OTTAWA – Heading into the final weekend of the OUA football regular season, the playoff picture is complicated. The mindset for the Gryphons, however, is simple. Beat the Carleton Ravens and head into the OUA playoffs as one of the hottest teams in the conference.
 
The No. 9-ranked Gryphons (4-3) are off to Ottawa in search of their fifth win in their last six games overall, as they close out the regular season portion of their schedule with an away game against the Carleton Ravens. Kickoff at MNP Park is set for 1pm with the game being streamed live online at oua.tv.
 
The Ravens enter the game with a 3-4 record and will be fighting for their playoff lives on Saturday. With a win over Guelph, Carleton would secure a playoff spot. A loss to the Gryphons would end Carleton's season. The Gryphons, meanwhile, have already clinched a playoff berth, but still have plenty to play for with their final placement in the OUA standings very much up in the air. The Gryphons can finish anywhere from No. 3 to No. 6 in the OUA's final standings, depending on what happens with results around the league on Saturday. The top six teams in the OUA make the playoffs, with seeds No. 1 and No. 2 receiving first round byes, while seeds No. 3 and No. 4 earn the right to host OUA quarter-final matchups.
 
Trying to successfully wrap one's head around all of the different playoff and tie-breaking scenarios can become a daunting task for OUA football fans. But those playoff scenarios are the last things on the minds of U of G head coach Kevin MacNeill and his players. Their focus is simply trying to find a way to beat a talented and experienced Carleton Ravens team.
 
"They have some outstanding players on their roster, on both sides of the ball," says MacNeill. "They've been in a lot of really tight games this season and are a much better team than their record indicates. If we want to have success in the playoffs, we're going to have to be able to find ways to win on the road against good teams like this. We've displayed some great mental toughness throughout the season and we'll need to do so again on Saturday to be successful. It's going to be a big challenge. They're an extremely experienced group."
 
Last week versus Toronto, 22 of the 47 players on Carleton's dress roster were in either their 4th or 5th years of eligibility. Despite all of that experience, the Ravens actually rely on a pair of youngsters in the backfield in rookie quarterback Mike Arruda and second year running back Nathan Carter.
 
Carter currently ranks 2nd in the country with 146.9 rushing yards per game, while Arruda, who is in his first year starting at quarterback for the Ravens, has impressed, ranking 3rd in the OUA in passing yards per game (261.9) and 4th in the conference in touchdown passes with 11. The young Carleton QB actually has some ties to the Gryphon football coaching staff, as he was coached during his CEGEP days with the Champlain-Lennoxville Cougars where Gryphons' first-year offensive coordinator Jean-Francois Joncas served as head coach for 11 years before coming to U of G.
 
The No. 9-ranked Gryphons enter Saturday's game fresh off an impressive 24-14 win over the then No. 5-ranked Laurier Golden Hawks. Gryphons fourth year kicker Gabe Ferraro is on the verge of setting the U SPORTS all-time single season record for made field goals. Ferraro has currently connected on 26 field goals, which ties him with his older brother and current kicking coach, Daniel Ferraro, who set the U SPORTS record back in 2014. Gabe isn't the only OUA kicker threatening the field goal record, as Western's Marc Liegghio enters the final week with 25 made field goals.
 
Gryphons fifth year running back Johnny Augustine continues to put up big numbers in his final season at U of G. Augustine is coming off a 176-yard rushing performance versus the Golden Hawks and enters the final week of the regular season in a four-way tie for the most rushing touchdowns (8) on the season. Augustine also sits just four yards shy of moving into the No. 2 spot on the Gryphons all-time list for career rushing yards.
 
While

Gryphon fans have grown accustomed to seeing Augustine put up some big numbers on the ground over the years, one player that has emerged as a pleasant surprise in 2017 has been third year quarterback Theo Landers. The Maple Ridge, BC native, who took over for an injured James Roberts during Guelph's homecoming game, has been solid since stepping into the Gryphon lineup. After helping lead a dramatic, fourth quarter comeback over Waterloo in his first ever start at the university level, Landers went 13-20 for 111 yards and also added 86 yards rushing in Guelph's 24-14 win over the defending Yates Cup champion Golden Hawks. With Landers at quarterback, the Gryphons possess one of the most athletic quarterbacks in the country. This season in limited playing time, Landers has already racked up 291 yards rushing and two touchdowns on the ground.
 
Defensively, the Gryphons will look to build off an outstanding performance against Laurier. Gryphons fourth year linebacker Luke Korol currently ranks 2nd in the OUA with 8.5 tackles per game while Gryphon rookie Alain Cimankinda ranks 5th in the conference in sacks (6) despite missing some time due to injury this season. The U of G secondary is anchored by former All-Canadian Nick Parisotto, who last week was named the team's Defensive Player of the Game with 9.5 tackles and an interception, as well as versatile fourth year free safety Royce Metchie. The Gryphon secondary will look to contain a balanced Carleton receiving corps that features a trio of talented targets in Phil Iloki (544 yds, 5 TD), Kyle VanWynesberghe (491 yds, 2 TD) and speedster Dexter Brown (354 yds, 1 TD).

On special teams, aside from Gabe Ferraro's record-setting season, the Gryphons have also received incredible performances in the return game. Rookie Ryan Isenor (Delhi, ON) is tied for 3rd in the country with 470 punt return yards. Isenor also recorded the first touchdown of his university career in Week 3 versus Windsor when he took a missed field goal 125-yards for the score. Last week versus Laurier, it was fifth year man Jacob Scarfone's turn to electrify the home crowd with a missed field goal returned for a touchdown, this time to the tune of 122-yards in what proved to be the biggest play of the game in Guelph's 10-point win over the Golden Hawks. Isenor and Scarfone will look to once again provide the Gryphons with a spark on special teams on Saturday in Ottawa.
 
The Gryphons and Ravens were non-combatants in 2016, meaning their last head-to-head meeting came in 2015. The two teams actually played each other twice that season, once in the regular season and once in the playoffs, with Guelph winning both matchups. The Gryphons won 31-23 over Carleton during their 2015 OUA Semi-final clash. In that game, Johnny Augustine set career-highs with 35 carries for 247 yards rushing, helping the Gryphons advance to the Yates Cup where they would ultimately defeat Western.
 
The OUA playoffs will begin on Saturday, October 28 with a pair of Quarter-final games. The 110th Yates Cup will be played on Saturday, November 11, with the winner heading East to face the AUS champion in the 2017 Uteck Bowl.