Huskies Have Outside Shot At First

It’s been an up and down season for the U of S Huskies who hit the bye week at 3-2, tied for 2nd place with the UBC Thunderbirds. On Monday and Tuesday, the Dogs had what Brian Towriss called, “Good practices” and they also got their team picture taken. Tuesday also featured a scrimmage with some of the younger players who don’t get to travel with the team. B.T. held a simualted game on Wednesday where there was no contact and the purpose was more for conditioning than anything else.

The bye comes at a pretty good time for the Huskies and all teams considering it’s the mid-point for teams that are planning on playing 10 or 11 games (with playoffs) this season. Obviously from an injury standpoint, the Green & White probably could have used a bye a couple of weeks ago. Remember these players have been going hard since late August while trying to keep their academics up.

The Huskies offence certainly looked better last game. I asked B.T. about the improvement and he said, “We narrowed the package a little bit, concentrated on execution and really emphasized getting the ball out on time, plus getting Ben Coakwell back to provide us with a little more speed in our run game. It was better, we can be better yet, that’s what we have to continue to work towards.”

The Huskies still have a shot at 1st place in Canada West but they need some help. The Calgary Dino’s, despite all their changes this season, are 5-0. The Dino’s have to play in Saskatchewan and UBC and will be at home to Manitoba so they have the tougher schedule. We’ll have a better idea of whether the Huskies have a shot at 1st place after the Calgary game next Friday. Obviously it’s a must-win. Calgary has been able to remain healthy this year, something the Dogs have not been able to do. B.T. said, “Big game for us after the bye this weekend. If we can win that one, we can stay in touch with 1st and put a pretty good leg up on 2nd. If we don’t win that, we’re kinda right back in the hunt and have to get after the last 2 weeks to secure a playoff spot.”

Some good news for the Green & White is they are expecting to get both Luke Thiel and Kit Hillis back into the lineup for next weekend’s game. They were both lost in Week 3 against Manitoba. Thiel will be playing with a cast so he probably won’t be available for returning kicks but will be in the secondary.