The University of Saskatchewan Huskies compete within the Canada West Universities Athletic Association conference as part of Canadian Interuniversity Sport. In order to win a CIS championship, which is top honours in the country’s university athletics, teams must qualify and win their conference’s playoffs, and win the CIS playoffs — the only exception in qualifying for playoffs is that the host school automatically competes. Other conferences in the CIS include the Ontario University Athletics, the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec and the Atlantic University Sport.

Coming off the 2010-11 season, the Huskies saw a few of their teams put up their strongest showings in history. This year, a few of the Huskies’ teams have rosters in place to win conference championships and some star players to break national records. Other teams, of course, will finish at the bottom of their division as they have young rosters and are rebuilding for the future.

Football

According to the Canada West preseason coaches’ poll, the Huskies are the third strongest team in the conference behind the Regina Rams and the Calgary Dinos. However, those rankings might have changed after week one.

Regina picked up a majority of the first place votes in the poll and were the heavy favourites for the conference’s Hardy Trophy going into the league’s opening night on Sept. 2. But with a potential season-ending shoulder injury to the Rams’ fifth-year starting quarterback Marc Mueller, the Canada West could now be won by any of its top three teams. Mueller is one of Canadian Interuniversity Sport’s top quarterbacks and signed with the Edmonton Eskimos as an undrafted free agent this summer before being released in early May.

If Mueller’s injury is season-ending, the Hardy Trophy will likely be won or lost by Canada West’s young quarterbacks. The Huskies and the Dinos both graduated two top CIS quarterbacks, Laurence Nixon and Erik Glavic respectively, last year.

The Huskies will look to Jahlani Gilbert-Knorren to lead the offence this season. He is a second year quarterback with tremendous foot speed, a good arm and could be a CIS all-star if he can remain composed in the pocket. He will be backed by Trent Peterson, a strong passer who is also expected to see a lot of playing time.

Running back Ben Coakwell and receiver Rory Kohlert — one of the CIS’s top receivers who signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last March before being released in July — will have to take some of the heat off Gilbert-Knorren this season, as the Dogs’ offensive line is young and inexperienced. Ben Heenan is expected step up his role on the line and replace former Huskie Patrick Neufeld, who now plays for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The Huskies are strong on defence and head coach Brian Towriss expects that they will have to carry the team through its first couple games until the offence can find a rhythm.

Zach Hart and Steve Kovach will lead one of the best defensive lines the Dogs have ever had. Linebacker Peter Thiel is expected to shut down opposing offences in the middle of the field and safety Bryce McCall will lead the pass coverage. He needs six more interceptions to break the CIS record of 21 interceptions.

Stephen McDonald, the team’s punter and kicker, started out weak last season in terms of field goals but found his groove nearing the end of the year. He is expected to carry that consistency into this season.

Luke Thiel, linebacker Peter Thiel’s younger brother, is expected to be one of the league’s top punt returner this year.

The Dogs were ranked fifth in the CIS going into their season opener, but a Vanier Cup victory will be difficult considering the strong opponents out east — specifically, Laval Rouge et Or who have numerous returning veterans on offence.