I was tempted to simply re-print last year’s preview with a few updates. So much of what I said then is still true. Here is just one excerpt from my 2018 preview …
The Marauders are one of 8 OUA teams expected to compete for 6 playoff spots. No team can afford to lose any games to these rivals because it will impact playoff seeding, even if it doesn’t cost them a playoff spot.
The Marauders are a team Guelph has had problems with in recent years. They are the proverbial monkey on our back. The Gryphons have won more games against Western and Laurier over the last five years than they have against the Marauders. To make matters worse, we’ve lost multiples games to Mac that we should have won. Time to end that.
The 2018 game was a close one [16-15] but an ugly loss all the same. The defense was excellent but the O simply wasn’t good enough. Two missed FGs really hurt. With a talent advantage, a perfect opportunity to end the Mac “jinx” was wasted.
It marked the third time in recent years that the Gryphons had lost a season opener to the Marauders – 2012 & 2014 were the other years. Those 3 previous openers were all at McMaster’s Ron Joyce Stadium where the Gryphons have never won.
The Mac-Guelph rivalry has been as heated as ever the past half-dozen years. No question the Gryphons need to win it to be viewed as a top tier OUA team and a team that could compete nationally.
How much do the trends and history mean when both teams have undergone major changes since last year? I don’t know. Hopefully things take a positive turn tomorrow.
It is disappointing to see that two-thirds of our sensational trio of freshmen running backs don’t appear to be playing tomorrow. Freshman Kaine Stevenson and sophomore Juwan Jeffrey will shoulder the load in the run game. Of course, QB Theo Landers has to be a running threat to really put pressure on the Marauder defense.
If the run game works, then I think our passing game will produce some fireworks. The talent level of our receiving corps is spectacular. It is a bit of a mix of experience and youth but they are all talented. As a group they are very fast and bigger than average.
I also really like the looks of our offensive line with 4 players who have starting experience – LT Eric Starczala, C Ben Petrie, RG Coulter Woodmansey and RT Liam Lapointe. The newbie at LG is freshman Matt Fumawera, a Markham native who played 2 years of Div 1 CEGEP football after high school.
I’m interested to see how Dennis McPhee defense looks tomorrow. The defense will have new starters at four positions – Jared Beeksma at Will LB, Justin Lauzon at Sam LB, A.J. Allen at DE and Harrison Bagayogo at CB. McMaster really struggled on offense last year. IIRC only UofT was worse. Mac’s personnel is largely the same but Coach Ptaszek and OC Corey Grant have brought in a new offense.
Game previews & related links:
OUA.ca website: Week 1 55-Man Rosters
Gryphons.ca: There is no preview of Sunday’s game, but you can check out their preview of the Gryphons 2019 season.
McMaster.ca: No game preview
Recent Series History
McMaster has a clear edge in the series over the past decade+ going 13-3 in the head-to-head since 2007. The Marauders have had the advantage of hosting 10 of those 16 games. The Marauders also hold 30-19 advantage in regular season games since the OUA was founded in 1971. The Gryphons are winless at Mac’s Ron Joyce Stadium which opened in 2008.
2018 – Mac 16-15
2017 – Mac 29-9
2016 – Mac 17-11 [OUA Q-Final]
2016 – Mac 27-15
2015 – Guelph 33-23
2014 – Mac 20-15 [Yates Cup]
2014 – Mac 34-27 OT
2013 – Guelph 24-22
Broadcast Info
TV: I assume it will be on Rogers Cable
LIVE STREAM: OUA.tv Click on LIVE EVENTS
RADIO: TSN 1150
Gryphons Football Blog 