It was a beautiful, warm, and sunny afternoon at Varsity Stadium, but the Guelph Gryphons found a way to rain on U of T’s first Homecoming game in several years, beating the Varsity Blues 38–12.

In the past three years, the Blues have played the Gryphons in a number of close games that had some commentators speaking of a growing rivalry between the two teams. Saturday’s game proved that the Gryphons have finally found a way to overcome their kryptonite.

The loss to Geulph dropped the Blues to a 1–3 record this season. MICHAEL CHAHLEY/THE VARSITY

With the Blues on the scoreboard early, it almost seemed as if another closely contested battle was on the cards. An impressive 71–yard kick return by defensive back Trevor Harvey combined with a 41-yard field goal by kicker Eric Hewitson, gave Toronto a 3–0 lead. Once the Gryphons took a 7–3 lead 15 minutes into the first quarter, their offensive prowess proved too much for the Blues to handle.

The Blues trailed 7–3, 21–3, 28–5, and 38–12 after each quarter, respectively. Toronto returner Kevin Bradfield’s 97–yard punt return for the touchdown late in the game earned the Blues a somewhat positive finish.

Speaking, after the game, Varsity Blues head coach Greg Gary said: “Our intention when we came out today was to have a competitive game against Guelph. They got up on us. We had a lot of turnovers and our offence really struggled today.”

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Gary though, who added: “What I learned about our team was that we compete until the very end. I feel really good moving forward. We’re going to Windsor next week and that will be another opportunity for our team to play a really good opponent. If we do what we’re supposed to do, I think we have a chance to have some success down the road.”

Varsity Blues wide-receiver Paul de Pass, who in 2012, recorded a career-high 167 receiving yards. De Pass noted that the team will look to learn from the loss: “We’re going to come in tomorrow and watch the film and flush it out,” he said, following the game.

Guelph’s Lindsay brothers were the stars of the show. Saxon Lindsay caught two of his brother’s four touchdown passes for 108 passing yards, while Jazz Lindsay threw for 297 passing yards. Jazz was named the Porter player of the game.

Several colleges and faculties attended the game en-masse in the first homecoming game in recent years. CAROLYN LEVETT/THE VARSITY

“I don’t think you can find too many things wrong with the way Guelph played today,” coach Gary explained. “Their special teams were fantastic. Their run defence was good. We had a couple of good runs, but overall they played really well.” This year, Guelph’s run defence was ranked second best in the cis.

The game was nationally televised on Sportsnet360. In response to whether featuring in a nationally televised game added any pressure to the team, de Pass said: “I wouldn’t call it pressure. It’s exciting. It’s something different that we don’t really get to experience quite often. We really enjoy it.”

If the action on the field left little to be desired, the 3,596 fans assembled at Varsity Stadium made the best of it. Many took part in the early morning pre-game pep rally in the University College quad, which included a free bbq, face and body painting, free giveaways, and sign and button making. A 10-day Contiki tour of Europe was one of the day’s big giveaways, while some creative fans revealed a poster emblazoned with the words: “Win or lose, we don’t live in Guelph.”

First-year humanities and linguistics student Leah Vargas attended the pep rally and football match with two of her friends. “It [has] been a lot of fun. I thought it was a good way to get involved, meet new people, and show support for the team. The pep rally was a really great environment to show school spirit. We learned a lot of new cheers,” she said.

Calvin F., a first-year student in electrical engineering, also attended the pep rally. While he enjoyed himself, he said, “I thought Homecoming would be bigger. It’s definitely a little bit different than how homecoming is depicted in movies and TV shows.”

Second-year defensive back Jaiden McBride had three tackles in the loss. MICHAEL CHAHLEY/THE VARSITY

This was U of T’s first Homecoming game in a number of years. The university decided to eliminate the use of the term “Homecoming” when promoting the first home football game of the academic year, hoping to diminish the chance of alcohol consumption and violence — problems that have afflicted other universities at Homecoming.

The support did not go unnoticed by the Varsity Blues. “The crowd was fantastic,” de Pass commented. “We really appreciated it. We just apologize for not being able to put on a better performance for them.”

The Varsity Blues head to Windsor to face the Lancers next Saturday.