Given numbers QB Harris putting up, Redblacks must rue day they let him go
BIG GUN: Ottawa’s loss was Edmonton’s gain in the passing game, with free-agent pickup Trevor Harris earning a league-best 2,304 passing yards in seven games with the Eskimos. That’s a full 599 yards ahead of the next best arm in the league. The Ottawa franchise he left behind, meanwhile, averages a league low 218 passing yards per game, compared to Harris’s 329yard average.
PENALTY PROBLEMS: Chances are the Eskimos will give much of that real estate back in the form of penalty flags, having led the league with 93 infractions for 760 yards over the first seven games. That 109-yard average is a total eclipse of the Redblacks, who are the least penalized team in the East Division with just 55 flags for 522 yards.
ON THE CLOCK: The Eskimos’ league-leading defence is being bolstered by the return of a pair of reigning CFL all-stars in cornerback Anthony Orange and coverage linebacker Don Unamba. Just don’t blink. With the Eskimos leading the West Division with over 33 minutes of possession per game, and the Redblacks sitting last in the league with 25 and a half minutes, chances are Edmonton’s defence won’t be on the field for very long.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Ottawa’s best chance at finding the end zone might very well come from return man Devonte Dedmon, who recorded not one but two touchdown returns in a highlight-reel performance on the way to an overtime victory over the Montreal Alouettes last week. Edmonton, meanwhile, gave up a kickoff return touchdown in a loss to the Calgary Stampeders where they also lost punter Hugh O’neill and return man Martese Jackson to injury.
INSPIRING DREAD, MON: Speaking of Dedmon, the 5-foot-9, 198-pound William and Mary product outgained Ottawa’s offence by 141 yards last week, earning a combined 382 yards off punts, kickoffs and missed field goals. The only better performance in CFL history was a 428-yard, one touchdown-return night by Larry Taylor in 2012.
KEY MATCHUP Eskimos DE Kwaku Boateng vs. Redblacks RT Stephane Nembot
Forced to break up an all-canadian offensive line due to injury, the Ottawa Redblacks are dressing a newbie at right tackle in American Stephane Nembot. The 6-foot7, 318-pound Colorado product is getting his first CFL start against the league-leading sack attack in Edmonton, who have brought down the quarterback 26 times in seven games. Eskimos pass rusher Kwaku Boateng is tied for second on the team with four sacks, but earned a trio against the Redblacks in one game last season.