Saskatchewan Huskies taking underdog mentality to Mitchell Bowl

The celebration for Saskatchewan Huskies’ first Hardy Cup win in 12 years lasted about as how long as the bus ride to the hotel, and then it was back to work.

“Just happy for the guys, I’m so proud of them and how they competed all year,” Huskies head coach Scott Flory said.

“But as I said to them and I’ll say every day, our work’s not done. We got another opportunity, another week to get better and that’s all we’re looking at.”

The U Sports football team is now set for the Mitchell Bowl, with a spot in the Vanier Cup on the line.

In order to make it to the national final game, first they have to go through the Western Mustangs on Saturday in London, Ont.

The No. 1-ranked Mustangs haven’t lost in 22 consecutive games, including last year’s Vanier Cup, but the Dogs aren’t intimidated by the rankings or the streak. After all, the Calgary Dinos were also undefeated before losing to Saskatchewan 43-18 in the Hardy Cup on Nov. 10.

“We’ve embraced that underdog role and we know that they’re a good team, we know that they’re going to be confident, but we’re also confident in ourselves and we had that same mentality going into Calgary last week,” Huskies quarterback Kyle Siemens said.

“Calgary was the best team in the country, and we played a really good game against them, and we know now that Western’s probably the best team in the country and we’re going to walk in there and give them our best shot.”

The Huskies, who have not forgotten they were ranked last in the Canada West pre-season poll, see no reason why they can’t do it again.

“Being the last place team it definitely helped satisfy most of us that, we’re going to play like underdogs. I think we proved who we were on Saturday,” Huskies running back Tyler Chow said.

Chow piled up a Canada West season-high 222 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the Dogs’ win over Calgary.