As I sit down to write this a couple of days after the big loss, I'm left wondering if the Mustangs have yet figured out what hit them. The answer, of course, is a better football team.

I'm also wondering if Western lost this game or if they were beaten. They're not syonymous. Losing is your own fault: poor execution, bad play calls, turnovers, penalties, etc. Being beat means the other team was better than you. The answer to this one, I think, is a bit of both. But mostly they were beaten. And beaten badly.

Going into the game the greatest concern facing the Mustangs had to be the defence. Being ranked number one in the OUA simply meant they were the best of a bad lot. Saskatchewan didn't waste any time exposing this fact to all who cared to watch.

The Huskies came out running and pushed the Mustang defence all over the field. For most of the first half it was no contest. Saskatchewan lead 12-0 before Western was able to put some offence together late in the half. A Mike O'Brien pass, set up by some good running by Fabian Rayne, made the score 12-7 at half time. Western must have been shell shocked in the locker room; the damage could have been a lot worse except for a couple of stalled Husky drives.

In the second half it looked like the defence was tightening up and getting control of things a bit better. This despite another Husky touchdown early in the third quarter. After a Craig Proctor field goal and a Fabian Rayne touchdown the score was 19-17 Saskatchewan midway through the fourth quarter and fans were gearing up for a great finish. The Huskies had other things in mind.

The Saskatchewan offence took control of things again and resumed their relentless pounding of the Mustang defence and continued to pile up the yards. When the dust had settled they had scored another 14 unanswered points and sealed the victory.

Throughout the game the Mustangs didn't do themselves any favours with numerous miscues. These included several - and I do mean several - missed tackles often with more than one on the same play. There were also some big pass drops such as Scott Crawley's when he was wide open with nothing but prairie turf between him and the endzone. Some bad decisions (a run attempt on a punt fake instead of a pass,) some bad play calls (the option,) and fumbles (the option again) all added up to help make Saskatchewan's day that much easier.

Notes

• The Vanier Cup will be Saskatchewan and Concordia. Concordia has won their championship. They're going to get killed at Skydome.

• What was the idea with that option play? Western has hardly run it all season and then they try it in a crucial situation in the most important game of the season. It may work in practice but a game situation is another story. For those who didn't see it, it was pitch to Crawley who fumbled.

• Freshman linebacker Justin Anania has a great future in this league. He was the one bright spot on the defence all game. He gets mustangfootball.com player of the game. (Yes. It always goes to a Mustang.)

• Fabian Rayne caught his first, and only, pass of the season in the second half. It was in territory he knows well: the end zone.

• I was particularly impressed with the Huskies speed on defence. Every time a hole opened up and it looked like a big run was on the way, a green Jersey showed up and made the tackle.