| Western 38, Laurier 30
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
The Good
- The Win - Western had to come back in the last few minutes to get the win. With 15 seconds left, the game was tied at 30. Some great running by Fabian Rayne resulted in a Western TD and ultimately put the Mustangs ahead for good. A win is a win and we'll take it.
- Place kicker Giulio Fricano's 80 yard kick-off after the go ahead TD. The kick went through the endzone for a single point ensuring that Western, at worst, would have ended up with a tie.
- Quarterback Mike O'Brien's punt late in the fourth quarter that went out of bounds on the one yard line. The score was tied at this point and Western needed to get the ball back.
- The defensive line and linebackers. These guys were supposed to be a weak link with their inexperience. But their play was outstanding against Laurier. Kudos to defensive line coaches Sean McKeown and Dave Shoebottom.
- The offensive backfield. The running game is looking good again this year.
- Quarterback Mike O'Brien's scrambling. He made a couple of good runs against Laurier that kept drives alive with first downs.
The Bad
- The new PA announcer. After Western tied the game with a touchdown, he said that after the convert Western would be ahead. He was right in theory. The problem was that Western missed the extra point and the game was tied.
- The play calling. It was clear early in the game that the passing game wasn't working well. Every time they passed the drive failed. Whenever they ran the drive worked. So, as usual over the past 13 seasons, Haylor kept going to the pass again and again. And drives were stopped again and again.
- The defensive secondary. These guys were supposed to be the experienced bunch. It hasn't looked that way so far.
The Ugly
- Quarterback Mike O'Brien's passing. It was pathetic during the Mac game and it was pathetic during the Laurier game. He made one good pass-a key touchdown pass-all game. One other pass looked good on the stats sheet but the receiver was standing still with no defenders for miles around. He threw three interceptions. He was consistently long. Against Mac he was consistently short. Maybe next week he'll get it right.
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