U of Saskatchewan faces Western in U Sports semifinal
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| Tyler Chow had a monster game for the Huskies in the Hardy Cup. |
Last Saturday, Chow had his most memorable game to date with
the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. The star running back, who is in his
fifth and final season with the Huskies, carried the ball 24 times for 222
yards and scored two touchdowns. The alumnus of Calgary’s Notre Dame High
School Pride football team hauled in two passes for 19 yards for the Huskies as
well.
Thanks to Chow’s efforts, the Huskies pulled off a huge
43-18 upset over the previously undefeated University of Calgary Dinos in the
Canada West Conference championship game – the Hardy Cup at McMahon Stadium.
The Huskies, who improved to 7-3 overall, claimed the Canada West title for the
first time since 2006.
The Dinos, who finished the campaign at 9-1 overall, were
trying to win a third straight Canada West title and their ninth conference
crown in the past 11 seasons before falling to the Huskies.
Chow, who stand 5-foot-11 and weighs 195 pounds, thrilled a
large contingent of family and friends he had in the crowd of 1,877.
He had a touchdown on a one-yard run late in the second
quarter to give the Huskies an 18-8 edge on the Dinos.
With the Huskies holding a 25-18 edge, Chow had the game’s
defining play running in a touchdown from 23 yards out just 91 seconds into the
fourth quarter to give the Huskies a 32-18 lead.
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| Tyler Chow was named a Canada West all-star this season. |
On Wednesday, Chow was named the U Sports offensive player
of the week for his efforts against Calgary. Stenger took the U Sports special
teams player of the week award making 2-of-3 field goals for the Huskies and
averaging 41.5 yards on four punts landing one of those kicks inside the Dinos
20 yard line.
Coming into this season, there were questions marks
surrounding how effective Chow might be. He missed four games last season and
was limited in four other contests due to a lower body injury.
He carried the ball
100 times for 640 yards and scored two touchdowns to earn Canada West all-star
honours and help the Huskies post a 5-3 regular season record in 2018.
During his regular
season career with the Huskies, Chow carried the ball 385 times for 2,372 yards
and scored 13 touchdowns.
The Calgary, Alta.,
product just edged Tyler Siwak for third on the Huskies career rushing yards
list.
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| Tyler Chow is the Huskies third all-time leading rusher. |
Doug Rozon is the
Huskies all-time leading rusher piling up 4,086 yards playing from 1995 to
1999. Terry Eisler sits second on the Huskies’ all-time rushing list with 2428
yards playing in 1985 and 1987 to 1989. David Stevens rounds out the Huskies
career top five rushing leaders with 2,276 yards playing from 2001 to 2005.
Entering the 2018 post-season,
Chow had never been part of a playoff win with the Huskies unlike the other
four top five rushers in team history, who all had a hand in various playoffs
runs that saw the Huskies reach the Vanier Cup. In Rozon’s case, he helped the
Huskies win two Vanier Cups in 1996 and 1998 running behind an offensive line
that contained a star named Scott Flory, who is now the Huskies head coach.
Chow was able to
dump the unwanted distinction of never being part of a playoff win on Nov. 3 in
Vancouver, B.C., when he helped the Huskies post a 31-28 overtime upset victory
over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.
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| Tyler Chow scored two touchdowns in the Hardy Cup. |
Combine that game with his efforts against the Dinos in a
Canada West title winning game for the Huskies, Chow has created his own
storied playoff run and has vaulted his name firmly into the conversation of
who are the top all-time running backs in the history of the U of S football
program.
While the Huskies have pulled out two giant upsets at this
point in the U Sports playoffs, they now face their greatest David versus
Goliath match.
The coming Saturday, the Huskies travel to London, Ont., to
face the defending Vanier Cup champion University of Western Ontario Mustangs
in the Mitchell Bowl, which is one of two U Sports semifinal playoff games. The
Mitchell Bowl will be shown live at 3 p.m. Saskatchewan time on Sportsnet.
The Universite Laval Rouge et Or (10-0) host the St. Francis
Xavier University X-Men (8-2) in the other U Sports semifinal - the Uteck Bowl –
also on Saturday in Quebec City, Quebec.
The Mustangs enter their match with the Huskies ranked as
the top rated team in the final U Sports Top 10 rankings and have won their
last 22 games overall in a row.
Western’s last loss came back on Nov. 12, 2016 in the Yates
Cup, which is the Ontario University Athletics conference championship game, to
the Wilfred Laurier University Golden Hawks 43-40. The Mustangs led that
contest 40-19 in the fourth quarter, before the Golden Hawks pulled out an
incredible comeback.
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| Tyler Chow and the Huskies fifth-year are having a memorable final run. |
Western thumped the mighty Rouge et Or 39-17 in last year’s
Vanier Cup.
So far, Chow and the Huskies have shown the role of giant
killer fits them just fine.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Chow and the Huskies come
up with another giant performance, and if they do, they might be heading to the
Vanier Cup to be held on Nov. 24 in Quebec City, Quebec.
— Huskie Football (@skhuskies) November 11, 2018
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