Dan Plaster
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
Abraham Lincoln
In the midst of a five game losing streak, and everything seemingly crumbling around them, the Saskatchewan Roughriders have to remember to stay the course; be prepared and good things will happen.
Attention to detail will have to be even keener tonight with 23-year-old rookie quarterback, Brett Smith making his first ever pro start. It’s been quite a journey for the first year Rider quarterback: from star pivot at the University of Wyoming, to declaring early for the NFL draft and then being shunned by all 32 teams, getting cut by the Toronto Argos, a Rider training camp invite, being named the third quarterback and now starting quarterback.
It’s in his hands now, but he will have a lot of help from an offence that is still number one in almost all statistical categories. The Jacques Chapdelaine offence is suited to Smith’s style, just get the ball in the hands of your playmakers and let them do the rest. The proof is the yards after catch that has been accumulated by the Riders in the first five games. Jerome Messam (171) and Weston Dressler (156) have more YAC than all of the Rider receivers combined after the first five games of 2014.
Two other things for Brett: it’s ok to take a sack, and it’s also ok to throw the ball away and live for another day.
Side note, this will be reflective of my old-school ways, but I still see nothing wrong with a little smash mouth football. Lineup Matt Rea as a fullback with Jerome Messam and Anthony Allen in the back field, use the best offensive line in football and punch Edmonton in the mouth.
Speaking of the Eskimos, this is the best defence in the CFL, hands down. It starts with a great defensive line led by Odell Willis and Almondo Sewell, right behind them are a couple of all world linebackers, J.C. Sherritt and Dexter McCoil. The defensive backfield is no slouch either. The group as a whole is first or second in almost every defensive category, the most important being red zone defence, big play defence (only three completions of 30+ yards and three 20+ yard runs), takeaways and sacks.
This is the challenge that the Rider offence faces, but they could get a lot of help from the defence and special teams.
If any time is a good time it’s now for a much maligned defence that has had the worst possible start. It doesn’t matter if it has forced turnovers (two), sacks (six) or two-and-outs (six), it’s all been very frustrating for a group that has some of the best defensive players in the CFL. They are facing an Eskimo offence with questions at who will start at quarterback for Edmonton (it will be Matt Nichols over James Franklin), a struggling offensive line and other than Adarius Bowman, the receiving core is very inexperienced. This is a prime breakout game for the defence.
The Rider cover teams will have their hands full for the second straight week. After shutting down Brandon Banks, they now will take on the top punt return team in the CFL with Kendial Lawrence and injured Skye Dawson (second and third in return average). Keep them under wraps and a couple of big returns of their own could help swing things at Commonwealth Stadium tonight.
Some quick CFL stats heading into week six:
– 11 games have been decided by four points or less this season compared to just five at the same point in 2014.
– Total points are up 5.3 (funny, it’s pretty tough to score .3 points) over last season (50.4-45.1).
– What’s crazy is that the winning team scoring is at the same pace as a year ago, but the losing team are scoring 5.6 more points per game.
– With all of the hand wringing over penalties, they are only up by four per game over last season.
– The most glaring change over last season is the lack of sack production. Half as many take downs of the quarterback compared to 2014.
Rider quick hits:
– John Chick hasn’t recorded a sack since week one of the season and the defensive line has four total sacks.
– Rookie Jake Doughty leads the team in both tackles for a loss (3) and is second behind Jeff Knox Jr. in overall tackles.
– Dylan Ainsworth is having a breakout season on special teams with a league leading seven tackles with Jeff Knox Jr. right behind him with five.
– Weston Dressler is five catches away from 500 in his career and is the only player in the CFL to average over 100 yards receiving a game.
– Ryan Smith is tops in the CFL in average yards per catch. He has only been targeted 16 times this season and the ball hit the ground just twice when looking in his direction.
– This is Brett Smith’s first start since November 30, 2013 with the Wyoming Cowboys. In that game, Rider linebacker Jake Doughty had one interception of Smith en route to a 35-7 Utah State win over the Cowboys in Logan, Utah.
What to look for tonight:
- Battle in the trenches, on both sides of the ball. The Rider offensive line is one of the best in the CFL and they will face the league’s top defensive line. On the flip side, two struggling units will face each other.
- Brett Smith. His first pro start. Kevin Glenn came on the trip to give Smith as much support as possible and a de facto quarterback coach. It won’t be easy.
- Big returns. Flip the field, and help the rookie quarterback and a struggling defence.
- Team effort for a full 60 minutes. This seems so simple, but yet, can be so difficult. The offence can bail out the defence, and vice versa with some help from the special teams. It hasn’t happened yet this season, and is desperately needed for the Riders to pick up their first win of the season.
- Quick start. The Riders are second last in the CFL in first quarter scoring. A couple of early majors on the board can smooth the waters.
Riderville.com will have all of the post game reaction from tonight’s battle in Edmonton. Follow us on Twitter @sskroughriders and Instagram @sskroughriders for all of your Rider information and in-game updates.
