October 17, 2008

Download the full game notes here (pdf)

THIS WEEK: The Bishop’s Gaiters (2-4) close out the home portion of their schedule as they face the No. 5-ranked Concordia Stingers (4-2).

FOLLOW, FOLLOW: Fans unable to get to Coulter Field can follow the game with Twitter updates on the Gaiters website at http://www.ubishops.ca/gaiters or http://www.twitter.com/BishopsGaiters. There will also be live stats coverage on the Gaiters website.

THE RECORDS: The Gaiters are 2-4 on the season, having alternated series of two losses and wins each. Concordia is 4-2, after having downed Mount Allison last week.

THE SCENARIO: The Gaiters can finish between third and fifth in the QUFL. To keep their playoff hopes alive, the Gaiters must win today (or have Montreal lose at McGill), and then defeat Montreal next week. A Montreal win and Bishop’s loss today would consign the Gaiters to 5th place.

LAST MEETING: The Gaiters fell 30-15 to Concordia in Montreal on September 5. Jesse Andrews passed for a career-high 333 yards, and Keith Godding made seven catches for 133 yards, but those efforts were for nought as the Gaiters committed six turnovers, allowing the Stingers to take a 25-15 halftime lead. Jamall Lee ran for 56 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, while Josh Maveety added the Gaiters’ other point on an 85-yard kickoff single..

THE SERIES: Since 1980, Bishop’s has posted a 25-26-2 record against Concordia. Concordia currently holds a ten-game winning streak in the series, with the last Bishop’s win being a 33-23 victory on October 27, 2001 at Concordia Stadium. The teams met twice last season, with Concordia winning 20-18 in the season opener, in addition to the playoff victory. The first meeting between the two teams came in Lennoxville on October 4, 1975, when the Gaiters upset the heavily favoured Concordians 13-11.

LAST WEEK: Benoit Groulx threw for 327 yards and two touchdown passes as the No. 1-ranked Laval Rouge et Or cruised to a 41-10 victory over the Gaiters at Coulter Field. The Rouge et Or led 24-10 at halftime, and pulled away with 17 unanswered points in the second half. Ten different receivers caught passes for Laval, led by Laurent Lavigne-Masse, who had five for 103 yards. For the Gaiters, Jamall Lee carried 18 times for 70 yards. The Gaiters' only touchdown came on an eight-yard pass from Jesse Andrews to Steven Turner in the second quarter. Keith Godding had a career-high nine catches for 121 yards. Defensively, the Gaiters were led by James Yurichuk, who made 11 tackles (9 solo) while Nick Poloniato and Harrison Maloney made seven each.

4K IS OK: Last week, fourth-year running back Jamall Lee became only the eighth player in CIS history to reach 4,000 yards rushing. He now sits in seventh place on the all-time CIS list, with 4,011 yards in 30 games. Lee is 75 yards away from entering the top 5 (4086 by Doug Rozon, Saskatchewan) and 127 yards away from current Hamilton Tiger-Cat (and ex-McMaster Marauder) Jesse Lumsden’s career total of 4,138. Lee currently leads the CIS with an average of 152.8 yards per game (Mike Giffin of Queen’s, is second at 149.3).

LEE'S MAJORS: Lee also holds the QUFL record with 33 rushing touchdowns, and he is now 11th on the CIS all-time rushing touchdown list. He is three total touchdowns short of the QUFL’s record of 36, held by Pierre-Luc Yao of Laval. Lee’s eight rushing touchdowns this season are four shy of the school record of 12, which he shares with Chris Skinner.

IN GODDING WE TRUST: Fifth-year receiver Keith Godding had a career-high nine catches for 122 yards last week. Godding is now 9th in the CIS with 496 yards this season. Saturday was the third time this season that Godding has gone over 100 yards receiving, the first being on Sept. 5 against Concordia. He has a career total of 1,822 yards receiving, and has averaged 15.3 yards per catch. Godding is 291 yards away from the school single-season record of 787, set by Nigel McGillivery in 1995.

YURI THE MAN: After his 11 tackles last week against Laval, linebacker James Yurichuk has moved up to 4th in the CIS with 46.5 tackles this season. He has made at least six tackles in every game this season. Yurichuk was named the QUFL Defensive Player of the Week for his performance last Saturday, the second win of his career. Yurichuk also moved past the 150 tackle mark, and is now second on the Gaiters’ all-time list with 151.

JONESING FOR SACKS: Linebacker Kyle Jones had the Gaiters’ only sack last week, putting him in the team lead at 3.5 on the season. He has a total of 30.0 tackles this year, which is tied for 8th in the QUFL.

MILESTONES: Several Gaiters are approaching career milestones:

• Jamall Lee needs 14 carries to tie the QUFL career record

• Jamall Lee needs two points for 200 in his career

• Jesse Andrews needs 3 completions for 250 in his career.

• Keith Godding needs 178 receiving yards to reach 2,000 for his career

• Keith Godding needs 56 all-purpose yards to reach 2,000 for his career

• Steven Turner needs 56 punt return yards to reach 500 for his career

• Kyle Jones needs 10 tackles to reach 150 for his career

• Kyle Jones needs one pass knockdown to reach ten for his career.

TODAY IN GAITERS HISTORY:  On October 18, 1969, led by star running back Larry Smith, the Gaiters walloped the Macdonald College Aggies 47-10 at Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue. The win was the Gaiters’ eighth straight (dating back to 1968), as they would go a perfect 6-0 in the CCIFC East. The 1969 Gaiters made the first of three consecutive playoff appearances, losing 23-22 to Windsor in the CCIFC Championship.