Ottawa's Gee-Gees football team is no longer unbeaten. The No. 10-ranked Gee-Gees lost at home on Saturday, September 19, as the Guelph Gryphons pulled off a road upset in the capital, handing Ottawa its first loss of the 2026 season.
How Guelph got it done
Guelph quarterback Tristan Aboud had a strong game in the victory, throwing for 247 yards and two touchdowns while also adding a rushing touchdown of his own. Running back Caleb Sargeant complemented that through-the-air production by rushing for 105 yards, giving the Gryphons offense a two-pronged attack that Ottawa's defense struggled to contain for four quarters.
On the other side of the ball, Guelph's Gianni Green, a 2026 CFL Draft prospect, led all Gryphons with 5.5 total tackles and one tackle for loss. Green's play up front helped Guelph's defense make the stops it needed late to close out the win against a ranked opponent on the road.
Ottawa's offense wasn't the problem
The loss doesn't fall on Ottawa's passing attack. Gee-Gees quarterback Josh Janssen actually outgained his Guelph counterpart through the air, throwing for 321 yards and three touchdowns in the defeat. Janssen moved the ball well for most of the afternoon, keeping Ottawa in position to win despite Guelph's push.
The turning point came late. Janssen threw an interception in Guelph territory in the game's closing stages, a turnover that snuffed out Ottawa's chance to answer back and seal what would have been another win for the home side. In a game decided by that kind of margin, one mistake in enemy territory was enough to swing it Guelph's way.
What it means going forward
For Guelph, the result pushes the Gryphons to 2-2 both overall and in conference play, and extends their winning streak to two games after having gone on the road and knocked off a ranked opponent. It's the kind of result that will boost Guelph's confidence heading into the back half of the U Sports football schedule.
For Ottawa, Saturday's loss ends the Gee-Gees' unbeaten start to the season and drops them from the ranks of the undefeated nationally. Losing at home as a top-10 team to a Guelph side that was clawing back toward .500 will sting, especially with Janssen's own numbers showing the offense had more than enough to win the game outright. How the Gee-Gees respond in their next outing will say a lot about whether Saturday was a blip or the start of a rougher stretch.
Ottawa football fans who caught the game, or who are just checking the score after the fact, now have a clearer picture of where the Gee-Gees stand: still a nationally ranked program, but one that has shown it can be beaten at home when the opposing offense gets rolling and the margins come down to a single fourth-quarter turnover.
Sources: 3DownNation, University of Guelph Athletics (official)
