Game Notes

The University of Regina Rams will play host to the conference-leading Simon Fraser Clan on Saturday afternoon at Mosaic Stadium.

Now there's a sentence that many Canada West observers thought they wouldn't be seeing midway through the 2008 season, but the Clan have proved that they're for real. In just his second season as head coach, David Johnson has taken a team that hadn't won a game since 2004 and turned it into a legitimate conference contender. At the halfway mark of the season, SFU is 3-1 and showing no signs of slowing down, having recorded wins over Saskatchewan and Calgary in the last two weeks.

A win for the Rams (1-2) this weekend would vault the team right into the middle of the Canada West pack after a slow start. Regina is coming off its first victory of the season, an 18-16 road win over the UBC Thunderbirds which saw fifth-year running back Luke Derkson rush for 208 yards on the ground – the first time in almost two years that a Ram has rushed for at least 200 yards in a game.

If Derkson continues at his current pace, he'll have a chance to threaten the 1000-yard mark in rushing marks for a single season, which would break Neal Hughes' U of R record of 953 yards set in 2003. Derkson leads Canada West in rushing yards per game (126.7) and all-purpose yards per game (168).

With wide receiver Jordan Sisco in the lineup for the first time this season, quarterback Teale Orban threw for 222 yards and a touchdown against UBC. Overall, Orban's numbers are down from the torrid pace he put up in 2006 and 2007, but he still leads Canada West in passing yards per game (238) and total offence per game (275.7).

First-year wide receiver Mark McConkey has been Orban's favourite target through the first three games of the season. McConkey has a team-high 16 receptions and ranks second in the conference with an average of 5.3 receptions per game.

Defensively, fourth-year linebacker Brandon Ganne leads the team with 24 total tackles, three sacks, and one interception. Ganne's average of eight tackles per game is ranked second in Canada West, behind only Manitoba's Kenton Onofrychuk. Defensive end Stan Van Sichem had a sack in the third quarter against UBC to become the U of R's all-time leader with 12 in his career.

Simon Fraser has seen a remarkable turnaround this season. The Clan's win over UBC back on Aug. 23 broke the program's 25-game losing streak, and the team has won two of its three games since. Johnson and SFU offensive coordinator Shawn Olson recruited Austrian quarterback Bernd Dittrich, who has been effective with both his arm and his legs this year with the Clan. Dittrich has not only thrown for 759 yards and four touchdowns, but also has a team-leading 237 rushing yards through the team's first four games.

The Clan have three backs (Gabriel Ephard, Marek Seta, and Josh Havey) over 100 yards rushing for the season, with Brandon Halverson not far behind with 97 yards on the ground. Jeffrey Biles, who also handles the team's punting and kicking duties, is the Clan's leading receiver with 14 catches for 247 yards.

Brian Ridgeway leads SFU defensively with 24 total tackles, two sacks, and an interception. As a team, the Clan is ranked second in the conference with a total of 10 interceptions, led by Thomas Pearce's two.

Saturday's game is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on 620 CKRM, available on the Internet at 620CKRM.com. Access7 will rebroadcast the game on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. and Tuesday night at 6 p.m.