Rod Pedersen
The Saskatchewan Roughriders (1-0) visited the Toronto Argonauts (0-1) Saturday afternoon at Rogers Centre in Week 2 of the 2014 Canadian Football League season. The Riders were looking for a win to keep pace with Edmonton and Winnipeg atop the CFL West while the Argonauts were after their first win of the season in their home-opener. Here’s the game log from the broadcast booth:
– It was sunny and 26 degrees Celsius (78 Fahreneit) at the 3:08 pm kickoff with a south west wind at 22 km/h gusting to 32. The Rogers Centre roof was open.
– The Riders wore their road white uniforms with white helmets and green pants. The Argos were in their home navy uniforms with blue helmets and white pants.
– The scratches from the Rider roster were REC #89 Chris Getzlaf and OT #64 Levy Adcock.
– The Argos won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball to opening the game. The Riders got the south end zone in the opening quarter, opposite the video board.
– Toronto’s opening drive started at their 28-yard line after a Brendan Smith return. 2-and-out.
– The Riders’ first series began at their 37 after a Marshay Green return. 2-and-out after back-to-back Darian Durant incompletions. One deep to Taj Smith, one underneath to Anthony Allen.
– Toronto’s second series began at their 34. Ricky Ray marched it all the way downfield and capped the series with a one-yard TD run by rookie tailback Curtis Steele. 7-0 Argos at the 5:16 mark. The Argos thought they’d scored one play earlier on a Jason Barnes reception but he was ruled down at the 1-yard line upon review.
– Riders’ second series began at their 31. First downs on a run by Allen and a reception by Eron Riley. However Darian Durant was picked off by Argo LB Antuwan Molden at the Argo 1-yard line. Durant was looking for Swain on a post-corner pattern. TURNOVERS: RIDERS 1 ARGOS 0
– So Toronto’s third series began at their 1-yard line with 6:20 to go in the first. They managed one first down before punting.
– Rider ball at the 55 for their third possession. They got to the Toronto 43 before punting.
– Toronto’s fourth series began at their 10. It carried over into the second quarter.
AFTER ONE: ARGOS 7 RIDERS 0
– On the second play of the second period, Argo kicker Swayze Waters hit a 19-yard field goal to put Toronto up 10-0.
– Riders got it at their 35 after the field goal for their fourth possession. Two plays in Anthony Allen fumbled at the Rider 50 and the Argos recovered. TURNOVERS:
RIDERS 2 ARGOS 0
– The Argos made short work of the drive, as Ricky Ray tossed a 15-yard TD pass to Chad Owens for a 17-0 lead with 11:34 to go in the half.
– Rider ball at their 27. Neal Hughes replaced Anthony Allen at tailback for the series. They got one first down before punting.
– Ricky Ray had 210 yards passing to this point as the Argos took the field at their 31 with 8:34 to go in the half. Riders got their first sack of the game when John Chick took down Ray for this third of the year. 2-and-out, punt.
– Neal Hughes was still at tailback when the Riders came out for their next possession, starting at their 38. They got to the Argo 28 before attempting a 35-yard Chris Milo field goal. However he was wide left and the Riders had to settle for the single. 17-1 Toronto with 5:01 to go in the first half.
– Argos started their next series from their 35. They got to the Riders 51 before punting.
– With 2:17 to go in the first half the Rider offense took over the ball at their 18-yard line. They got a first down via a roughing-the-passer penalty before punting.
– Toronto ball at their 20 with 1:08 left. They got just over midfield but receiver Spencer Watt fumbled on the final play and the Riders’ Weldon Brown recovered. TURNOVERS: RIDERS 2 ARGOS 1
AT THE BREAK: ARGOS 17 RIDERS 1
– Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was in attendance and posed with fans for photographs at halftime.
– The Riders defended the north endzone in the third quarter and got the ball to open the half, starting at their 36 with Anthony Allen returning to the back field. 2-and-out.
– The Argos’ first series began at their 15. Ricky Ray moved it all the way downfield and the onslaught continued as he threw a 14-yard TD pass to Jason Barnes at the5:24 mark. 24-1 Toronto.
– Riders’ second series commenced at their 30. Riders gave up their second sack in this series. 2-and-out. Punt.
– Toronto took over at their 42 with 7:25 to go in the third frame. They got to the Rider 40 before Ray was sacked by Saskatchewan’s Terrius George, taking them out of field goal range. Swayze Waters booted a 51-yard punt single to put Toronto up 25-1 with 5:23 left.
– Rider ball at their 35. Two plays in Durant launched a 59-yard TD bomb to Taj Smith to make it 25-8 Toronto with 4:29 to go in the third.
– Toronto took over at their 33 after a Brendan Smith KO return. 2-and-out.
– The Riders’ next series began at their 33 and they walked down the field and capped the series with a 9-yard TD reception from Anthony Allen from Durant making it 25-14 Toronto with 1:36 remaining in the third.
– Argos got it at their 45 after an illegal kickoff by Chris Milo. The series carried over into the fourth.
AFTER THREE: ARGOS 25 RIDERS 15
– The first play of the fourth quarter was a 40-yard field goal attempt by Toronto’s Swayze Waters. It was good. 28-15 Argos.
– The Riders started from their 35 and moved it to the Argo 49 however another Argo sack pushed them out of field goal range.
– The attendance 17, 758.
– A 46-yard punt return by Chad Owens set the Argos up at the Rider 50 with 11:42left on the clock. A few Ricky Ray rushes for first downs sustained a nice drive and he tossed a 5-yard TD pass to Mike Bradwell to make it 34-15 with 8:05 to go. A two point convert attempt was unsuccessful.
– Riders started their next series at their 26 with 7:59 remaining. First play Durant was sacked for a 9-yard loss. 2-and-out.
– A Chad Owens return set the Argos up at the Saskatchewan 42 with 6:26remaining and a 19-point lead. They had little trouble moving the ball and finished the drive with Curtis Steele casually rushed for a 17-yard touchdown for a 41-15 lead at the 10:40 mark.
– With 3:56 to go the Riders started at their 30 after a 10-yard conduct penalty on Tristan Jackson. They got all the way down to the Argo 4-yard line thanks to a P.I. call but Darian Durant was intercepted for a second time by Argo LB Anuwan Molden who returned it 108 yards for the major. 48-15 Toronto with 2:22 left.
– With 2:15 left Tino Sunseri replaced Darian at QB as they started from their 23. He looked good, aside from taking a sack from Tristan Okpalaugo. He got it down to the Argo 30 for the final play of the game. 2nd-and-1 from the Argo 30. Sunseri launched a bomb into the back of the endzone intended for Taj Smith but it was knocked down by the Argos’ Vincent Agnew.
GAME OVER: ARGOS 48 RIDERS 15
POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM THE RIDERS:
JOHN CHICK
– It was a lot we’ll have to look at on film. The number one thing was they came out more ready than we did. We have to win on the road. We know what we have to do to improve. We’re not making any excuses and we’ll be better. We have to be more mentally ready.
– Ricky’s a good QB and has been doing it for years. We know what to do against him. They made some plays and we failed to make plays. It was a completely different style from what they did last week. They had a good game plan and came ready. We didn’t make the right adjustments and didn’t make the plays we should have made.
– For me it’s always to take the positive out of the negative. Just because we won big one week, we have to keep our head on straight. This loss will go a long ways to help us for the rest of the season.
TAJ SMITH
– We just struggled tonight on offense. Myself included. It was tough. We just couldn’t pull it together. We tried to make a run but just couldn’t do it.
– Like coach always says, ‘next man up’ but Getzlaf is a big part of the offense. You can tell he was missed. Guys stepped up and did the job but it’s tough when it’s a game like that.
– They just sent different blitzes we hadn’t seen. We tried to correct them but it was just too late. They just had the upper hand on us.
– We just gotta go back to the drawing board. Fundamentals played a big part today. If we can get that down, we’ll be okay.
HEAD COACH COREY CHAMBLIN
– I didn’t expect the score to be like that. We had a tough week of practice and it always tough coming off a game like that. They had a good game plan today, and the Tim Burke defense was good.
– That’s football. That’s CFL football. Some people have won games on short weeks. That’s just a part of football.
– Last week we were repeating but, no, this is a great learning experience. It’s humbling. And it shows us we maybe aren’t where we think we are.
– Without Getzlaf, guys have to step up. It can’t be just one guy. We have to learn how to win in tough situations.
– Ricky Ray had a nice mix, using his legs. They were prepared. They went through last week what we’re going through now. They tightened up and were ready to go. We will too.
– As bad of a day we had, we were close at one point. We showed some fight and didn’t quit.
*The Riders host B.C. next Saturday on TSN and the 620 CKRM Roughrider Radio Network.
