REGINA — During every Rider Broadcast Network pregame show, former Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive lineman and current live game analyst Luc Mullinder offers his Three Keys to the Game. In a recurring segment this season, we’ll take a look at how the Riders met or missed when it came to those metrics and how big of an effect they had on the outcome.
As it turns out, their match-up against Calgary was a bit of a mixed bag on two of the keys, and a complete win on another. Here’s how things played out:
1 – Focus in on Riders centre and guard play. The middle of the offensive line was going to be in tough against Calgary’s lethal pass rush and run stop abilities, and the Riders would need to be sharp to give the offence time to work.
How did the Riders do? – Pretty good overall.
Centre Logan Ferland and guards Zach Fry and Jacob Brammer most certainly won the overall battle on Saturday night, as evidenced by the amount of time quarterback Trevor Harris had to work in the first three quarters of the game and how well A.J. Ouellette was able to run the ball.
Harris ended up with nearly 350 yards passing and three touchdowns, Ouellette was well on pace for a 100-yard game on the ground before leaving with an injury. And while Calgary was able to pick things up in the fourth quarter and shut Saskatchewan down — including a key sack by Clarence Hicks that ended a potential game-clinching drive — their highlights on the defensive line were few and far between.
That’s a good sign going forward, because as we’ve seen through the first two games, even the slightest bit of offensive protection is going to lead to impressive things for Saskatchewan.
2 – Take standout Calgary running back Dedrick Mills out of the game early. Limiting Mills’ output and forcing Calgary into a pass-heavy game against Saskatchewan’s dangerous defensive secondary would give the Riders a great chance to win.
How did the Riders do? – Great, until it went bad.
There’s no question that the Stampeders were going to head into halftime a frustrated and disappointed team after how well the Saskatchewan defence had played against them through the opening 30 minutes.
And a major part of that was what they did to Mills and the Calgary offence in general – the Stamps managed only 52 yards offence in the first half, with their standout running back having half of those yards. That meant that if the Riders could maintain their lead, it wouldn’t be long until Mills was going to be a limited factor, which is exactly what Luc was looking for.
Then the missed field goal for a touchdown happened, Calgary got back on schedule in the second half, and Mills went to work.
He’d regularly put Calgary in short-yardage second downs if not picking up 10 or more himself in the fourth quarter as the Stamps made their comeback, and eventually finished with 15 carries for 103 yards.
Had the Riders been able to hold their lead, Mills might have become a non-factor in the second half, but they didn’t, and the rest is history.
3 – Replicate the success they had last week in the opposing defensive secondary. Use their ultra dangerous crew of slotbacks to find mismatches on safeties and linebackers — specifically Derrick Moncrief — and make life miserable any time Harris dropped back to pass.
How did the Riders do? – Pieced ‘em up like Floyd Mayweather.
Saskatchewan ran Kian Schaffer-Baker and Sam Emilus at the second level of Calgary’s defence all game, and the mismatches were as palpable as they were striking.
Schaffer-Baker was especially effective any time he lined-up against the Stamps linebacking corps, eventually finishing with eight catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Things didn’t go much better for Calgary when KSB got downfield, either, including his touchdown late in the second quarter when he outduelled safety Jackson Sombach.
Then Samuel Emilus was doing the same on the other side of the field, finishing with four catches for 90 yards.
There’s a sense that those two and Dhel Duncan-Busby are going to give teams fits all season if they can get linebacker and safety mismatches, and what they showed against Calgary did little to dispel that opinion.
Interestingly enough, perhaps the most effective linebacker defending the pass was Moncrief, as he had a handful of break-ups late in the game and in overtime. The wily veterans always find a way, don’t they?
The Roughriders are back in action in Week 4 when they host the Toronto Argonauts on Friday. Kick-off is 7 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium.
