Mitchell Blair
The season has not gone the way the Saskatchewan Roughriders thought it would. A season-ending injury to quarterback and team leader Darian Durant in the first half of the season opener was the beginning of a series of blows to the Green and White. The Riders playoff hopes hang on by a fingernail when they walk into Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton to take on the East-leading Tiger-Cats tonight.
It has been a historically frustrating season and one that could see the team playing its final three games knowing their fate, linebacker Tyron Brackenridge says they walk into this game and the rest of this season with the same mentality they had when they emerged from the helmet against Winnipeg to open the year.
“We are going to compete each week and come into work with a positive frame of mind,” Brackenridge said before the team departed to Hamilton. “We want to show people we aren’t what our record indicates and we are coming out to do well and play well. We know we are in tough, but if we play sound, disciplined football and play the game we know we can play. If we can pull this one out, it will send us into a bye week in a very positive state.”
Finding positivity on the road has been tough this season. Head coach Bob Dyce says it has been disconcerting not being able to get the performance they need away from Mosaic Satdium.
“We would like to change things by getting a victory.” Dyce joked. “We have changed some things up to tell you the truth, but regrettably we still haven’t got that result we have been looking for. There are a million things you think of and we have changed our plan, but it just hasn’t worked, but hopefully this week it will.”
Dyce knows Kevin Glenn and the offence will need to be on the top of their game tonight in Hamilton and the return of receiver Chris Getzlaf may provide them with a necessary spark.
“When you have new guys in there, they can be on edge, but Chris has been through the battles and has been successful. That breeds confidence because he has been successful and he has had the results. It helps the receivers’ confidence, it helps the quarterback’s confidence and it helps the offensive line’s confidence as well. It helps the team as a whole so it will be nice to have Chris back out there.”
Glenn is more than ready to get back under center after a dismal performance in Vancouver last week. He believes no one on this team is ready to give up the fight regardless of the situation.
“We are still competitors when it comes right down to it,” Glenn said. “Guys play for a little bit of everything, it is whatever gets you up for a game whether it be money or contracts or whatever, but the bottom line is we are here to play a game. As a football player and a professional, we just have to have the mentality of going out and playing well.”
The game will kick off at 5:30 Saskatchewan time with television coverage on TSN. 620 CKRM’s pre-game show will start at 2:30 as Michael Ball and guests bring you Rider Nation pre-game live from the Four Seasons Sports Palace on Arcola Avenue East in a show that will be streamed live on Riderville.com starting at 3:00. The 17 year play-by-play voice of the Riders begins at 4:00, Rod Pedersen will bring you “Rider Nation Gameday” as he gets you caught up on any late breaking news along with interviews from people on both teams before being joined by Carm Carteri for all the action.
Courtesy of Dan Plaster
Fast Facts:
– It has been over a year since the Riders last road victory. It was September 7th last season, 30-24 over the Bombers in the 2014 Labour Day rematch. That’s a 12 game skid including the playoff loss in Edmonton. They are also the only team without a road victory this season.
– The Riders have five losses when holding the lead heading into the fourth quarter (two more than any other team in the CFL). They are one of two teams that haven’t come back after trailing after three quarters (0-4).
– The Riders are the only team with a losing record when winning the turnover battle.
– Hamilton is a +15 in the turnover department while the Riders are a -10.
– The Riders are by far and away the league leaders in big plays with 42 (fifteen 20+ rushes and 19 passing plays of 30+ yards).
– Hamilton has given up the least amount of big plays with just 19. The Riders had two in their week five loss to the Ti Cats.
– This will be a battle of the top two teams in second down conversions. The Riders are second converting 50.3% of the time while Hamilton converts a whopping 56.2% of their second downs.
– Hamilton is winless without Zach Collaros. They lost the game to Edmonton on September 19th when he went down and then again last week against Calgary.
– Jerome Messam still leads the CFL in yards from scrimmage but trails the Lions Andrew Harris by just a single yard for the rushing title (with 40 less carries).
– Messam is 182 yards away from 1,000. He last rushed for over 1,000 in 2011 when he gained 1,057 with the Eskimos.
– In 2011, Messam had 1,305 yards from scrimmage, he is currently at 1,269 this season.
Five to Watch:
1. Chris Getzlaf. Let’s see if the veteran Canadian receiver can give the Rider offence the spark it needs against the top defence in the CFL.
2. Pressure on Matthews. Ti-Cats’ starting quarterback, Jeff Matthews hasn’t been great replacing the injured Zach Collaros. The Riders need to make his life miserable, or else we will see a repeat of last week when rookie QB Jonathon Jennings shredded the Riders.
3. The Rider O-line. Dan Clark is out of the lineup and Corey Watman is making his first start at centre. This group needs to be great protecting Kevin Glenn and paving the road for Jerome Messam and Anthony Allen in the run game., especially against a Hamilton defence that held the Riders to just 84 yards in week five.
4. Speedy Banks. The Riders are the best cover team in the CFL. They have held everyone in check this season, including Brandon Banks. If they continue to do this in Hamilton, it would be a great first step towards a victory.
5. Road Warrior Mentality. I will use an old hockey cliché on this one. The Riders haven’t had it, losing their past 12 road games. If they find it, it will be a great building block for the rest of the season and into 2015.
