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University of Saskatchewan Huskies head coach Scott Flory has had one message for his football team since players got back to the practice facility last month.
Just play.
The Huskies head coach is ready to see his players zoom on the field after spending a year and a half on Zoom meetings trying to recruit, train and keep players up to date after the 2020 U Sports season was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve been talking since we actually got together over the summer — the guys just want to play,” Flory said earlier this week.
With all of the preparation behind him and another Canada West season just hours away, Flory now wants to see what his team is made of after landing at No. 6 in the country in the Week 1 rankings.
“Any expectations externally are never as high as what we put on ourselves,” Flory said of a roster boasting plenty of experience on offence and plenty of inexperience on defence.
First up for the Huskies is a Saturday matchup with the defending Vanier Cup-champion University of Calgary Dinos, the team the Huskies lost to in the Hardy Cup final 29-4 way back on Nov. 9, 2019.
After a layoff lasting 686 days between games, Huskies running back Adam Machart is ready to follow up a season in which he was nominated for the Hec Crighton Award in 2019. Other key returnees include quarterback Mason Nyhus and receivers Colton Klassen and Jesse Kuntz.
“I haven’t taken this much time off from the competitive side in my whole life,” Machart said at the team’s final practice Thursday before travelling to Calgary.
“To be waiting this long to play a game has been crazy. We’re ready to go and I can’t wait.”
Machart ran for 1,334 yards in 2019, surpassing the previous Huskies record of 1,104 yards set in 1999 by Doug Rozon. Much of the same will be expected with 10 offensive starters returning. Tanner Secord and Mattland Riley are the offensive departures.
The Huskies are hoping to start off strong after winning only one of six games away from Griffiths Stadium in 2019.
“If it’s our house or their house, we really don’t care — we just really want to play party wrecker,” Flory said.
Nelson Lokombo and Josh Haggerty moving to the CFL ranks are the two most notable absences on the Huskies’ defence, which will feature a few fresh faces playing in their first U Sports conference play.
“We lost some other key pieces on defence too, but that’s football. That’s part the nature of football,” Flory said. “It’s an opportunity for those new guys to be able to play.”
Calgary is expected to lean heavily on receivers Jalen and Tyson Philpot, a set of playmaking twins who have caused the Huskies’ secondary headaches in the past.
Fifth-year quarterback Josiah Joseph takes over under centre after former Hec Crighton winner Adam Sinagra graduated in 2019.
The Dinos also feature some familiar faces to Saskatoon football fans. Running back Ben Abrook and defensive back Bailey Taylor will suit up for Calgary after each spent time with the Saskatoon Hilltops. Taylor played for the Huskies in 2017 and 2018. Saturday will mark his first game against his old team.
“It doesn’t matter who it is at this point. We’re confident in our team and each other. It doesn’t matter who we line up against. They’re going to get all we have,” Machart said.
— With files from The Green Zone
