Dan Plaster
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
– Lao Tzu
It’s finally here. After what feels like one of the longest off-seasons in recent memory, the 2015 season is ready to kick-off tonight; the new look Riders face their long time rivals, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the season and home opener for the first time since 2005.
The Bombers are a familiar foe with five members of their coaching staff having coached the Green and White in previous seasons. On offence, coordinator Marcel Bellefeuille and offensive line coach, Bob Wylie. On defence, coordinator Richie Hall, defensive backs coach, Barron Miles and defensive line coach, Todd Howard. It doesn’t stop with the coaches, there are a slew of familiar names on the roster as well, including the likes of: Drew Willy, Sam Hurl, Dominic Picard, Kris Bastien, Graig Newman, Chad Rempel, Tim Cronk, Devin Tyler and the injured Patrick Neufeld.
With the well documented turnover on the Rider coaching staff and in some spots on the roster, to do a statistical comparison would be futile. These are just completely different teams with completely different goals. For the Riders, it’s simple, secure a home playoff game and win the Grey Cup, for their opponents this season, it’s to take the next step into the playoff mix after missing the big dance in 2014 with their 7-11 record.
It has been noted that the Riders are second in the league in regards to CFL experience at just over three seasons. If you take out 10 year veteran Darian Durant, and the 14 year veteran, Kevin Glenn, that number would drop to near the bottom of the CFL. That means there is a ton of fresh faces on this squad heading into their first Mosaic Stadium opener (and the penultimate home opener at old Mosaic).
Eleven players of the 46 man roster are dressing in their first CFL game:
WR/KR – Nic Demski
LB – Telvion Clark
QB – Brett Smith
DB – Marrio Norman
P – Ray Early
LS – Jorgen Hus
FB – Matthew Rea
LB – Jeff Knox Jr.
LB – Nehemie Kankolongo
DL – Tim Agbaje
DL – Rory Connop
While Keenan McDougall and Shea Emry are CFL vets playing in their first game as a Saskatchewan Roughrider.
It has been well stated in the press about the unique offence that the Riders will employ this season under the guidance of coordinator, Jacques Chapdelaine. Darian Durant expects himself to have an enormous season, as does this group of pass catchers looking to bounce back from an off year in 2014. Weston Dressler will not dress for the Riders, but it will be quite the treat to see second year slot, Ryan Smith get a solid shot. He wowed the coaches during training camp before getting his bell rung in the first pre-season game against the Eskimos.
At running back it will be a rotation of Jerome Messam and Anthony Allen. This combo would first bring to mind a thunder and lightning package with Messam being the bruiser and Allen the runner. Thing is, both can bruise, both can run, and most importantly in the new offence, catch the ball out of the backfield.
Defensively there are changes across the board, including the strength of this unit, the defensive line. It is led by a pair of all-stars, John Chick and Tearrius George. They also welcome back another all-star in Alex Hall. These three will need to be great on and off the field with the addition of the two rookies (Connop, Agbaje) and a pair of second year returnees (Markus White and Dylan Ainsworth).
The biggest change on the defence will be at linebacker with the addition of veteran National Shea Emry, and two talented but young players Telvion Clark (who changed his number from #13 to #12) and Jeff Knox Jr.
The secondary will have a glaring omission this week with Tyron Brackenridge still nursing an injury he suffered early in training camp. Ratio buster, Keenan MacDougall will take his spot at safety, the rest are all CFL vets that will have their hands full with a Bomber passing attack that will throw deep because that is the strength of their quarterback, Drew Willy.
The former Rider is entering his fourth CFL season and second as a starter with the Blue Bombers. He got off to a scorching start going 5-1 before losing four of his next five games (three of those to the Riders) and finishing the 2014 season at 7-11.
Willy and the many weapons he has in his arsenal (Clarence Denmark, a healthy Nick Moore and running back Paris Cotton) will have some help on the offensive line this season with the addition of former Rider center, Dominic Picard and former Stampeder tackle, Stanley Bryant. They will have to keep Willy upright and healthy for any success this season, if it is anywhere near the 71 sacks given up in 2014, it will be another long season for the Blue and Gold.
The Bombers underwent a complete overhaul on defence with Gary Etcheverry heading out the door and long-time Riders defensive coordinator Richie Hall taking over. It will be a defence Rider fans are very familiar with but the Bombers may need some time to adjust to the new scheme, considering it is a vast departure from the peculiar game plan Etcheverry laid out every week.
The one constant for the Bombers is head coach, Mike O’Shea. Now entering his second season, the former CFL star linebacker will continue to mature into his role and be the steadying force the team, and the organization, needs for success, now and into the future.
Quick notes for this home opener:
– The Riders are 13-2 against the Bombers over the past seven seasons.
– The Bombers have a .500 or better record against just one team (not counting Ottawa) during this seven year span. That’s an 11-11 record against Hamilton.
– Corey Chamblin is 6-1 against the Bombers as head coach of the Riders.
– Defensive coordinator, Greg Quick and defensive backs coach, Tony Missick will be up in the press box for the defence while receivers coach Jeremaine Copeland and his assistant Justin Chapdelaine will be upstairs for the offence.
– If you want some instant energy, watch defensive line coach, Mike Sinclair on the sidelines. He never stops moving and motivating.
– Keenan MacDougall will be starting his second CFL game in his fourth season as a pro.
– The Universities of Regina (Hus, LaBatte, Getzlaf) and Saskatchewan (Steinhauer, MacDougall, Agbaje) lead Canadian schools with three players on the Rider roster while the University of Wyoming (Brett Smith and Nehemie Kankolongo) lead NCAA schools with two players on the roster.
– Only three players (Emry, Glenn, MacDougall) played for other CFL teams last season, while the Bombers have seven.
What to watch:
– New rules. This has been the constant theme during the pre-season. It will come to light especially when Winnipeg has the ball and the amount Drew Willy likes to throw deep. The Rider DBs need to be extra careful because they are fairly aggressive and will need to pull back with the new cover rules (no contact after five yards).
– Rider kicking game. Ray Early can kill it on punts and kick-offs, the hope is that he can control it. Chris Milo had a solid camp kicking field goals and will bounce back big-time this season while he concentrates on just that single role.
– The 45 yard line. This is the critical spot on the field that can make or break a team. Defensively, if you can hold, it makes it very difficult to pick up any points. Offensively, any yards picked up from here usually turn into points. It doesn’t matter if it is one, three or seven (with the new rules, six or eight).
– Pressure. If the Riders can get the pressure on Drew Willy (like the 14 sacks in the three games against Winnipeg last season), the dominance over the Bombers will continue. The pressure this season will come from more than just the front-four, look for some interesting blitz packages from the Riders Saturday night.
– Nic Demski. He is a dynamic athlete and once he figures out this pro game, Demski will be a star for a long time in the CFL. Let’s hope it begins Saturday.
– If you want to know how much it means to some players to be a Saskatchewan Roughrider look no further than Jerrell Freeman; for the third season in a row, Freeman (current Indianapolis Colt and former Rider linebacker), has returned to the city and will be on the sidelines this weekend.
Catch all of the highlights and post game reaction right after the game Saturday night on riderville.com. We will also have live reactions from Head Coach Corey Chamblin and a Rider player on Livestream at riderville.com. And don’t forget, every Thursday on riderville.com, watch Countdown to Gameday as we get you ready for each week’s opponent, special features, chalk talk and a whole lot more
Enjoy the game!
