Willy returns to Alouettes in time to face Stampeders

Drew Willy returns to the Montreal Alouettes just in time to face the buzzsaw that is the Calgary Stampeders defence. Willy gets the start Saturday night when Montreal (1-3) visits the Calgary Stampeders (4-0). Willy missed the Alouettes’ 28-18 loss to Ottawa on July 6 due to a neck-shoulder injury suffered in the club’s 23-17 win over Saskatchewan on June 30.

Jeff Mathews replaced Willy as Montreal’s starter against the Redblacks but suffered a foot injury that will keep him out four to six weeks.

Willy started Montreal’s first three games, completing 49 of 75 passes (65.3 per cent) for 549 yards with three TDs and one interception. But he’s been sacked 10 times this season and the Alouettes have allowed a leaguehigh 14.

And that’s a concern going up against the CFL’s best defence. Calgary is allowing a league-low 9.5 points per game and has registered 13 sacks, which is also tops.

What’s more, the unit has forced a CFL-best 14 turnovers. An opportunistic Calgary offence has scored 51 points off turnovers, another league high.

The Stampeders’ defence is also allowing just 249.5 offensive yards per game and has forced 14 turnovers. And Calgary looks to start a season 5-0 for the first time since 1995 when Doug Flutie led the squad to a 7-0 mark.

But quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell remains day-to-day after suffering a knee injury in Calgary’s 27-3 road win over Ottawa last Thursday. Backup Nick Arbuckle replaced Mitchell and finished 8-of-14 passing for 84 yards with a TD versus the Redblacks.

If Mitchell can’t play, that would be a serious blow for Calgary. With the win over Ottawa, Mitchell became the fastest quarterback in CFL history to reach 60 career victories (60-10-2).

However, the Stampeders would appear to still have more than enough weapons — including their stellar defence — to secure the victory.

Prediction: Calgary Saskatchewan Roughriders versus Hamilton Tiger-Cats (tonight)

At Hamilton, quarterback Jeremiah Masoli chases a record 10th straight 300-yard passing performance for the Ticats (2-2). He threw for 333 yards in an 18-13 road loss to Saskatchewan (22) on July 5, the last time both teams played. Canadian Brandon Bridge get the start for the Riders but if head coach/GM Chris Jones holds true to

form, expect to see Dave Watford under centre as well. Riders receiver Duron Carter gets another start at cornerback. Prediction: Hamilton B.C. Lions versus Ottawa Redblacks (Friday night)

At Ottawa, Travis Lulay looks to lead B.C. (2-2) to a second straight win. Lulay helped rally the Lions from a 17point deficit to their 20-17 victory over Winnipeg last week. But the defence will be minus stalwart linebacker Solomon Elimimian (wrist). Trevor Harris gets the start for the Redblacks (2-2) but was 27-of-51 passing for 228 yards with three interceptions in consecutive losses to the Stampeders.

Prediction: Ottawa. Winnipeg Blue Bombers versus Toronto Argonauts (Saturday afternoon)

At Toronto, Matt Nichols and the Bombers (2-2) look to rebound from last week’s disappointing loss to B.C. Winnipeg’s Andrew Harris, the CFL’s top rusher last year, leads again with 449 yards. James Franklin starts for the Argos (1-3) after finding S.J. Green 10 times for 130 yards in their 16-15 road loss to Edmonton on July 13. A positive, though, was the club’s defence holding the Eskimos’ highpowered offence to under 20 points in both games of the home-and-home series. Prediction: Winnipeg. Last week: 2-1 Overall: 12-7