The Western Mustangs football team rebounded nicely from their first loss of the season with a dominant 61-20 victory over the Laurier Golden Hawks last Thursday. Western now looks to begin another winning streak when they head on the road this Saturday for a showdown with the Guelph Gryphons.
 
Saturday's game will mark the third time in as many weeks that the CIS No. 4 Mustangs have faced an opponent listed in the CIS Top 10 rankings as the Gryphons sit two spots behind the Mustangs in the latest media poll in sixth place. With both team's tied for second in the OUA standings with identical 5-1 records, the game will have major playoff implications including going a big way to determine which team earns a first round playoff bye.
 
Western's latest contest featured a bit of a different look for the Mustangs with a number of players out of the lineup due to injury, including starting quarterback Will Finch and receiver Matt Uren.
 
Despite missing some key players the Mustangs didn't miss a step, posting 720 yards of offence with six touchdowns. Quarterback Stevenson Bone impressed in his first career OUA start, completing 19-of-25 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns. He also ranked second among all Mustangs rushers with 86 yards and one TD on only seven rushing attempts.
 
Garret Sanvido led the Mustangs ground game, picking up 165 yards on 17 attempts, while Brian Marshall topped the receiving section of the score sheet with eight catches for 157 yards and one touchdown.
 
Defensively the Mustangs held the CIS' top rusher Dillon Campbell to his worst total of the season, gaining only 111 yards on the ground with one touchdown. Although 100+ yard games are something to celebrate for most running backs, Campbell had been averaging 204.2 yards per game prior to facing the purple and white defence.
 
A strong defence will be key to this Saturday's contest as the Gryphons enter as one of the CIS' highest scoring teams, ranking fourth in the nation with 42.2 points per game. They also head into Saturday with momentum on their side, with the team riding a five-game winning streak that includes wins over Toronto, Ottawa, Windsor, Carleton, and perhaps most impressively, a 66-0 win over Queen's that marked the first time since 2005 that the Gaels had been held pointless.

The Gryphons offence is lead by the duo of quarterback Jazz Lindsey and running back Rob Farquharson. In six games this season Lindsey has completed 90 of his 160 passes for 1,218 yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions. The senior pivot can also get the job down with his legs as he's scored four rushing TDs while running the ball 27 times for 194 yards. Despite missing last week's game due to injury, Farquharson has also had a strong season, averaging 117.5 yards per game and 6.7 yards per attempt with three touchdowns on the year.

Western's offensive line will have to look out for senior defensive lineman Cameron Walker who leads the team with four sacks on the year. Fellow linemen Djordie Gravilo and Charlie Taggart are also effective at getting to opposing quarterbacks as they both have three sacks this season.

Game time for the contest on October 18 is set for 1 p.m. at Alumni Stadium in Guelph. Fans can watch all the action live on OUA.tv, or listen on CHRW and Newstalk 1290 CJBK with Tom McConnell and legendary Mustangs coach Larry Haylor calling all the action.