Huskies' players hoisting the Uteck Bowl in last week's victory over St. FX (Photo courtesy/Huskies Athletics, Bryan Kennedy)

By Ben Tompkins

Final Howl

Four Huskies to play final game in green and white

Nov 24, 2022 | 5:46 PM

The 2022 Vanier Cup is set to be the chance for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies to forget about last year’s defeat and create a new memory— being the best in the country.

For some, it will mean a little more than that, as a total of four Dogs will take their final walk onto the football field, dawning the green and white, as they howl one last time to try and be Canada’s top dog.

The most obvious starts with fifth-year quarterback Mason Nyhus, or as others may know him, the 2022 Canada West Player of the Year.

Of course, he’s achieved many other accolades in his Huskies’ career, but that list has too many awards to count.

One, however, that has alluded him to this point, is the all-important Vanier Cup.

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Nyhus will get his second straight chance to change that fact, this Saturday, in London, when his team lines up against Laval University.

He furthered that when he told HuskieFAN he hopes one of his favourite memories is still yet to come.

“Football-related thus far, the coolest memory I’ve had is that UTeck Bowl win in Montreal (last year), definitely was such a surreal feeling, and hopefully we can make a memory like that on Saturday.”

And while going out on top is reminiscent of the ‘perfect script’, Nyhus explained it’s the people in this program he knows he’ll look back on and take with him for years to come.

“I think it’s kind of cliché, but I think it’s definitely not even football related. Honestly, it’s mostly just good times, it’s friends, teammates, and your best buddies. People say you meet your best friends in college, I certainly can say I met a lot of my best friends here, and, you know, just so many good memories,” he said.

“There’s so many that mentored me, going back to when I was a younger guy. All good buddies of mine now and kind of guys I looked up to when I first came here, and they just kind of kept going. So many good players, Huskie legends, in my opinion. Just been such a good tight-knit family this whole time since I’ve been here, and just if you’ve been here for long enough, you just make a lot of good friends and I’ve been fortunate to do so.”

There are three other Huskies in their fifth and final year, including linebacker Tom Whiting, and defensive linemen Jonathan Leggett and Carson Bell (Bell is only in his second year with U of S, however, played junior for five years prior to joining, therefore, will age out after season’s end).

When first asked what it’s going to be like to play in his last ever USports game, Whiting had a single and simple line waiting to use in his response.

“Let it buck and we’ll come out fine.”

His response, however, at least when referring to the organization was quite similar to that of Nyhus and had one true label in common— the culture.

“It’s just kind of like the culture,” Whiting added. “It’s just a good group of guys, good coaches, good staff, just a fun place to be, and I’m blessed to have been here for six years.”

Saturday’s Canadian Championship can be listened to on the HuskieFAN app, HuskieFAN.ca or the HuskieFAN radio networks.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8