The tempo at Griffiths Stadium has been fast paced for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies as the team puts the final touches on its strategy ahead of the 2024 Canada West football season.
The team plays its first game in Winnipeg on Aug. 31, taking the field against the University of Manitoba Bisons.
“We’ve been dialled during training camp,” quarterback Anton Amundrud said ahead of the game. “The offence has been looking good, defence has been looking good. We’ve been competing well and we’re feeling great coming into Week 1 here.”
After back-to-back trips to the Vanier Cup in 2021 and 2022, the Huskies struggled with consistency in 2023 after starting the season with a 4-1 record.
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The ‘Dogs’ would eventually finish the regular season with a 5-3 record and would be bounced in the first round of Canada West playoffs by Alberta, marking Saskatchewan’s first Hardy Cup playoff loss since 2019.
“We got to do a better job, myself for sure, of making sure that we’re in the moment and not trying to get too far ahead of ourselves on anything,” Huskies head coach Scott Flory said.
The Huskies’ biggest offseason change came on the sideline, as Flory promoted quarterbacks assistant Jeremy Long to offensive coordinator.
A former Huskies quarterback himself, he’s overseen the development of Amundrud as a second-year starter following an up and down first year under centre.
“He’s really taken control of the offence,” Long said. “He’s really taken it upon himself to make sure that he’s prepared before practice, before games and so forth. I’d say in the second year, you’re starting to see it now.”
The Huskies hit the field against the Bisons at 1 p.m.
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