GUELPH, Ont. – For the first time since 2016, the Western Mustangs football team will set foot on University of Guelph campus. And they will do so as the No. 1-ranked team in the country as they face the No. 6-nationally ranked Gryphons in one of the most anticipated OUA matchups of 2019.
Kickoff between the Gryphons (3-1) and Mustangs (4-0) on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 21) at Alumni Stadium is set for 1pm with the Yates Cup rematch being broadcast live online at OUA.tv.
"If you have dreams about playing university football, you dream about playing in the biggest games against the best teams," says Gryphons first-year head coach Ryan Sheahan, who has led the Gryphons to wins in three of his first four games in charge.
Gryphons 2016 Homecoming vs Western
"Western hasn't lost an OUA game since 2016, so they're a high-powered machine that runs on all cylinders with a coach (Greg Marshall) who needs no introduction. When you're playing against a team like Western, there's no question you have to bring your best effort in every phase."
Since 2015, the Western Mustangs have posted a 31-1 record during the regular season, with their last regular season loss coming on September 4, 2016 at Carleton. And while few teams have got the better of Western over recent years, the Guelph Gryphons are among the few who have carved out success against the Mustangs. Alumni Stadium has not been kind to the Mustangs, with the Gryphons coming out on top in three of the last four head-to-head meetings
in Guelph.
Guelph's last win over Western came in the 2015 Yates Cup in London
The Gryphons also claimed the 2015 Yates Cup title by defeating Western 23-17 in London for Guelph's fourth Yates Cup title in program history.
The last regular season meeting between the Gryphons and Mustangs came in Week 2 of the 2017 season where the Gryphons took Western to overtime where the Mustangs escaped with a 41-34 win at TD Stadium. That game proved to be Western's closest game of the entire 2017 season, a year in which they would go undefeated and claim the Vanier Cup.
But as Gryphon head coach Ryan Sheahan notes, the past will not have any impact on the matchup this Saturday at Alumni Stadium. "There aren't a lot of true "re-matches" in university sport, just because of the nature of players graduating and new recruiting classes coming in," says Sheahan.
Head coach Ryan Sheahan addresses the team following a Week 3 win over York
"Both teams have some new faces at various spots on the field and both teams have also had some considerable changes on the sidelines from a season ago. But with Western, there's no doubt that there are in fact some familiar characteristics with that program. Looking at their 2019 film, they are once again a very gap-sound team with a lot of athletes, a premier quarterback, an outstanding running game, and a group of veteran receivers who have championship experience. They're not going to give you anything. You have to dig deep to try and take it from them."
The premier quarterback Coach Sheahan refers to is Western's Chris Merchant.
Chris Merchant returns to Alumni Stadium for the first time since 2016
The Calgary native spent one season south of the border with the NCAA's University of Buffalo before transferring to Western in time for the 2016 season. Over the past three years as Western's starting QB, Merchant has been spectacular, including garnering Vanier Cup MVP honours in 2017 after leading the Mustangs to victory over Laval in the national title game, completing 13-of-20 passes for 276 yards and one touchdown while adding 89 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries.
During the 2018 OUA regular season, Merchant completed 73% of his passes and threw for 17 touchdowns.
2nd-year DE Tavius Robinson records 1 of his 3 sacks last week vs Waterloo
Through four games in 2019, he has averaged 281 yards passing per game with a 7-to-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Merchant is also dangerous as a rusher and has gained 198 yards on the ground this season and added 4 rushing touchdowns. But Saturday's matchup for Merchant and the high-powered Western offence will also serve as their toughest test of the 2019 season with an outstanding Gryphon defence standing in the way. Through the first four games of 2019, the Gryphons have dominated under the guidance of new defensive coordinator Dennis McPhee. The Gryphon defence has racked up an OUA-best 15 sacks and three defensive scores through four games.
Meanwhile, the Gryphon offence will look to build off of a strong Week 4 road win over Waterloo, where rookie running back Kaine Stevenson broke out with 194 yards and 3 touchdowns to earn OUA Offensive Player of the Week honours. Stevenson and company will have their hands full against a stout Western defence that currently leads the OUA in rush defence, limiting opponents to just 65.3 yards per game.
Saturday's matchup will also be the first head-to-head meeting between the two schools since the 2018 Yates Cup, which Western won 63-14 in London. Tickets for Saturday's matchup are currently available online. Following Saturday's game versus the Mustangs, the Gryphons will wrap up their 2019 regular season home schedule with a September 28 matchup with the Ottawa Gee-Gees which will serve as the 2019 edition of the Gryphon homecoming game.
