In their season home-opener on September 1, the Varsity Blues football team looked to improve their 1–0 record against the Guelph Gryphons at the Varsity Stadium. 

Coming off a 31–29 comeback win against the Waterloo Warriors on August 25 — where rookie quarterback Kaleb O’Donoghue was named Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Offensive Player of the Week for his 268-yard performance. The Blues looked to continue their winning record, with the Varsity Stadium at full capacity, with over 4000 fans cheering in the stands. 

Despite their best efforts, the Blues fell 10–47, with the Gryphons achieving a 2–0 record after their win over the Carleton Ravens on August 24. The Blues have gone 1–20 against the Gryphons since September 23, 2000, with their last win being in 2011. 

What happened? 

The Blues struggled in the opening quarter, failing to rush the ball against a strong Guelph defense. As the Blues’ own defense looked to settle, the Gryphons hit three early touchdowns and scored an extra point with the kickoff to end the quarter 0–22. 

Although the Blues’ comeback seemed difficult from the get-go, spectators remained hopeful as the team completed a comeback under a similar situation in their previous game against the Warriors; winning after being down eight points after the first quarter. 

The Blues remained scoreless in the second quarter until receiver Jake Oseen rushed 44 yards off of a reverse handoff play to score the Blues’ first touchdown with just under six minutes remaining in the game. U of T held Guelph back, as the Gryphons scored only four points in the second and third quarters against excellent defense headed by Blues’ Owen Cassie and Lachlan Scardina with six tackles each. 

With ten minutes left in the third quarter, kicker Sam Henke scored an 18-yard field goal to close the gap to 13. However, the Gryphons fought back with another field goal with nearly eight minutes remaining — resulting in a 10–26 score heading into the final quarter. 

The Blues seemed to run out of steam in the last quarter, giving up 21 points to end the game with a final score of 10–47. 

What’s next?

“Everybody fought right until the end [and] tried to do the best we could, but the result obviously wasn’t what we wanted,” said Oseen, the Blues’ sole touchdown scorer who racked up 93 scrimmage yards. “[Scoring] was a great feeling obviously, [but] I feel like [we] could have had a lot better of a result”. 

However, Oseen remains hopeful for a successful rest of the season. 

“We’re just going to … get dialed in and be ready for McMaster on the road. If we prepare like we did and how we thought we did for this week, I think we will have the result we want.”