Game time! 2013 season opener
- I liked the uniform combination – red jerseys and yellow pants with red helmets. They looked very much like the traditional uniforms worn by the Gryphons throughout the preceding three decades. The red jerseys with REDMEN on the front are “throwbacks” from the OAC/OVC days. Guelph’s gridiron teams used the Redmen name in the 50s and early 60s. Prior to that they were the Aggies.
- To my knowledge the Gryphons escaped the opener without any serious injuries. With the number of players who were injured coming out of training camp, the starting lineup and the dress roster are not set in stone. None of the injuries are serious so far as I know. Players who didn’t dress against Laurier but that I expect will be playing soon include DE Cam Walker, RB Rob Farquharson, freshman H-back Mason Swift. I’m not certain of the status of DT Zack Mallough, Rec/H-back Mike Ullerick or freshman DB Jadon Johnson.
- The G-Hawks didn’t really test the Guelph secondary. It was a young unit with 4 of the 5 “new” starters and the fifth in a new position. The veteran of the group was 5th year Taylor Palmer. Palmer has had a role very much like Zack Androschuk heading into last season – a stalwart on special teams, solid contributor at DB but with without a lot of starting experience. Iian Hutchison starts for the second year but he is now at safety. Sophomore Colin Mandich started at the boundary corner position. He saw lots of action as a freshman backup and started once in 2012. The freshmen starters – Mikey Carney [Scout team QB last year] and Orion Edwards didn’t look like rookie DBs other than in one instance. They each gambled on going for an INT that they didn’t make. In fact, neither one made the pick or a pass breakup but luckily it wasn’t costly to the team.
- Orion Edwards had perhaps the hit of the game flattening WLU receiver Kelvin Muamba as soon as he touched the ball. John Rush‘s hit on WLU RB Dillon Campbell was another notable one. Both hits are in these video highlights at the 48 sec and 1:44 marks. Edwards looks and plays bigger than his listed size on the game day roster – 5’8″ 162lbs.
- I liked the play of the D-line. This unit lost three solid players from 2012 in Mike Millar, Kalvin Seilis and Cam Thorn [moved to OL]. Only two players with starting experience were dressed on Sunday – Jeff Finley & Jordan Thompson. With so many youngsters dressed – Donnie Egerter, Blake McNeely, transfer Ian Marouf, Patrick Gerrie and true freshman Mitchell Hooper – I was really happy to see them all getting in on the action. Not too many years ago our DL depth was such that we dressed players that you really hoped would not have to play. Now the quality of our depth will allow us to rotate our d-linemen, keeping them fresh throughout the game. The days of the top OUA programs being able to wear down the Gryphons D and overwhelm us in the 2nd half are hopefully a thing of the past.
- A nice piece on the freshman star of the season opener – Johnny Augustine. Check out CTV’s feature/interview with the young star – Rookie running back making waves in Guelph football. It’s a feature of more than 2 minutes but you have to wait through an ad first.
Gryphons Football Blog 