Mitchell Blair
When the Saskatchewan Roughriders broke training camp in Saskatoon, Brett Smith knew he was the third string quarterback. He didn’t think five games into the season that he would be the starting quarterback, but that is where he is.
The University of Wyoming product has a daunting task in front of him as his first professional start comes against arguably the CFL’s best defense and comes at a time where the Riders are still looking to crack the win column. It is a challenge he is more than ready to accept.
“This is a dream come true,” Smith said. “I feel bad for Kevin because he’s a great leader, a great friend and a mentor to me, but I am ready. I’m excited to get the opportunity to play.”
Smith’s first foray as a CFL quarterback didn’t go well last week against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, but the 23 year old feels he is more than ready to take the reins of the Rider offence as they march into Commonwealth Stadium.
“I was thrown into the fire in front of our home crowd, but I was able to see another defense and get some experience. It was a limited experience last week, but it was a learning one as well.” Smith said. “There’s a little more urgency as the starter. You prepare each week to be that, but actually being the starter means you have to a different mentality and a different mindset because you have to be sharp with everything.”
Head Coach Corey Chamblin is more than ready to see what Smith can do under center saying he earned the job in training camp.
“My message is to him is to play football. It’s no different than playing college ball except you are getting paid for it. He has a good arm and he has some legs so we will give him some plays we hope will make him successful.” Chamblin stated. “Using his legs will give him a chance to get out of trouble and get away from that heat. I’m excited to see what he can do and I hope the guys are too.”
With a rookie quarterback making his first CFL start, Chris Getzlaf and a veteran Rider receiving core will have to help Smith as much as they can.
“Every receiver will have tidbits of information we will give Brett through the game and hopefully we will be able to make some big plays.” Getzlaf said. “We know they are going to be aggressive and we know if we can make some plays we will keep them on their heels. We have a large playbook so he just has to take his cues and be able to hit them when he sees it.”
While the offense hopes to stay rolling, the defence knows the microscope will be on them tonight because they have struggled to put in a solid 60 minutes in all five losses this season.
Defensive lineman John Chick says there is no one thing which will solve the problems they have gone through.
“We have to find ways to finish.” Chick declared. “It’s a matter of finishing every tackle, it’s a matter of finishing every play, it’s a matter of taking care of all the little things. To say it is one thing like personnel or game-planning is wrong. It is just a matter of coming to play and getting the job done. There are a lot of areas we have to improve on and one of them is creating some turnovers. Whoever wins the turnover ratio usually wins the game so defensively we have to find a way to get that ball.
Game time from Commonwealth Stadium is 7 o’clock with TSN providing television coverage. 620 CKRM will start its game day coverage at 4 o’clock with Michael Ball and Roughrider Gameday. He will then give way to Rod Pedersen and Carm Carteri who will have Rider Nation pre-game before bringing you the play-by-play.
GAME NOTES:
- Brett Smith is the 6th player to start at quarterback for the Riders since last year’s Banjo Bowl joining Darian Durant, Tino Sunseri, Kerry Joseph, Seth Doege and Kevin Glenn
- 38 clubs in CFL history have started the season 0-5. 17 of those 38 have won Game 6
- The Riders lead the CFL in “big plays” through 5 weeks with 20. The next highest team has 14
- 2nd year Rider Dylan Ainsworth is tied for first in special teams tackles with Edmonton’s Deon Lacey with 7.
