ROBSERVATIONS: Milligan is the “M-Zero-P” … some special stats … and a sweet memory from 49 years ago today
One fine day over lunch at training camp, while I was shamelessly Hoovering a mountainous mass of mashed potatoes, I noticed Trevor Harris and Rolan Milligan Jr. conversing a few tables away at the University of Saskatchewan.
They were engrossed in a discussion that was assuredly professorial within the context of football.
A reminder of that day in May serves as food for thought five months later, with Harris and Milligan Jr. having played integral roles in the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ surge toward securing a home playoff game. (For tickets, click HERE.)
“I’m just glad he’s on our team,” Harris says of Milligan Jr., “because he has made me a better quarterback this year as well.”
Harris is enjoying a banner season, as evidenced by his CFL-best quarterback-efficiency rating (108.4) and the fact that his 20 TD passes lead all playoff-bound pivots — even though he missed 6½ games with a knee injury.
Milligan Jr., meanwhile, leads the loop in interceptions (eight) and defensive takeaways (eight).
He is tied with teammate A.J. Allen for top spot in special teams tackles (20) and is one behind fellow Roughriders defensive back Marcus Sayles in pass knockdowns. Sayles has broken up 11 passing plays.
With 111 total defensive plays, Milligan Jr. leads all CFL defensive backs and is third overall, behind two linebackers — the Montreal Alouettes’ Tyrice Beverette (128) and the Edmonton Elks’ Nick Anderson (119).
All-around excellence by the Roughriders’ No. 0 has put him in strong contention for CFL Most Outstanding Player laurels.
“I think Rolan’s our MOP,” Harris states. “He’s leading the league in interceptions. He’s leading our team in special teams tackles. He’s setting a standard for defensive backs.
“There’s some colleges I see where their starting receivers are running out there on punt coverage. To me, the fact that Rolan is doing that as a professional is at another level. He has just done nothing but continue to prove everybody right.
“I’ve been saying M-Zero-P, because he’s the MOP for us this year.”
The appraisal has not changed since the spring.
“I told Rolan in camp that in my 12 years up here, I think he’s the best halfback I’ve ever played against,” Harris says. “I meant that and I told him that and he was kind of surprised. He was like, ‘Man, thank you.’
“He has done nothing but show that all year. He does it every day in practice. Iron sharpens iron. If I miss a pass by a few inches — and I get away with it most of the time in games — you don’t get away with it with Rolan.”
Without Milligan for most of the 2023 season, the Roughriders missed the playoffs.
Saskatchewan had a 3-1 record with Milligan Jr. in the lineup last season. After he was sidelined with a toe injury, the team went 3-11.
Over the four games for which Milligan Jr. did suit up, he registered two interceptions and a key tackle on a third-down goal-line situation in the Roughriders’ season opener at Edmonton.
Minus Milligan most of the way, Saskatchewan had a minus-20 turnover ratio after 17 games last year. This year, there has been a swing of 45 — to a league-best plus-25 — with one regular-season game remaining.
The Roughriders had 14 interceptions at this point in the 2023 campaign. Milligan has more than half that total (eight) while helping the 2024 team pilfer 24 passes. Saskatchewan and Edmonton are tied for top spot in interceptions.
Milligan Jr., by himself, is not responsible for the turnaround, but his presence has been invaluable.
The same can be said of Harris.
Saskatchewan was 3-2 in games he started last season. Without him, the slate was 3-10.
This year, Harris and Shea Patterson have helped the Roughriders elevate their offensive stats. Consider these 17-game totals from 2023 and 2024, with last year’s figure in parentheses.
Offensive points per game: 25.3 (20.0).
Offensive touchdowns: 40 (31).
Touchdown passes: 26 (18).
Efficiency rating: 99.7 (89.1).
The most important difference between then and now?
Record: 9-7-1 (6-12-0).
MORE NUMBERS TO CHEW ON
Milligan Jr.’s all-around excellence got me thinking — which, we hasten to remind you, is dangerous.
Has anyone in Roughriders history enjoyed a comparable season?
Accordingly, I sifted through the (cough!) dusty files with the objective of identifying other players who have sparkled on defence and special teams in the same season.
One qualifier: Special teams tackles were not logged until the 1980s. Even then, the totals were unofficial until 1991.
Another qualifier: Data pertaining to defensive tackles is elusive prior to the mid-1980s. Defensive tackles did not become an official CFL stat until 1987.
Anyway, here are the best documented combinations of defensive and special teams prowess:
1986: Linebacker Eddie Lowe was second on the team, unofficially, in special teams tackles (16½) and third in defensive tackles (56½). In addition to leading the team in tackles for a loss (seven), No. 42 registered four interceptions, four sacks and six pass breakups.
1990: Dan Rashovich led the Roughriders in special teams tackles (23) and was second in defensive tackles (80). He added three sacks, three tackles for a loss, three fumble recoveries and one interception en route to being named a West Division All-Star linebacker.
1992: Rashovich led the Green and White in defensive tackles (70) and was second in special teams tackles (20). He added four sacks and four tackles for a loss.
2000: George White paced the Roughriders’ tacklers on defence (105) and special teams (22). He was named a CFL All-Star and the West’s Most Outstanding Rookie.
2001: White was recognized as a West All-Star linebacker after pacing his team in defensive tackles (104) and special teams tackles (24). He added two interceptions, three sacks, four pass breakups and three tackles for a loss.
2014: Brian Peters sat atop the Roughriders’ tackling tables on defence (78) and special teams (20). He added three sacks and two interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown.
2024: Milligan Jr., as cited above.
SPECIAL STOPS
Peters owns a one-eighth share of the Roughriders’ record for special teams tackles in one game.
He registered five tackles on the Roughriders’ coverage units in a 45-23 Grey Cup victory over the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Nov. 24, 2013.
The other fivers belong to:
• Paul Bushey (July 18, 1991 at Calgary).
• Bruce Boyko (July 9, 1993 at B.C).
• David Pitcher (Oct. 14, 1995 versus Calgary).
• Brooks Findlay (Aug. 17, 1996 at Edmonton).
• Darnell Small (July 30, 1998 at Hamilton).
• Neal Hughes (Oct. 20, 2006 at Toronto).
• Yannick Carter (Sept. 13, 2008 at B.C.).
There are 47 examples of a Roughrider registering four special teams tackles in one game. Two players have reached that total this season — Milligan Jr. (June 16 at Hamilton) and Melique Straker (Aug. 4 versus Edmonton).
The other current Roughriders who have produced four special teams tackles: Jayden Dalke (Oct. 29, 2022 at Calgary) and Kosi Onyeka (Aug. 20, 2023 versus B.C.).
49 YEARS AGO …
The Roughriders played a game that was life-changing (at least for yours truly) on Oct. 19, 1975.
Before then, I was a football fan, but I went completely over the edge 49 years ago today.
Alongside my sainted mother, I sat in the south end zone bleachers at Taylor Field and watched the Roughriders defeat Edmonton 36-27.
There isn’t any way of documenting this, of course, but I cannot remember any Roughriders team receiving more standing ovations in one regular-season game.
A crowd of 22,628 watched Ron Lancaster throw three touchdown passes — two to Steve Mazurak and one to Rhett Dawson.
I can still remember Mazurak sprinting toward us to complete a 73-yard pass-and-run major.
Just 1:41 later, Lancaster and Mazurak collaborated on a 31-yard score that helped the Roughriders assume an 18-13 lead over their arch-rivals.
At the time, I could not imagine that George Reed was playing in his final regular-season home game. He rushed 23 times for 101 yards and one TD.
Having just turned 36, No. 34 broke his own CFL single-season record for carries, eclipsing his 1967 total of 302. He finished the 1975 campaign with 323 carries and the third-best rushing-yardage total (1,454) of his illustrious career.
It was such an exciting day, all things considered, that an 11-year-old me started a Roughriders scrapbook when the best-selling, Oct. 20, 1975 edition of the Regina Leader-Post arrived at the two-bedroom, one-bathroom, one-dog Vanstone estate on Acadia Drive.
“Right now,” Bob Hughes wrote of the Roughriders, “they are the best football team in the whole league.
“They are playing the most consistent football they have played all year. They’ve had to win their last four games — two of them against Edmonton — and they did.
“It is the stuff champions are made of.”
Not to mention scrapbooks.
ROLL CREDITS …
• Nice people who deserve a plug: Jeff Meakin, Steve Mazurak, Rhett Dawson, Steve Daniel, Jeff Krever, Donna Kovach, Matthew Exner, Dylan Earis, Edie Schroeder, Ken McEachern, Otis Young, Dale Sauer, Jana McEachern, Brandon McEachern, Chloe McEachern, Jordy McEachern, Matthew Exner, Lara Fominoff and Pete Paczko.
