GUELPH, Ont. – The No. 10-ranked Guelph Gryphons football team (4-2) closes out the home portion of their 2024 OUA regular season schedule as they host the No. 5-ranked Windsor Lancers (5-0) on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 5, 1pm) in this critical U SPORTS Top 10 matchup at Alumni Stadium.
Date: Saturday, October 5, 2024
Location: Alumni Stadium (Guelph, ON)
Time: 1pm
Tickets:
gryphons.ca/tickets
How to watch:
oua.tv and RogerTV Cable 20
Live updates on X (Twitter):
@guelph_gryphons
The No. 10-ranked Gryphons (4-2) are coming off a 42-25 win over the Waterloo Warriors last week, in the University of Guelph's annual homecoming football game. Now, the Gryphons set their sights on a crucial home game in Week 7 against the No. 5-ranked team in the country in the undefeated Windsor Lancers (5-0). The Lancers are one of two remaining undefeated teams in the OUA (with the No. 1-ranked Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks being the other), with Windsor rolling into Guelph fresh off of a 52-5 Week 6 win in Toronto against the Varsity Blues. With three weeks to go in the regular season, teams in the top half of the OUA standings will be jockeying for playoff positioning. For the Gryphons, a win would give them an inside track to
host aan OUA quarterfinal matchup on Oct. 26. For the Lancers, a win allows them to keep pace for the top seed in the OUA and more importantly, the lone bye week that only goes to the No. 1 seed in the conference.
The Gryphon offence is coming off a strong second half performance against Waterloo, which was led by an efficient sophomore quarterback in
Tristan Aboud. The Montreal native completed 13 of his 17 passes for 224 yards and threw for 2 touchdowns in the win. Gryphons fourth-year receiver,
Vyshonne Janusas (Windsor, ON), will look for repeat performance from his incredible homecoming gamewhere he caught 6 passes for 102 yards and had a 109-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on special teams. The U of G offence has been led all season by their rushing attack as they rank 2nd in the OUA averaging 218.3 rushing yards-per-game. The Gryphons will face a tough test on Saturday as they will face a Windsor defence that leads in the OUA in points allowed (11.8), total yards-per-game (260.8), rush yards-per-game (98.0) and sacks (18). The Lancers on defence are led by Kolade Amusan (Woodbury, Minnesota) on the defensive line who ranks 2nd in U SPORTS with 6.0 sacks on the season, and defensive back Robert Springer (Little Rock, Arkansas) who is tied for the conference lead with 4 interceptions.
The Gryphon defence is coming off another great game led by
the Week 6 OUA Defensive Player of the Week,
Anthony Moretuzzo. The linebacker/defensive back started at safety last week and is coming off a game where made 2 solo tackles, 8 assisted tackles and nabbed an interception. Linebacker
Yunus Larry (Hamilton, ON) will look to continue his strong season as he is currently 2nd on the team with 26.5 tackles and tied for the team with 2.5 sacks. The Gryphons boasts the second-best run defence in the OUA, only allowing 124 rush yards-per-game will be challenged against the Lancers rushing attack averaging 226.0 yards-per-game (1st in OUA) on the ground. Joey Zorn (Flint, Michigan) leads the way for Windsor as he has rushed for 508 yards (4th in OUA) and averages 9.8 yards-per-carry (1st in OUA).
The Gryphons and Lancers met last season in Week 2 (Sept. 3, 2023) where the Lancers came away with a 41-18 win at Windsor's Alumni Field. Guelph leads the all-time head-to-head 25-11-1. The last time the Gryphons defeated the Lancers was on September 18, 2018 when the Gryphons earned a 26-10 road win.
Kickoff for the Gryphons final regular season
home game is set for 1pm, with the pre-game show (featuring 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 will close out the regular season as they take on the York Lions in Toronto on Friday, October 11 before going on their bye week. The 2024 OUA football playoffs kickoff on Saturday, October 26 with the quarterfinals.
