It is often said that football games are won or lost at the line of scrimmage.
That is a truism in the case of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who have surrendered only two sacks and registered 10 while enjoying a 3-0 start to the 2025 CFL season.
Saskatchewan shares top spot in both categories entering Saturday’s game against the B.C. Lions (5 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).
Two sacks against over the first three games puts the 2025 Roughriders in a tie with the 1992 edition for the lowest total in franchise history.
“There’s really no mystery to it,” left guard Trevon Tate said. “It’s just hard work.
“We came in a week early before camp and we laid the groundwork down immediately. Me and Yoshi (right tackle Jermarcus Hardrick) and a lot of guys, we talked in the off-season about the new standard, because we weren’t too pleased about the standard that we had last year.
“We knew coming into this season that if we wanted to beat the team we know we’ve got to beat to get to where we’ve got to go, we have to have a higher standard than any coach can hold us to.
“With the two sacks allowed, honestly, I feel we shouldn’t have even given up two, because we’ve seen how we gave them up. But when you’re locked in and you’re able to get coached by your own teammates rather than always waiting on a coach to coach you, it’s a lot easier.”
Tate is joined on the first-team unit by Hardrick, left tackle Daniel Johnson, centre Logan Ferland and right guard Jacob Brammer.
Payton Collins started at left tackle in the season opener, during which the Roughriders did not permit a sack, before suffering a knee injury in the third quarter of a June 5th home game against the Ottawa REDBLACKS.
Johnson, who dressed as the sixth offensive lineman for that game, moved into Collins’ spot after he was hurt. Zack Fry has been the sixth lineman for the past two games.
Last year, the Roughriders earned a home playoff game and advanced to the Western Final despite starting 12 offensive linemen and dressing 13 over the course of the season.
Hardrick, for one, suffered a season-ending quad injury in Week 5. Despite the absence of a key leader and a well-established All-CFL selection, the offensive line performed well under the tutelage of position coach Edwin Harrison.
“It’s a deep, deep room for us,” Head Coach Corey Mace said of the offensive line corps.
“It’s a battle-tested group and, certainly, we’ve got guys out there who didn’t have an opportunity to play last year for us who get to draw in and play a lot more — specifically Yosh.
“Having Brammer out there definitely helps. We’ve got D.J. (Johnson) getting out there and learning from those guys and there’s the flexibility of Tate and Ferland.”
Tate was principally a left tackle as a first-year Roughrider in 2024.
Ferland was anchored at right guard before a spate of injuries along the offensive line led to him starting at centre and right tackle.
For his efforts, he made the All-CFL team and was named the West’s Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman.
This year’s Coors Light Training Camp began with Ferland at his accustomed position of right guard. That changed abruptly when centre Sean McEwen, a free-agent addition, suffered a season-ending knee injury and veteran lineman Philippe Gagnon was sidelined with a torn bicep.
With the offensive line again in a state of flux, the pass protection has nonetheless been airtight while the Roughriders have averaged 122 rushing yards per game (third-best in the league).
“They’ve done an incredible job,” Mace said. “We’re very, very pleased with how they’ve been rolling since the season started.
“I know they take pride in being able to establish the line of scrimmage and trying to keep the quarterback upright.
“They’ve done a heck of a job and I continue to expect the same from them.”
The expectation level is comparable with regard to the pass rushers.
Habakkuk Baldonado, Malik Carney and Jameer Thurman each have two sacks. A.J. Allen, Micah Johnson, C.J. Reavis and Mike Rose have one sack apiece.
Four of the 10 sacks have been registered by linebackers (Thurman, Allen and Reavis).
The team has had the luxury of dressing the same nine defensive linemen — Baldonado, Carney, Johnson, Rose, Lake Korte-Moore, Aaron Patrick, Shane Ray, Ali Saad and Caleb Sanders — for each of the first three regular-season games.
Defensive Line Coach Phillip Daniels is another key component of the equation.
“Coach Phil does an incredible job breaking down the opponent and giving these guys different tools on how to get to the quarterback,” Mace said, “and we’ve got pretty good players there as well.
“We’re really using everybody that we dress. We dress a lot of D-linemen and a lot of them get played to keep them fresh.”
