GUELPH, Ont. – On the heels of an important win last week, the Guelph Gryphons football team is back at home as they will take the field in front of a sold-out crowd from the University of Guelph's Alumni Stadium as the Gryphons (2-4) host the No. 7-ranked Queen's Gaels (4-2) in the 2025 edition of the University of Guelph Homecoming football game.
Location: Guelph, ON | Alumni Stadium
Date: Saturday, October 4, 2025
Time: 1pm
Tickets: sold out
How to watch:
oua.tv and RogerTV Cable 20
Live updates on X (Twitter):
@guelph_gryphons
The Gryphons enter Saturday's game
coming off a huge win in the final road game of their regular season schedule on September 27 in Ottawa where they knocked off the Carleton Ravens, 55-28. Guelph will look to continue their push towards a playoff spot when they host the Queen's Gaels in U of G's annual homecoming game.
The Queen's Gaels enter this one winners of three straight games, outscoring their opponents 159-29 during that stretch after defeating the York Lions 57-5 last week. The Gaels possess one the best offences in the OUA led by their quarterback Alex Vreeken. Vreken last week completed 17 or 27 passes for 394 yards and 4 touchdowns. On the season Vreeken currently leads the OUA with 1,799 passing yards and is 2nd in the conference with 15 passing touchdowns. Vreeken's favourite receiver this season has been Nathan Falconi who last week against York had a season-high 258 receiving yards on 6 receptions and found the end zone 3 times. Falconi on the year is 4th in the OUA with 609 receiving yards, 3rd in conference averaging 22.6 yards per catch and is 2nd with 8 touchdown catches. The passing game isn't the only thing opposing defences have to keep an eye on, as Jared Chisari has provided balance in the Gaels run game as one of the top running backs in the OUA. Chisari had only 9 carries last week against York but ran for 139 yards for 2 touchdowns. Chisari is currently 2nd in the OUA with 756 rushing yards, averaging 126.0 yards per game, and is tied for 2nd with 8 rushing touchdowns. Queen's on the season will put up points, averaging 45.2 points per game (2nd in OUA) as the Guelph defence will need to be on their game against this potent Gaels offence. Queen's also has one of the better defences in the province, only giving up an average of 20.8 points per game and limiting teams to league best 316.7 yards per game. They are led on the defensive line by Oliver Jackson who is second in the conference with 5.0 sacks on the season. The Gaels are also a very opportunistic on defence as they lead the conference with 12 interceptions on the season led by John Corscadden, Ashton Miller-Melancon and Keegan Vanek who all have three picks each.
For the Gryphons, they had one of their best offensive performances of the season, scoring 55 points while racking up 604 total yards with 326 on the ground.
Willem Arseneau was the big play at receiver last week hauling two touchdown catches for 50 yards and 40 yards and passing for a touchdown as well. Arseneau on the season in his four games played has 13 receptions for 313 yards, averaging 24.1 yard per catch and 3 touchdowns. Five Gryphons last week ran for 40+ yards including quarterback
Marshall McCray who found the end zone twice. McCray, a dual-threat QB now in his third season as a Gryphon, comes into the game having rushed for 235 yards and ranks 4th in the conference in rushing TDs with 6. The Gryphons offensively have been one of the best teams in gaining yards, averaging 512.2 yards per game (3rd in OUA) and are 2nd in the conference (behind Queen's) in total offensive yards. The Guelph defence did a great job of holding the Carleton offence in check, limiting them to 326 total yards and forcing five takeaways. The defence will need to a similar performance to keep the Gaels in check as they'll look for another big game from
Gianni Green. Green, the reigning OUA Athlete of the Week is coming off a career-high and U SPORTS-tying 4 interception game as the new OUA interception leader.
Jevaun Jacobsen leads an improved defence as the team leader with 3.0 sacks from his linebacker position and is second on the team with 21.5 tackles.
The Gryphons and Gaels met last season in Kingston (Sept. 21, 2024) where the Gaels narrowly edged out the Gryphons 24-18 from Richardson Stadium. The last time these two sides met in Guelph was on October 14, 2023 where it was Queen's who came through with another one possession win, 24-17. The last time the Gryphons defeated the Gaels was on October 10, 2019 where they won in overtime 27-24.
Kickoff for U of G's annual homecoming game is set for 1pm on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, with the pre-game show (featuring former Gryphon quarterback and Canadian football insider, Justin Dunk, and GryphVision host, Scott Fraser) set to get underway at 12:50pm. The action from Alumni Stadium can be seen live online on
www.oua.tv and broadcast live on Rogers TV Cable 20. Gryphon fans can also follow along on Twitter / X (
@guelph_gryphons) with live, in-game updates and highlights from the action.
Following Saturday's matchup, the Gryphons are back at Alumni Stadium to close out the regular season as they take on the York Lions on Oct. 18. Tickets for the game are currently available at
gryphons.ca/tickets.
