OTTAWA, Ont - This Saturday (Oct. 21) the Guelph Gryphons football team will head to Ottawa to take on the Carleton Ravens (3-4), needing a win to guarantee a berth into the 2023 OUA playoffs. Kickoff is set for 1pm at TAAG Park, with the game avialable for streaming live online at oua.tv.
Date: Saturday, October 21, 2023
Time: 1pm
Location: TAAG Park (Ottawa, ON)
How to Watch: www.oua.tv
Live Updates on X (Twitter): @guelph_gryphons
The Gryphons enter the final week of the 2023 OUA regular season with a 3-4 record and a pair of paths to the 2023 postseason. The easiest route for the Gryphons is simple, win-and-in to gain the No. 6- seed in the seven-team OUA playoff format. In the event the Gryphons are unable to leave Ottawa with a victory, the team would need the University of Toronto Varsity Blues to defeat the Waterloo Warriors, with that game taking place simultaneously in Toronto, in order to claim the final seed.
A win at Carleton would send the Gryphons back to Windsor for the quarterfinal round on October 28, while a Gryphon loss to Carleton this Saturday, combined with a Toronto win, would see the Gryphons head to either Waterloo or London to take on the loser of the Golden Hawks and Mustangs Week 9 matchup. More information on the OUA football
playoff scenarios can be found at www.oua.ca.
The Gryphons are coming off a hard-fought
24-17 loss to the Queen's Gaels that saw the U of G defence limit the Gaels to just 277 yards of total offence, but unable capitalize on the offensive side of the ball giving up a pair of turnovers and a blocked punt. The Gryphons will need to see another big performance from second-year running back
Donavin Milloy, who enters the final week of the regular season as the nation's fourth-leading rusher with 852 yards on the campaign, if they are to extend their season. Milloy ranks as one of the best backs in the country in several key statistical categories, including yards per game (5th with 121.7) and yards per carry (2nd with 9.8). The Hamilton native will also have a chance to cement himself as one of Gryphon football's all-time backs as he is currently experiencing the 5th-best rushing season in program history, with only Nick Fitzgibbon (853), Chris Macintyre (891), Rob Farquharson (936), and Gerrit Stam (1,131) having rushed for more yards in a single-season.
On the opposite side of the ball, the Gryphon defence will be tasked with slowing down a Carleton aerial attack that is averaging 278.7 passing yards per game, which trails only Western and Laurier for the most productive in the conference.
The U of G defensive line led by 2022 All-Canadian
Scott Murray will look to limit the affect of Ravens quarterback Tristan Lefebvre who has thrown for the third-most touchdowns in the OUA with 15 scores through the air. Murray will be making just his second start of the 2023 season after missing the majority of the year due to injury. In his return to action last week, the Mississauga native was in mid-season form, racking up 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for a loss. The Gryphon defensive backs will also be crucial to the success of the defence, having to cover a trio of Carleton receivers averaging over 50 yards per game in Hunter Brown, Kaseem Ferdinand, and Tristan Ready.
Despite a limited history between the two teams with just six all-time head-to-head meetings, the Gryphons were highly successful against the Ravens with five straight victories until last season. Their Week 9 meeting in 2022 saw Carleton build an early 18-11 halftime lead and eventually leave Guelph with a 35-24 victory, their first ever over the Gryphons. The last U of G victory over the Ravens came during the 2019 season and saw Guelph capture a 37-20 win at TAAG Park thanks to a pair of defensive touchdowns and an opening kickoff returned for a touchdown. If the Gryphons are able to advance to the OUA Playoffs, a quarterfinal match against either the Lancers, Mustangs, or Golden Hawks would take place on Saturday, October 28, 2023 at 1pm.
