Rider Broadcast Network Colour Analyst, Luc Mullinder, shares his keys to the game before every Saskatchewan Roughriders game.
Luc’s keys to the game are for the KFC Game Day special: $4.95 for a Big Crunch and $7.95 for a Big Crunch combo at participating Saskatchewan KFC locations.
Here are Luc’s keys for Saturday night’s game vs. B.C.
Key number one: We need both kickers to come out here and do their jobs. I think we talk about Brett Lauther's struggles at length, but our punting game has not been good either.
We need our punter, Joe Couch, to come and answer the bell today because this game is going to be a lot closer. Field position is going to mean everything in this game. So key number one is we need both our kickers to show up and show out today.
Key number two: I would love to see a little more aggression defensively from the Saskatchewan Roughriders regarding Jeremiah Masoli and that B.C. offensive line in first-down or even second-and-short situations. I think you can tighten up your coverage a little bit against those receivers. And again, the more you get Masoli thinking and moving around, the more prone he is to throwing a turnover.
So, key number two is stepping up aggressiveness on defence.
And key number three, fool me once, shame on me. Fool me three times, though. And it's shame on everybody else. This team has to come out and play a complete football game. There have been too many instances in week one, week two, and week three that you can point out and say, Wow, if that had gone the other way, we would have lost this football game.
We got fortunate against Toronto. Hamilton, the same thing. You have to come out here today against B.C. It's a beautiful day. It's a Western Conference opponent. You have to come out here and show out. This team cannot shoot itself in the foot, whether through turnovers or penalties.
I mean, again, I was talking to my folks over there. This is professional football. These teams are good enough. You don't have to give them back two football fields' worth of yardage.
So you've got to come out here and play a complete game because this could go really well or it could go really bad. It could go really bad if they do not improve on some of the things they've identified each week coming into this.
So, again, it's great to celebrate going one, and oh, I get that. And that is the mantra and the culture that's established on this team. Want to know, every week is a good thing. But you have to make sure that you're taking the things that could have cost you the game and improving on those.
So that's the third key. You've got to come out, put it on tape, and show Rider Nation today that you understand where your hurdles were and that you're willing to get over those hurdles today against the Lions.