USports football top 10: Picton puts Regina in the mix

Following their most impressive performance so far this season, the reigning Vanier Cup champion Western Mustangs top the USports football national rankings for the fourth consecutive week.

The Mustangs (3-0), who outgained visiting York by 556 total yards (642-86) on Saturday in a lopsided 76-3 win, received 134 points from the Football Reporters of Canada panel in this week’s voting and an additional 140 from the ELO Rating System for a combined total of 274.

The 2018 Vanier Cup finalist Laval Rouge et Or (3-0 / 249 points) follow in second place for the fourth straight Tuesday, while the Calgary Dinos (3-0 / 231) are third for the second week in a row.

Western (10), Laval (3) and Calgary (1) were once again the only teams to merit first-place votes from the 14-member FRC panel.

Rounding out the fourth top 10 of the campaign are the fourth-seeded Montreal Carabins (2-1 / 184 / up one position), No. 5 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (2-1 / 144 / down one), No. 6 Carleton Ravens (3-1 / 131 / up two), No. 7 Saint Mary’s Huskies (3-0 / 79 / no change), No. 8 Regina Rams (2-1 / 52 / previously unranked), No. 9 Saskatchewan Huskies (2-1 / 45 / no change) and No. 10 Guelph Gryphons (2-2 / 45 / no change).

At London, top-ranked Western used a 32-point second quarter to build a 46-3 halftime lead against York and then cruised to its 15th straight overall victory dating back to a loss to Laurier in the 2016 Yates Cup. Standout running backs Cedric Joseph and Alex Taylor both scored a pair of touchdowns, while on the other side of the ball, their teammates racked up four interceptions and seven tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

Meanwhile, an hour north-east of TD Stadium, Tre Ford and Tyler Ternowski connected for an 88-yard pass-and-run score with under three minutes remaining as unranked Waterloo stunned Laurier 34-32 to win the Battle of Waterloo for the first time since 2002. At the midway point of the regular schedule, Ford, the 2017 national rookie of the year, has thrown a U SPORTS-leading 15 TD passes, eight of them to Ternowski.

After ending a 14-game losing streak against their cross-town rivals, the Warriors will now look to halt a 10-game drought versus Western when they host the Mustangs Saturday at 1 p.m., live on OUA.TV. Waterloo’s last head-to-head success dates back almost 17 years, a 22-3 win on Sept. 29, 2001.

At Saskatoon, Canada West-leading Calgary outgunned Saskatchewan 37-28 for its third straight top-10 win to open the campaign. Adam Sinagra threw for an eye-popping 569 yards, the second-highest single-game total in U SPORTS annals.

Other Week 4 results from top-10 squads included Montreal 43, Sherbrooke 11 (at Sherbrooke); Carleton 42, Queen’s 39 in overtime (at Carleton); Regina 19, UBC 17 (at Regina); Guelph 26, Windsor 20 (at Windsor).

Undefeated Laval and Saint Mary’s were both enjoying well-deserved breaks.

In addition to the Western-Waterloo tilt for first place in the OUA, the Week 5 schedule is highlighted by a top-10 confrontation between No. 8 Regina and No. 9 Saskatchewan, Friday evening in Saskatoon (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, SaskTel maxTV, TELUS Optik TV, Bell MTS & CanadaWest.TV).

Also on Friday night, Acadia (2-1) visits Saint Mary’s in a rematch of last year’s conference final (6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT, AUStv.ca).

For their part, Laval and Calgary will also look to maintain their unblemished records against McGill (1-2) and UBC (1-2), respectively. The Rouge et Or host the Redmen on Sunday (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT), while the Dinos visit the Thunderbirds on Saturday (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, SaskTel maxTV, TELUS Optik TV, Bell MTS & CanadaWest.TV).

FRC – USports football top 10 (#4)

New this season, USports is implementing the ELO Rating System for the calculation of its weekly national rankings, in conjunction with its regular Football Reporters of Canada panel. Powered by RankR, ELO’s unique algorithm blends a statistical calculation with customized variables that is adaptable across a range of sports. For football, it will be combined with the results of the media panel balloting (each weighted 50%) to produce the final top 10.

RANK	SCHOOL	SEASON	MEDIA	ELO	TOTAL	PREVIOUS
1	Western	3-0	134 (10)	140	274	1
2	Laval	3-0	123 (3)	126	249	2
3	Calgary	3-0	119 (1)	112	231	3
4	Montréal	2-1	100	84	184	5
5	Laurier	2-1	46	98	144	4
6	Carleton	3-1	61	70	131	8
7	Saint Mary’s	3-0	23	56	79	7
8	Regina	2-1	52	0	52	NR
9	Saskatchewan	2-1	45	0	45	9
10	Guelph	2-2	1	42	43	10
Honourable mention: UBC (41), Waterloo (35), Ottawa (27), Concordia (3), McMaster (1)