CIS: Alberta Golden Bears set to host Regina Rams and Grey Cup in their home opener

Along with the Rams being in town, Golden Bears and Pandas Athletics are throwing an alumni and donor appreciation event in the Foote Field Alumni Lounge, and Canada’s marquee football trophy, the Grey Cup, will be on hand as well.

The Canadian Football League’s championship trophy, donated in 1909 by Lord Earl Grey who served as Canada’s Governor General from 1905 – 1911, is stopping in Edmonton and at Foote Field as part of the CFL’s Grey Cup 100 Train Tour. Presented by RONA, the Grey Cup 100 Train Tour is a uniquely Canadian journey which sees the Grey Cup travel the country to visit more than 100 communities from coast to coast to coast.

The Grey Cup 100 Train Tour will be stopping in all eight CFL cities — Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Toronto, and Montreal — as well as Ottawa, the national capital and site of so much Canadian football history, Quebec City, Moncton, and Halifax.

The Grey Cup will arrive in several cities aboard a specially retrofitted train that includes a car showcasing the Grey Cup, a special museum car that captures its long and storied history, and a team car that celebrates the special place today’s CFL teams have in their communities and the hearts of their fans across the country. The train will be surrounded by fun activities for families as well as pomp and ceremony.

At Foote Field on Friday, fans can have their photo taken with the Grey Cup before, during, and after the Golden Bears’ home opener, and immediately share their pride via social media with family, friends, and fellow fans.

On the field, the Golden Bears will be looking to improve in all areas of the game after a couple of difficult road losses to start the season.

For the eighth time in 10 years, Alberta opened their season on the road, and for the fifth time in 10 years, they began their season in Saskatoonagainst the perennial CIS top 10 Saskatchewan Huskies.  Following that game, the Bears traveled to Calgary to take on the four-time defending Canada West champion Dinos.

Now, finally at home, and looking to put big losses behind them, a very young Golden Bears’ team has to take on their third CIS top 10 ranked team in three weeks.  Of course, when you play in a conference with four of the seven teams in the national top 10, there are never any easy games.

Regina arguably boasts the best quarterback in Canada West, and possibly in the CIS, with fifth-year veteran Marc Mueller. The Regina-born pivot has his named listed in the Canada West record book 29 times, and boasts a career completion mark of 60.1%. He’s also thrown for over 5,000 yards in his CIS career and has tossed 27 TDs.  However, after a stunning 2010 season, which earned him a tryout with the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos, Mueller suffered a season-ending injury early into the 2011 campaign. Now, rehabbed and back in as Regina’s starter, he currently leads the conference in passing yards per game with 292.5, and has Regina’s offence as one of the most productive in Canada West. His favourite target has been third-year slotback Jared Janotta, while veteran Mark McConkey is always a threat.

Defensively, the Rams are the conference’s best team at creating turnovers, highlighted by third-year defensive back Jamir Walker’s performance last week in a win over UBC where he recorded two interceptions and one fumble.

Alberta will be led on offence by third-year Golden Bears’ quarterback Curtis Dell. Dell, who attended Eskimo’s camp this summer, as well as the entire Golden Bears’ young offence has suffered growing pains as they attempt to navigate the sharp learning curve that is moving from high school football, or from a back-up CIS position to starting.  Dell is new to starting in CIS, as are the running backs, and the O-line is comprised entirely of athletes either in their first or second year away from high school ball.