CIS Football Report (Week 2)
As the CIS Season moved to the second week the teams began carving out a place for themselves in their conferences. It is an annual practice by teams as they hope to build on their first week or look to rebuild from their first week. The first week in the CIS season and really in any season is completely unpredictable as teams get their first chance to play a true game. Teams get their warm ups in the exhibition games but those games are warm-ups. When the season starts everything become faster and much more important as everything you do can change your season. The first week of the season generally sees some stumbles and some mistakes made by the teams as they get their first shot at real games. This can sometimes disguise issues or disguise great teams. Some teams may lose close games even though they were the better team and may prove that in the coming weeks. Teams can also get extremely hyped up and come out on to the field like men possessed and win a game that they never should have. Teams are a complete question after the dust from week 1 settles but as the season progresses they begin to find their spot. Teams begin to even out as they show their true colours and for the CIS and the short season this can happen as soon as week 2. That is what has happened this week in the CIS as teams have begun to carve out their spot in the league. After two weeks fans can now see much better where their teams stand and for a lot of fans it is not the picture that they thought. For some it has been a disappointing season so far as the UBC Thunderbirds and Ottawa Gee Gees have been much worse than once thought. The Thunderbirds were coming off of their breakout season this year as they had put the CanWest conference on notice. With 2011 Hec Crighton winner Billy Greene back under centre hopes were high for the 2012 season but so far they have disappointed. The T-Birds began the season with a loss to the Manitoba Bison in week 1 but were looking to shake it off in week 2. They couldn’t do it though as week 2 saw the T-Birds lose again this time to the Regina Rams. So far the T-Birds are not on track for another great season as they will need to battle back in the remaining weeks if they hope to have a shot at the playoffs again this year. Another disappointing team has been the Ottawa Gee Gees who were expected to be a strong team in the OUA. They were not expected by many to win the OUA but being at the top has become par for the course for the Gee Gees. This year though the season has not been what they wanted so far. In week 1 they were the victims of one of the biggest surprises in the CIS as they were handled by the Windsor Lancers. In week 2 they were hoping to prove that the loss was just an off day but week 2 saw another surprising win as they lost to the basement dwelling York Lions. These two teams have been on the bad end of the surprises as they have lost their first two games as both teams are in need of a big win in week 3 to get back on track. Meanwhile in Quebec another team has been disappointing but not for their record. The Laval Rouge et Or have been the class of the CIS for years and are constantly expected to dominate their conference and move to the Vanier Cup. This year though the Big Red Machine has been less than dominant. They are still 2-0 after two weeks but they struggled until the end of the game against McGill and in week two beat the Bishop’s Gaiters by only 6 points. It may not be a big deal for many schools but these wins are not the usual wins that Laval gets. So far the young season has exposed many issues while teams like Western, McMaster, Calgary, Acadia, and Montreal roll on and prove they are the top teams in the country. It is still a young season with plenty of time to figure things out but after week 2 there are plenty of stories to follow as teams try to figure out issues or continue to fight for the top spots in what promises to be another great CIS season.
CIS Top 10:
1. McMaster Marauders (1)
2. Calgary Dinos (3)
3. Laval Rouge et Or (2)
4. Montreal Carabins (4)
5. Western Mustangs (5)
6. Queens Golden Gaels (6)
7. Manitoba Bison (10)
8. Acadia Axemen (9)
9. Saskatchewan Huskies (8)
10. Regina Rams (–)
CIS Standings:
CanWest:
1. Calgary Dinos (4)
2. Manitoba Bison (4)
3. Regina Rams (2)
4. Saskatchewan Huskies (2)
5. Alberta Golden Bears (0)
6. UBC Thunderbirds (0)
OUA:
1. McMaster Marauders (4)
2. Queen’s Golden Gaels (4)
3. Western Mustangs (4)
4. Guelph Gryphons (4)
5. Toronto Varsity Blues (2)
6. Windsor Lancers (2)
7. York Lions (2)
8. Laurier Golden Hawks (0)
9. Ottawa Gee Gees (0)
10. Waterloo Warriors (0)
RSEQ:
1. Laval Rouge et Or (4)
2. Montreal Carabins (4)
3. Concordia Stingers (2)
4. Sherbrooke Vert et Or (2)
5. Bishop’s Gaiters (0)
6. McGill Redmen (0)
AUS:
1. Acadia Axemen (2)
2. StFX X-Men (2)
3. Mount Allison Mounties (0)
4. Saint Mary’s Huskies (0)
Key Scores:
Regina Rams 49 – 20 UBC Thunderbirds
– The UBC Thunderbirds seem to be in real trouble after week 2 as they racked up another loss on the season this time against the Regina Rams who not only beat the T-Birds but easily handled them for their first win of the season
#9 Acadia Axemen 21 – 16 Saint Mary’s Huskies
– As the rest of the season opened week 2 the Axemen and Huskies opened their season as the two teams that are always in the mix for the AUS title kicked off the season with the Axemen taking the first round in week 1 of the AUS
#2 Laval Rouge et Or 28 – 22 Bishop’s Gaiters
– The Laval Rouge et Or are not used to winning games with less than a touchdown between them and any other team as they barely got past the Gaiters winning by only 6 points in another game that proved that the Big Red Machine is not what it used to be
Guelph Gryphons 21 – 9 Windsor Lancers
– The Windsor Lancers were coming off of a great start to the season when they beat the Ottawa Gee Gees but they could not keep the momentum going when they took on the Gryphons who were able to control the game from the start
Next Week:
#5 Western Mustangs vs. #6 Queen’s Golden Gaels (September 15th; 1:00 pm EDT)
– The Mustangs and Gaels are two of the best teams in the OUA as they could be fighting it out to earn the second playoff bye behind McMaster as the offence of the Mustangs takes on the defence of the Gaels in what could prove to be an important game
#1 McMaster Marauders vs. Ottawa Gee Gees (September 15th; 1:00 pm EDT)
– The Marauders are continuing their role form a year ago proving to be the best team in the CIS giving the Gee Gees a tough road if they hope to win their first game of the season and get back on track in the OUA
#9 Saskatchewan Huskies vs. UBC Thunderbirds (September 15th; 2:00 pm PDT)
– Both of these teams were expected to do much more this year but so far they haven’t reached their potential as the T-Birds continue to struggle to repeat their performance from a year ago while the huskies are looking to build on a week 2 win after losing their opener
#8 Acadia Axemen vs. #3 Laval Rouge et Or (September 15th; 7:00 pm EDT)
– The crossover games begin again after the RSEQ and AUS announced a three-year renewal of their crossover agreement as the Axemen look to take advantage of a Laval team that does not look to be the same team as past years
The Sport Addiction 