OTTAWA, ON – After a long offseason, the Ottawa Gee-Gees are looking to build off a great 2019 season that saw them go 5-3, included multiple winning streaks and saw them never losing consecutive games.

What happened in 2019?

Ottawa opened up the season on the road against McMaster before having their home opener against the Golden Hawks. It was an offensive duel between the Gee-Gees and the Marauders as both teams showed off their passing offence accruing over 315 passing yards each.

The ground game was a different story as neither team relied on it as much as the passing game, with Ottawa having rushed for under 80 yards and McMaster rushing for 82 yards. With the Gee-Gees scoring under 2 minutes left to cut into the Marauders lead, making it 28-22, a late interception return would seal the deal as the Gee-Gees were driving down the field for a Marauders touchdown. Ultimately Ottawa dropped the opener 35-22.

Following the loss the Gee-Gees rattled off three straight wins against the Queen’s Gaels, Laurier Golden Hawks & York Lions, outscoring the competition with a combined score of 115-61. Through those three games, it became clear the offence was more balanced and that Ottawa could play any style of football.

For example, during the game against the Golden Hawks, the Gee-Gees were limited to only 28 yards rushing but erased a 22-3 deficit. The Gee-Gees used a combination of defence and special teams to gain momentum and complete the comeback. After playing the Golden Hawks, the Gee-Gees went into Alumni Field and blew out the Lions 46-12 as their offence got 311 yards total. It was a strong month of September for the Gee-Gees outside of a matchup with the Guelph Gryphons as the Gee-Gees passing offence was nowhere to be found with only 69 passing yards in a losing effort as the Gryphons won 33-6.

Ottawa has done relatively well against their cross campus rival, the Carleton Ravens in the Panda Games owning a 33-17 record. The Gee-Gees would improve on that record beating the Ravens 32-10, using 6 Ravens turnovers to their advantage. It was a great start to the month of October for the Gee-Gees as all sides of the ball helped secure the win. The winning didn’t stop there for the Gee-Gees as they welcomed in the Windsor Lancers in their home stadium, the Gee-Gees Field. Ottawa won 54-26 as the passing and running offence were unstoppable combining for over 500 yards. This would mark the Gee-Gees last win of the season as they would go on and lose a tight contested affair against the Western Mustangs 32-22.

This Season

As Ottawa prepares to begin play against the Toronto Varsity Blues on September 18th, there are a few things that the Gee-Gees need to focus on heading into the 2021 season.

1. Pass Defence

Ottawa’s pass defence needs to get better. During the season, there were many times that the defence would allow too many passing yards. For example, during the game against Windsor, although the offence had a net total of 512 yards, the defence allowed 494 total net yards.

2. Limit Turnovers

The Gee-Gee’s offence must work to limit their turnovers. In the month of September, the Gee-Gees had 3 of their 5 games with multi-interceptions.

3. Work More Efficiently

The Gee-Gee’ need to continue to use their passing offence efficiently. At times during the season, the Gee-Gees run game was shutdown which meant they went into a pass heavy offence and it worked for them.

4. Capitalize on Mistakes

One other thing the Gee-Gees need to continue to do is capitalize on the other team’s turnovers. There were a few cases where Ottawa capitalized off the opponent’s turnovers, and if they can continue to do so, they should be in good shape entering this next season.

The 2021 schedule for the Ottawa Gee-Gee’s is viewable here. They kick off their season on the road against the Varsity Blues (2-6 in 2019), and Queen’s Gales (3-5 in 2019), before the Panda Game against Carleton (4-4 in 2019). After that they are home vs York (1-7 in 2019), home vs Queen’s (3-5 in 2019) and to end the season, they’re home against Carleton (4-4 in 2019). It’ll be interesting to see how the road schedule will effect the Gee-Gee’s as they went 1-3 in 2019.

Cover Photo: Ottawa celebrates at the 2019 Panda Game (Ottawa Gee Gees Athletics)