LONDON, Ont. - The Western Mustangs face a nationally ranked opponent for the third time this season, and travel to an opposition's Homecoming for the second straight weekend, as the Mustangs travel to Alumni Stadium to take on the Guelph Gryphons. 

The game kicks off Saturday, Sept. 26, at 1 p.m. (The Score, CHRW), and promises to be a high scoring affair. 

The Mustangs are averaging a strong 543 yards per game on offence through the first three weeks of the season, topped only by Guelph's 586-yard average. 

The teams have No. 1 and 2 ranked offences in the OUA. 

"On a good, dry day, I would expect there would be scoring" said Western Coach Greg Marshall. "Guelph has good, fast weapons. [Running back Nick] FitzGibbon can do everything, catching passes out of the backfield included. We'll need to control the ball and not give their offence to many opportunities." 

Guelph head coach Kyle Walters, a native of St. Thomas, Ont., is not paying too much attention to their slim lead in offensive numbers. 

"The only ranking we know right now is that we have the No. 2 team in the country coming in, so we better clean it up in practice," he said. 

When asked how he intends to stop Western's dominant offence, Walters joked that "you want to jam the box with 12 guys and play cover zero, but [Western quarterback Michael] Faulds and those receivers will skin you over the top. You try to limit runs, be sure tacklers. When they make their plays you make sure you get the runners down and limit the yardage." 

The Gryphons are coming off a 53 - 25 win over the Toronto Varsity Blues in a game in which offensive opportunities were not very hard to come by. When asked about the win, Walters said: "We've been doing a great job on offence of limiting turnovers and continuing drives. Penalties hurt us last week, so we've been practising with more discipline. We'll need to take care of the ball and keep the Mustangs offence off the field." 

On paper, it would be difficult to find two more evenly matched offences. Mustangs quarterback  Faulds (Eden Mills, Ont.), just off a spectacular performance last week in which he surpassed Chris Hessel for the all-time Western passing yardage record, has thrown for 944 yards this season. This trails only Guelph's Justin Dunk (Guelph, Ont.) in the OUA. 

Comparing rushing totals, it is the same story. Guelph's total to date only barely surpasses Western's, 1,758 yards to the Mustangs' 1,628 for a difference of 130 yards. Guelph's star runningback, Nick FitzGibbon (Puslinch, Ont.), scored a spectacular four touchdowns in a 53-25 Gryphons win last week over the Toronto Varsity Blues. 

Walters said he sees FitzGibbon as a real weapon on his team, saying: "He's really versatile and can play out of the backfield, or we can flank him out. He's a patient runner without the flat-out speed of [Western's running back Nathan] Riva, but he moves laterally really well and makes a lot of people miss." 

Speaking further about Riva (LaSalle, Ont.), Marshall pointed out that "he's incredibly fast and accelerates quickly. This year he got more physical and fearless. When we recruited him down in Hamilton, people said he was not really a running back, more of a receiver. This is false. He's a great running back." 

Riva's speed and physical play allowed him to muscle in for five touchdowns last week against Windsor. As both coaches pointed out, turnovers may make the difference. In this category, Guelph has the clear advantage, having thrown only two interceptions and lost one fumble. Western doubles those totals in both categories, with four interceptions and two lost fumbles, although the Mustangs only lag one place behind No. 2 Guelph in the OUA turnover rankings. 

Guelph's relative parity with Western is very recent. 

Historically, Western has a dominating presence, leading the rivalry between two schools with 39 wins to just 11 losses and two ties. 

Marshall is very complimentary of Walters' coaching and recruiting, saying that "Kyle's not letting too many good players slip out of town anymore," referring to Western players Zach Pollari, Jesse Bellamy, and Michael Faulds, all from the Guelph area. This game will likely be their last in front of their hometown fans, as all three of them graduate from the OUA after this year. This kind of incentive might be exactly what the Mustangs will need to win in what is likely to be a very close game. 

Western will need any edge they can get against Guelph's home field advantage. 

"Even if it's hostile," Marshall said "it is a great atmosphere and a great stadium. One of the best college environments I've been to in a long time. They'll be loud, but what we have to do is block out the crowd, focus on the task at hand, and playing football." 

The Guelph home field advantage might be about more than just crowd noise, as Alumni Stadium is one of the few venues in the OUA with a natural grass surface, and this will be Western's first game not playing on artificial turf this year. Marshall acknowledges the difficulty this may present for the Mustangs, but isn't too worried about it, saying: "We don't have lots of grass to practice on, so what can you do? Get ready, bring different pairs of footwear and try them out before the game." 

The Mustangs, hoping to extend their winning streak this season to four, will surely come prepared. The teams kickoff at 1 p.m. on Saturday Sept. 26 at Alumni Stadium in Guelph, Ont. The game will air live on The Score (channel 54 in London, Ont.). 

Western's full schedule can be found here for the 2009 football season.