Riderville.com
After failing in back-to-back home games to open up the season, the Saskatchewan Roughriders head to Vancouver in search of that elusive first victory taking on the B.C Lions in B.C. Place.
While the Riders do go into the contest winless, they have had enough opportunities to win both and could arguably go into the game with their record at 2-0 instead of 0-2. Receiver Chris Getzlaf says confidence hasn’t wavered one bit.
“The guys are coming together more and more and there is still a positive vibe in there.” Getzlaf said. “There’s some new faces in there building some experience especially on the defensive side of the ball and as that experience comes, it will just make us stronger and stronger. We haven’t been out of our first two games and once we win a game, the sky could be the limit and we could start piling wins up.”
One reason for the losses has been some tough penalty calls against the defence as the Riders along with the rest of the CFL try to adapt to new rules for defenders when it comes to contact. It is something which has been frustrating for head coach Corey Chamblin and the the defence, but he says it can’t be used as an excuse as there is a job to do and they must do it.
“It is an adjustment period for us,” Chamblin admits. “You have to learn what the new aggressive is. That is our challenge. We have to find out what the new aggressive is because we can’t keep going back to the old ways so we have to change.
One of those defensive backs who is trying to adapt is Terrell Maze. The 4th year Rider from San Diego State feels it is just a matter of having to play a little different.
“We can still be aggressive, but we have to do it in that first five yards” Maze said. “I think we had a lot of improvement from Week 1 to Week 2 and if we keep evolving the way we have been, we should be able to have some success in Vancouver. You just have to adapt.”
With it being a short week, it hasn’t given the football team a lot of time to prepare for the Lions. Quarterback Kevin Glenn says while the practice time may not have been there, the hunger factor is still strong.
“Football is a very physical sport, so you want some time to get your body back, but we don’t control the schedule and have to get out there and do what we have to do.” Glenn said. “The mood is good in there because we know we aren’t satisfied with what is happening. We know we have been close and we know with a little more attention to detail we will be there. We know we will have to match their intensity and take the momentum from the beginning because it is a short week for us. We will be ready though.
Game time Friday night from B.C. Place is 8 PM with TV coverage coming from TSN with Chris Cuthbert and Glen Suitor on the call. 620 CKRM will provide radio coverage beginning at 5 o’clock. Michael Ball is joined by former Riders Neal Hughes and Mike McCullough for Rider Nation pre-game show which leads into the play-by-play with Rod Pedersen and Carm Carteri.
GAME NOTES:
- The game will mark the return to Vancouver for Paul McCallum. The Vancouver native, who started his career in Saskatchewan, was with the Lions from 2006-2014
- Jamel Richardson is four catches away from 600 career
- Through two weeks, the Riders have racked up 1,076 yards in net offence. The next highest team is Toronto at 810.
