‘Big win,’ but another Ottawa QB goes down
Tate injured as Redblacks defeat the Als to grab narrow lead in the East Division
The Ottawa Redblacks are back in first place, but they may have a big problem.
With an injury to quarterback Drew Tate — while in the throwing motion, he was drilled by defensive back Dondre Wright in the second quarter of Sunday’s 29-11 win over the Montreal Alouettes — the depth chart right now reads Ryan Lindley, Danny Collins and Will Arndt. That’s a first-year CFL player (with NFL experience) and two rookies, one who has been with the team for less than a week.
Up next for Ottawa is a Friday date with the Blue Bombers in Winnipeg.
“We’ll have to wait and see what (Tate’s) deal is,” Redblacks head coach Rick Campbell said. “Initially, he thought he just had the wind knocked out of him. But he just doesn’t feel right. I was proud of Ryan Lindley stepping in — he’s barely taken any reps in practice other than being the QB sneak guy.”
“We don’t know 100 per cent (what the injury is) so I’m not going to speculate,” Redblacks general manager Marcel Desjardins said. “We’ll have to see what the medical imaging says and we’ll go from there. It was arm/shoulder, but beyond that … there are a couple of possibilities.”
Can they go with the three quarterbacks on the roster?
“Potentially,” Desjardins said. “We may not have a choice. It’s not ideal — we’re on a short week — but we’ll look at all options.”
Lindley was solid, not spectacular, completing seven of 14 passes for 76 yards. Before Tate left the game, he was good on 21 of 29 for 185 yards.
Running back William Powell really stepped up his game with some strong blocking ahead of him, rushing for 144 yards.
“My biggest thing is you don’t want to feel like you’re mentally behind in the game, everybody’s playing faster than you are,” Lindley said. “Those first couple of drives, I was trying to make decisions too quickly, not letting it come to me. That’s where some of those things were forced and a little off.”
Offensively, the Redblacks had the ball for a staggering 41 minutes. Ottawa’s defence stepped up, allowing just 83 yards of passing by the Als, with three sacks — two by Jonathan Newsome and another by Avery Ellis.
“As a defence, we talked (Saturday night) — we just want more respect,” Newsome said. “We’re not about letting up anymore. We learned our lesson against B.C. and last week against Hamilton.”
Lindley’s first pass — he was trying to hit receiver Greg Ellingson over his outside shoulder in the end zone — was picked off by defensive back Tevaughn Campbell. But even when the Alouettes did something right, it went wrong: Campbell stepped out, then back into the end zone. The ensuing safety gave Ottawa two points, a 22-3 lead and possession on their own 35.
The Alouettes were horrible on offence. In the first quarter, they had minus-2 net yards. Their initial first down of the game came well into the second quarter. QB Darian Durant was yanked, with Drew Willy on in relief.
The Redblacks chewed up more than eight minutes with their opening drive, closing it off with an 16-yard touchdown pass from Tate to Patrick Lavoie. Jake Harty caught a two-point convert.
Boris Bede booted a 38-yard field goal for Montreal, but a 30-yard Brett Maher field goal made it 11-3.
On a missed 54-yard field goal attempt, Diontae Spencer found an opening, scooted down the right sideline, then broke left to score a 113-yard touchdown. Ellingson was wide open for the two-point convert. A Maher single on the kickoff made it 20-3.
A 22-yard Maher field goal midway through the third quarter made it 25-3.
The Redblacks (5-7-1) moved a point ahead of the Toronto Argonauts, who have a game in hand, for top spot in the East Division. The struggling Als fell to 3-9.
“It’s a big win,” Campbell said. “We’re competing directly with Montreal for a playoff spot, so this is like a four-point-swing game.” Second and long: Things were going so bad for the Als, on an Ottawa drive midway through the third quarter as Lindley and Powell collided in the backfield only for Powell to take the delayed hand-off and run for eight yards ... The TSN TV feed cut out for awhile, most of the first quarter, so after a delay, they used the RDS feed, with the studio crew doing the play-by-play and commentary ... Something that did work for the Als: A Bede punt that went out of bounds at the Ottawa one-yard line in the final minute of the third quarter. Ottawa, of course, then chewed up seven minutes with a drive that included some nice Powell runs and a fine diving catch by Dominique Rhymes, good for 20 yards.