gets even bigger. Oh, and the little ritual known as Queen’s Homecoming is involved too. Should be a hell of a match, and I’ll be there and hopefully live-blogging away! Look for a full preview of the game here Friday and in Friday’s Journal as well.

Football: U of T - Queen's live blog

Well, I'm settled in in the press box at U of T and have Internet access, so the live blog should be a go. The trip in on the Dance Pak's fan bus was pretty good, if sparsely attended: there were only about 10 people not affiliated with the dance team. A good amount of Gaels' supporters in the crowd, though, as there's a lot of Toronto alumni who have made it out here. About 15 minutes until kickoff.

T-10: A nice tribute and moment of silence for former Queen's coach Hal McCarney, who passed away Tuesday ["Goodbye, Moose", myself, Queen's Journal]. Interestingly, the only people in the stadium I heard talking during it were the CFRC types who were just starting their broadcast: a bit disappointing from a Queen's perspective.

T-5: One of the Shriners carries out the pre-game kickoff, and does much better than the majority of the types who try to do so at Queen's. Note for those who complain about music at Gaels' games: it's here too. We just had the intro of "Welcome to the Jungle" clashing with one of the Queen's Bands Scottish pieces.

First quarter:

- Toronto is kicking off. The kickoff is booted to the Gaels' 15, where Jimmy Allin makes the catch and returns it 14 yards. Queen's will start on their own 29.

- Queen's quarterback Dan Brannagan starts with a 5-yard pass attempt to Scott Valberg, who can't make the catch.

- On second down, Brannagan throws a bomb down the middle for Blaise Morrison, who's in single coverage, but the ball is too far. Dan Village comes into punt.

- Village hits it 41 yards, but the Blues bring it back seven. First down Toronto on their 49.

- Two Queen's linemen break through and hurry QB David Hamilton. He gets the handoff off and Toronto picks up five yards.

- Toronto runs a trick play, handing to running back/receiver Mark Stinson, an ex-quarterback, who fires a deep bomb to a wide open Drew Meerveld. Meerveld runs in for the TD, but the play's called back due to a penalty.

- Good pressure from Queen's forces an incomplete pass. Stinson punts for Toronto, and his punt sails out at Queen's 34.

- Mike Giffin rumbles up the middle on his first carry of the game and beats everyone for a 74-yard run. He's brought down by a last-ditch tackle at the 2.

- The Gaels run, but get nowhere. Second and goal.

- Giffin tries an off-tackle run to the outside, breaks one tackle but is dragged down at the 1 by two defenders. Third and goal.

- Brannagan sneaks through the middle for the TD. I like that call. Some conservative coaches would have hit the FG after being stopped twice on short runs, but Pat Sheahan elects to go for the seven points, and it pays off in a big way. It wasn't that much of a risk, as they were pretty darn close to the goal line in the first place, but still, a good move. Village hits the EP to make it 7-0 Queen's.

- Village kicks off, and the Blues let the ball bounce. Peter Boshyk swoops in and grabs it for Queen's, giving them a first down on Toronto's 27. Horrible play on special teams by the Blues: that could come back to haunt them.

- Brannagan fumbles the snap, and is sacked for a 16-yard loss. 2nd and 26 from the Toronto 43.

- Brannagan steps up to throw and is hit. The ball goes into the turf. Third down, and Queen's will punt. They wasted that chance.

- Good punt from Village to Toronto's 2-yard line, where it's caught by Matthew Morris. He gets next to nowhere on the return, though. First and 10 Toronto on their own five.

- Toronto picks up two on a run up the gut. 2 and 8.

- Queen's linebacker T.J. Leeper is hurt and coming off.

- Stinson runs up the middle for a short gain. He's stopped by last week's OUA male athlete of the week, Queen's defensive tackle Dee Sterling. Toronto punts to the 55, where Allin catches it. He tries to go back and around, but is caught for a loss. 1 and 10 Queen's on their own 50, but a flag on the play.

- The call is against Queen's, and the Gaels are starting on their own 40. Check that: an objectional conduct was tacked on, so it's 1 and 10 on the 35.

- Giffin runs up the middle for about six. 2 and 4.

- Toronto lineman Lincoln Bryan breaks through and flushes Brannagan, but he gets outside and runs for a first down. Nice job by Brannagan: he went straight into the contact there to pick up the first.

- Brannagan passes to Morrison for another first down, and then scrambles for nine. 2 and 1 Queen's on Toronto's 35.

- Giffin goes straight up the gut, finds a hole, cuts to the outside and runs down the sideline. He's hit at the five and starts to fall, but manages to stretch out and get the TD. Village hits the EP, making it Gaels 14, Blues 0.

- 5:37 left in the first. Toronto was penalized on the conversion, so Village is kicking from the 45.

- Village launches a sideline punt to the Blues 35, which is caught by Earl Johnson. He falls backwards out of bounds. 1 and 10 Toronto on their own 34.

- Short pass for 12. 1 and 10 U of T on their 47.

- Hamilton's flushed from the pocket and throws it away, but he's almost picked by Josh Sultana, starting at corner for the injured Jay Oduwole.

- Hamilton finds Cory Kennedy wide open over the middle on a ten-yard pass, and Kennedy makes some good moves to pick up yards after the catch. He's forced out at Queen's 35. 1 and 10 Blues, and they call a time out.

- Stinson runs up the middle, breaks one tackle, but is hit going outside. He picks up three. Flags on the play, but they're picked up. 2 and 7.

- Stinson takes the snap and throws to Kennedy for 12 and a first down. The Blues keep switching Stinson and Hamilton, and it seems to be confusing Queen's.

- Stinson fakes a handoff and runs up the middle for 7. 2 and 3 Toronto on Queen's 13. Stinson's really doing everything now.

- Stinson picks up four on a run. First and goal Blues from the nine.

- Stinson fakes a pass, scrambles outside and might have had a TD, but Alex Daprato makes a great play to stop him at the four. Second and goal Blues. Time out, Queen's.

- Stinson fakes a pass again and Queen's defence bites. He switches directions and runs up the middle for a TD. Andrew Lomasney hits the EP, even though he's almost blocked by Sultana, and it's now Queen's 14, Toronto 7 with 2:03 left in the first quarter. If that first Toronto touchdown hadn't been called back, we could be tied right now.

- Kickoff is caught by Allin inside the five, and he returns it to the Gaels' 13. First and 10 Queen's.

- Giffin runs to the outside and gains four. 2 and 6.

- Brannagan is flushed, tries to scramble up the middle, but gets nowhere. 3 and 6. Will Queen's punt or take the safety?

- They elect to punt. Village makes a nice move: his kick would have been blocked, so he fakes it, steps outside and gets the punt away. Good downfield coverage means the Blues' returner is stopped close to where the ball landed, on the Queen's 47.

- Hamilton is back and throwing, but his pass is knocked down and almost picked by defensive end Osie Ukwuoma.

- Defensive lineman Neil Puffer breaks through and sacks Hamilton for a loss of about six. A bit surprising Toronto went back to Hamilton after Stinson's success on the last drive. End of the first quarter.

Second quarter:

- Stinson is in to punt, and he boots it out of bounds at Queen's 38. Looks like they might be trying to avoid Allin and the Gaels' return game.

- Sideline pass to Morrison, who makes a great catch. He's knocked out at the Blues' 48 for a gain of 24.

- Giffin up the gut, gains about four yards. Second and 6 from Toronto's 45.

- Brannagan is hurried and his pass over the middle is nowhere close to anyone. Third down, and Queen's will punt.

- Scratch that, they tried a really long field goal. Village sends it low and wide. It's caught in the end zone and Toronto gets the ball on their 20. No single on the play.

- Toronto runs for a gain of five. Second and 5.

- Hamilton is still in there, and he's no Stinson when it comes to scrambling. He's flushed and hit by Carter for a loss of two.

- Sorry, some technical difficulties conked me out for a minute. Toronto punted, and Queen's ran a couple plays. 1 and 10 on the Toronto 35.

- A nice sideline pass to Morrison for another first down. 1 and 10 on Toronto's 18.

- Incomplete pass Brannagan. 2 and 10.

- Brannagan drops back to pass, no one's open and he's flushed, but he scrambles to the sidelines and dives in for a TD with an 18-yard run. Apparently, Stinson's not the only QB who can run the ball. Village hits the EP, so it's Gaels 21, Blues 7. 9:13 left in the half.

- Village launches a kickoff, and it's returned to the Blues 22. 1 and 10 Toronto.

- Hamilton's still under centre, with Stinson acting as a wide receiver. Hamilton's pass is incomplete, but the Gaels jumped offside. 1 and 5 Blues on their own 27.

- Short pass to Johnson for 8 and a first down.

- Incomplete pass from Hamilton. 2 and 10.

- Hamilton is flattened by Stephen Laporte, a rarely-used linebacker, but he completes a pss up the middle as he's being hit. 3rd and 2 or so.

- Stinson runs up the gut, gets the first down but flags on the play. The penalties are against Queen's for illegal substitution. 1 and 10 Toronto on their own 54.

- Hamilton's out now and Stinson's throwing, but his first pass is knocked down. 2 and 10.

- Poor snap to Stinson, but he reels it in. He's forced to scramble and gets a pass off, but it's incomplete. 3 and 10.

- Stinson looks like he's going to fake a punt, runs up close to the line of scrimmage and then punts anyway. The ball doesn't get too far (21 yards), and the Gals get the ball on their 36.

- Giffin runs up the gut for about 4 yards. 2nd and 6.

- Brannagan is forced to scramble and is sacked for a loss of one or two yards by Toronto's Adam Fehler.

- Village booms a punt to Toronto's 25. It's returned to Toronto's 36, but there are flags on the play and it's coming back. 1 and 10 Toronto on their own 19.

- Hamilton completes a sideline pass to Johnson for a first down. 1 and 10 Toronto on their 30.

- Zak Kolkowski runs up the middle for five, where he's stopped by Ukwuoma (who the PA guy calls O-see Osicwoma).

- Short pass gives Toronto a first down on their 43.

- Sterling rampages through the middle and sacks Hamilton for a loss of 10. 2 and 20 Toronto on their own 33.

- Puffer breaks through and drills Hamilton, who still gets the pass off, but it falls harmlessly to the turf. 3rd and 20 Toronto, and Stinson's in to punt.

- Stinson punts it out of bounds at the Queen's 50. It only goes 27 yards. Don't they have anyone who can kick it a bit farther? Queen's is getting great field position off of these short punts.

- Queen's picks up a first down on a ten-yard run.

- Giffin runs for seven. 2 and 3 Queen's on Toronto's 43.

- Giffin plows up the middle, breaks a tackle, turns outside and gets down to the 1 before he's hauled down. First and goal Queen's.

- Giffin goes straight up the gut for the TD.

- Village adds the EP, and it's now Queen's 28, Toronto 7. 1:35 left in the half.

- Village boots it into the end zone, Morris has to go back for it, runs around a bit and gets it out to the four. Toronto now has awful field position.

- Hamilton bombs one to Kennedy, who looks like he made the catch, but must not have come down with it. Nice play by Jimmy Therrien to break it up.

- Another pass to Kennedy that would have been a first down, but he drops it after a crushing hit from Allin. Incomplete, third down and 10 in the Blues' end zone. Stinson runs around with it to kill the clock, then concedes the safety. Queen's 30, Toronto 7. 1:05 left in the half.

- Queen's takes the ball on their own 35.

- 15-yard sideline pass from Brannagan to Morrison for 20 yards. 1 and 10 Queen's at midfield.

- Giffin up the gut, hit by three tacklers, gains about two yards. 2 and 8 from the Toronto 53.

- Sideline bomb to a wide-open Scott Valberg, who runs it in for the touchdown. Valberg showed great speed there to beat his man. I think that might be his first catch of the day.

- Village kicks the convert, and it's Queen's 37, Toronto 7. 37.8 seconds to go until the half.

- Village squibs the kick and it only goes 15 yards to the Toronto 50, where Scott Smith falls on it. 1 and 10 Toronto.

- Sideline pass to Kennedy, who breaks a tackle and picks up 9. 2 and 1 Blues on Queen's 51.

- Hamilton to Johnson, who steps out of bounds for another 8 or so. 1 and 10 Toronto on the Gaels' 42. A Queen's player is down: it's defensive tackle Kyle MacDonald. The defence is getting banged up pretty well here.

- Queen's jumps offside. 1st down and 5 Toronto on Queen's 37 with 22 seconds left in the half. Not a great time to take a penalty, but the game is well in hand.

- Looks like the Gaels' defence jumped again. Offside is called. 1st down Blues on the Queen's 32, and they still have 21.3 seconds. They might be able to get something here.

- Hamilton's rushed but completes a short pass to Kolkowski for three. 2 and 7.

- Hamilton tries a bomb to Johnson, but Sultana makes a good play to break it up.

- Nice call by the Blues to go for it all with 12 seconds left: a field goal isn't much help here. Kennedy almost reels a pass in, but Allin makes a nice hit, and he drops the ball. Queen's takes it, and Brannagan kneels twice, sending us into the half. Queen's 37, Toronto 7. We'll have some stats up before the second half gets going.

Halftime:

- One of the Toronto mascots (or fans, or something, but he's certainly dressed up in a furry suit) is carrying around a sign with "Golden" spelled out in the Queen's font to cheers from the Blues' fans.

- Halftime contest here in the stadium: name the Blues' player who recently was named the CIS offensive player of the week. Options are Greg DeLaval, David Hamilton and Peyton Manning.

- If you answered C to that, you're clearly not much of a sports fan. If you answered A, you're not much of a CIS fan (DeLaval's the Blues' head coach). The answer, of course, is Hamilton, who earned that honour after throwing for over 400 yards against York.

- A few key stats: Queen's is winning this game on the ground. Giffin has 189 yards and two TDs on 13 carries, and the team as a whole has 232 rushing yards to Toronto's 40. The passing stats are pretty similar: 117 net yards for Queen's, 91 for Toronto. Brannagan is 5 for 9 passing for 135 yards and 1 TD. The only two Gaels who have caught passes are Morrison (4) and Valberg (1).

Third quarter:

(note: I may not get every play described here, as I'm also working on my recap for Out of Left Field.)

- Queen's starts with the ball. Brannagan throws to Morrison for a first down, and then Giffin rumbles 15 yards up the gut for another one.

- Giffin runs up the gut again for 9.

- Trevor Potts carries up the middle for 2 and the first down. 1 and 10 Queen's on Toronto's 38.

- Giffin runs for about five, but it's coming back for holding. 1 and 20 Queen's on the Toronto 48.

- Brannagan bombs it over the middle to a wide-open Devan Sheahan, who should have had an easy TD but dropped the ball. 2 and 20.

- Brannagan fires another long one sideline to Morrison, who lays out to make a great diving catch. 1 and 10 Queen's on the 12.

- Brannagan hits Giffin with a short swing pass and he dives into the corner of the end zone, knocking off the pylon and getting the TD. Village adds the Ep. Queen's 44, Toronto 7, and this game is rapidly deteriorating into a farce. It was very close at the start, and you have to wonder what would have happened if that opening Toronto touchdown hadn't been called back. A little confidence might have done wonders for the Blues, who have proven that they're a pretty decent team, despite the score.

- Village kicks off and it's returned to Toronto's 22.

- Stinson takes the handoff, but is hit for a loss of five. 2 and 15.

- Hamilton throws sideline to Stinson, who's knocked out of bounds by Sultana with a big hit. 3 and 8 Toronto, and they decide to punt. Stinson punts it out of bounds at Toronto's 42. The Blues seem really scared of Queen's returners: they've barely kicked to them all day. Well, special teams are where a lack of depth often hurts you.

- Brannagan fires a short pass to Morrison, but they only get two yards.

- Brannagan is rushed and overthrows an open Valberg, but there's a flag on the play. It's a face mask against the Blues, giving Queen's a first down on Toronto's 25-yard line.

- Brannagan is flushed and his pass for Morrison is behind him. 2 and 10.

- Brannagan throws an eight-yard pass to Scott Stinson, who makes a nice dive to get the first down. That's his first catch of the day. 1 and 10 Queen's on the 14.

- Brannagan finds Valberg open over the middle with a short pass, and he runs in for the touchdown. Village hits the EP, and it's 51-7. This is getting lopsided, and there's still 8:20 left in the third quarter.

- I'm going to go to less detailed play summaries here, given the score. I'll have summaries of drives and important or interesting plays from here on in still, though.

- Queen's stops Toronto cold, forcing a punt, and gets the ball back on the U of T 50.

- Jimmy Therrien carries for 6, then Brannagan hits Potts for a big gain, but flags on the play. Queen's gets the first, but they're back to the U of T 42 with the penalties.

- Brannagan gets picked off by Toronto's Brandon Miller, normally a wide receiver but playing defence at the moment. Toronto gets the ball on Queen's 48, but they're held by the Gaels and forced to punt. No yards called on Toronto on the punt, giving Queen's the ball on their own 35.

- Brannagan gets sacked by Fehler. 3rd and 25 Queen's on their own 18: they'll be forced to punt. Toronto starts on the Queen's 45 after a good return.

- A pass to Johnson gets the Blues a first down after a chain measurement. 1 and 10 Toronto on Queen's 35.

- Short pass to Kennedy, but Daprato stops him for only a gain of 2. 2 and 8 Toronto.

- Hamilton is flushed from the pocket by Chris Smith, but he fakes Smith out, rolls right and finds Johnson open in the end zone for a touchdown. Lomasney hits the extra point and it's 51-14 Queen's. End of the third quarter.

Fourth quarter:

- Toronto gets the ball back off a turnover. On second down, Hamilton throws deep and can't complete a pass to Jeff LaForge, forcing a punt.

- They punt to the sidelines again, but Allin catches it in bounds and returns it about 38 yards. 1 and 10 Queen's at midfield.

- Brannagan hits Sheahan for a first down at the Toronto 39.

- Backup QB Jansen Shrubb is in for Queen's, and he hits Chris Ioannides for a 22-yard gain. First and goal.

- Marty Gordon rumbles to the 2. Second and goal.

- Shrubb fumbles the snap, and Toronto's Wilkerson DeSouza recovers. First down Blues, on their own 2.

- Hamilton throws at Kennedy, Allin breaks it up. Toronto's flagged for holding and the penalty's declined.

- We've got third quarter stats now, and Giffin's over 200 yards. He's credited with 215 yards on 16 carries through three quarters, which breaks his rushing record [see this post for explanation] of 214 yards (against Guelph).

- Allin comes up with a big punt return, and then Shrubb finds Ioannides for the TD. Village hits the EP and it's 58-14, Queen's. 8 minutes left.

- Blues drive to midfield off a pass from Hamilton to Kennedy.

- Hamilton is called for intentional grounding, killing the drive. 3rd and about 25 yards, so Toronto punts.

- Shrubb throws deep to Sheahan, who catches it but then fumbles. Morris recovers, and it's Toronto ball on their own three.

- Both teams exchange possession a couple times, but it doesn't amount to much. Sheahan drops another end-zone pass, though. Less than a minute left. Shrubb kneels to give Toronto the ball back in their own end, with only 25 seconds left.

- And that's all she wrote. Final score, Queen's 58, Toronto 14. I'll have more later this evening, both here and at Out of Left Field