Dan Plaster
“You can measure opportunity with the same yardstick that measures the risk involved. They go together.” – Earl Nightingale
Before any of the modern day motivational gurus, there was Earl Nightingale. This quote would best describe interim Head Coach Bob Dyce and interim GM Jeremy O’Day. They are tagged interim for now with the perfect opportunity to show what they can do with a struggling football team.
They will do anything to win and erase that interim off the office door and make the job their own, at any cost. There will come a time though, when they have to do what is best for the organization, and we are seeing a bit of this right now. Getting Brett Smith to make way for veteran Kevin Glenn, will give the young quarterback (who just turned 23!) time to digest everything that has happened over the past six weeks in the starting role.
What Smith did was impressive this season; from almost being cut out of spring camp, to making the Rider roster, being named the starter after injuries to both Darian Durant and Kevin Glenn, and leading the Riders to their first win of the season.
But it’s time to allow Kevin Glenn to step in and take on the REBLACKS this afternoon at Mosaic Stadium. He may have a laid back casual look, but he is buzzing and wants a piece of that Ottawa club that cut him loose weeks after picking him up in their inaugural season, and to avenge an awful beating they put on the Riders four weeks ago in the nation’s capital.
Through the course of this season we have gotten a glimpse into the future of this club, we have seen much of it, by necessity. The Riders have lost 153 man games to injury and have had only 10 players start all 11 games, and it will be cut to nine today with Terrell Maze on the shelf for the rest of the season. Only 19 players have played in all 11 games in 2015, giving us a good look into the future: Matt Webster, Brett Smith, Ray Early, Jorgen Hus, Matt Rea, Jeff Knox Jr., Dan Clark, Corey Watman, Dylan Ainsworth, Rory Connop, add in Tyree Hollins, Ryan Smith, Nic Demski, Andre Monroe and Jake Doughty, all are in the dawn of their careers and should be the next generation of Rider players fans will get to know and love. We will see more of this in the final seven games of the season for the Green and White, so fans, pay attention there will be a test in a couple years when this is the core group of players that hoist the Grey Cup.
Let’s get to today, I’ll be brief and use an overworked cliche; this game will be won and lost in the trenches. Ottawa rung up a ten-spot in sacks on the Rider offensive line and held them to their second lowest rushing total of the season with just 69 yards. Most of those came from the scrambling legs of Brett Smith. On the other side of the ball, the REDBLACKS didn’t give up a single sack and racked up 351 yards of total offence in the 35-13 victory. There needs to be a complete 180-degree turnaround for a Rider victory. It’s as simple as that but easier said than done.
Finally, I’m going to start this campaign right now. Even though it’s been a difficult season, Jerome Messam should be the West’s rep for Most Outstanding Canadian and the CFL’s top Canadian! He has similar stats to the Lions Andrew Harris, but with less carries and receptions. Also, there has been no rookie in the CFL better than Jeff Knox Jr. from the beginning of the season through to the present. He is second in the CFL in defensive tackles and leads the league in total tackles. Knox has improved every game this season and has added two fumble recoveries and an interception in the recent weeks. He should be the CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie!
Fast Facts heading into week 12:
– As per CFL Stats the Riders have lost 153 games to injury, the REDBLACKS 127.
– Six players on the REDBLACKS roster have Rider ties: Henry Burris, Chris Milo, Keith Shologan, Zack Evans and Alex Pierzchalski all played for the Riders while Greg Ellingson’s father James played parts of five seasons for the Riders from 1986-’90.
– REDBLACKS receivers coach, Travis Moore played for the Riders from 2003-’05.
– REDBLACKS defensive coordinator, Mark Nelson, also played for the Riders in the mid-1980’s.
– Kevin Glenn is still looking for his 90th career CFL victory.
– Jeff Knox Jr. is the CFL’s second leading defensive tackler with 67 (2 behind Adam Bighill) and is tops in the CFL with 76 total tackles. He is also tied for first in the CFL with two fumble recoveries.
– John Chick is tied for second in the CFL with seven sacks.
– Alex Hall is is tied for third in the CFL with six sacks.
– Jerome Messam is second in the CFL with a reception to target rate of 82.5% (minimum of 20 receptions to qualify). He is also second in rushing and yards from scrimmage with 988 yards. This trails Andrew Harris by 28 yards with 42 less touches.
– Only Calgary (Mitchell), Hamilton (Collaros), Toronto (Harris) and Ottawa (Burris) have had the luxury of their quarterbacks start in every game this season. The five other teams have combined to feature 15 different quarterbacks.
Five things to watch:
- The trenches. Like I stated earlier, if this turns around from their effort three weeks ago, it will be a different result from what happened in Ottawa.
- Kevin Glenn. After sitting six weeks on the injured list, let’s see what the CFL vet has to give to a Rider offence that is in need of a boost.
- Henry Burris. He hates, absolutely hates playing at Mosaic Stadium. If it begins to cave in on the former Rider early, it will be a long day for the REDBLACKS offence.
- Rider Secondary. With Terrell Maze now out for the season, this is a completely revamped group of defensive backs than the Riders began the season with. A lot will be asked of veterans Tristan Jackson and Marshay Green to lead this unit.
- Nic Demski. He has shown flashes of brilliance for the Riders on special teams, but now it’s time for the 2015 first round pick to have a bigger contribution to the offence.
The Riders have you covered on the field and off the field. Keep checking with riderville.com, download the Rider app, or follow on any of the Riders social media platforms for all of your Green and White information.
We also give you live game day coverage with 90 minutes of CKRM’s pre-game show with Michael Ball and post game coverage with Head Coach, Bob Dyce’s press conference live on riderville.com/riderslive.
