Dan Plaster
“Habit is habit,and not to be flung out the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs
one step at a time. ” – Mark Twain
The habits the Saskatchewan Roughriders had for the better part of this season were not good: not enough forced turnovers, not enough pressure on the quarterback, lots of scoring but not clutch scoring, too many penalties, and late game let-downs.
In their impressive win over the Montreal Alouettes, all of those flipped around. They led the turnover battle (4-3), they didn’t register a sack but their pressure forced Montreal quarterbacks into mistakes and they stopped the run, the Riders were the first team this season to score over 30 points against Montreal, they took half as many penalties as the Als, and the most important was the fourth quarter 85 yard touchdown to seal the game.
Sports are all about good habits, and changing bad habits at all times, including within the game itself. It may be too late, but the Riders are starting to change those bad habits. With the youth spread throughout the lineup, this will definitely help heading into the 2016 season.
It all started with the defensive veterans. The most unsung of those is the play of Tyron Brackenridge. Since he moved to linebacker for the August 27th game against the Calgary Stampeders, he has 30 tackles (as opposed to 13 in the previous five games), two tackles for a loss, a sack, a fumble return for a touchdown and an interception.
There isn’t much more to say on the record tying performance by veteran defensive back Macho Harris, but it was great to see him have such an outstanding game. The trio of John Chick, Alex Hall and Tearrius George were all solid and have been for this second half of the season.
They will have to play well again against a B.C. Lions offence that is led by rookie quarterback Jonathan Jennings (who was in the Riders 2014 spring camp), and will rely a lot on the legs and hands of Andrew Harris. This is also a solid group of receivers led by Manny Arceneaux, who scored the overtime winning touchdown against the Riders way back in the Lions’ week three win over the Green and White.
Offensively, this game may ride on the legs of Jerome Messam and Anthony Allen. Messam continued his quest to the CFL’s Most Outstanding Canadian last week with 111 yards on the ground and passed the Lions’ Harris for the top spot on the rushing list and yards from scrimmage. Allen also had a solid day against the Alouettes. This needs to continue Saturday night against a Lions defence that gives up a league high 125 yards on the ground per game and is overall the worst defence in the CFL by giving up 378 yards per game (though by only four yards of offence per game on the Riders).
B.C.’s defence has received a boost with former Eskimos all-star and Georgia Bulldog, Rennie Curran, along with the CFL’s leading tackler Adam Bighill, they give the Lions a solid linebacking core.
I’m not saying that this will be a classic in the annals of CFL history but considering both of these teams’ position in the standings, the Lions can put the final nail in the Riders season, or with a win the Green and White would be within two games of passing the Lions (I say two because the Lions own the tiebreaker).
Fast facts:
– The Riders will have 23 players in their first or second season, while the Lions have 27 on their 46-man roster.
– The Riders have 12 players that have played in five or more CFL seasons, the Lions also have 12.
– With the injury to Hamilton’s Zach Collaros, there are only three CFL teams that have had their QB’s play every game this season; Ottawa (Burris), Calgary (Mitchell) and Toronto (Harris).
– Jerome Messam’s 1,161 yards from scrimmage leads the Stampeders Eric Rogers 1,124 yards by 37 and Andrew Harris’s by 39.
– Messam leads Harris in the rushing race by 57 yards (776-719).
– We are in the golden age of Canadian running backs with three of the top four rushers in the CFL hailing from Canada. Jon Cornish is fourth with 460 yards.
– The Riders have two players in the top 10 CFL rushers. Anthony Allen is 8th with 385 yards.
– Messam’s 111 yards last week was the first time this season he eclipsed the 100 yard mark.
– Kevin Glenn finally won his 90th career CFL game last week against the Alouettes.
– Macho Harris’s three interceptions automatically placed him first on the Riders in swipes, but also in a tie for third in the CFL.
Five to watch:
- Messam v. Harris. Oh Canada!! This is a pretty easy one with the two top running backs in the CFL taking to the field in a battle for both their playoff lives and for the rushing title.
- Rider offensive line. They had a great day on the ground last week against Montreal, and they need to maintain that level for Saturday night and the rest of the season.
- Riders DB’s against Lions WR’s. This will be the most interesting battle. The Rider defensive backfield had one of their best games of the season last week but in week three against the Lions, probably their worst. This is a very good group of Lions receivers.
- Coaching match-up. The two head coaches are from very diverse backgrounds. The Riders Bob Dyce is a Canadian who started in the Junior ranks in Winnipeg, then moved through the CIS and then into the CFL as a long time assistant. The Lions Jeff Tedford has the exact opposite career path. He was a quarterback at Fresno State before playing six seasons in the CFL. From there he had coaching stops at marquee college programs like Fresno State, Oregon and Cal before joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as Offensive Coordinator in 2014. This will be a fun battle to watch.
- Kevin Glenn. Last week Glenn would have been tagged with the Game Manager cliché in the Riders win. He won’t have to put up the crazy numbers like he did in the back-to-back games against the Lions in week three and four (938), he just needs to be efficient and mistake free.
The Riders have you covered on 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 he will also handle the post game coverage following tonight’s game in Vancouver.
