Opportunity beckons for Alouettes’ Sarao against red-hot Bombers
The guy everyone expected to be the heir apparent to Bear Woods is finally getting the opportunity this week to play middle-linebacker for the Alouettes.
That Anthony Sarao is replacing Dominique Tovell, and not Woods, hasn’t been lost on him. Sarao was the player management raved about through the early stages of training camp, before they ultimately decided to go with the bigger Tovell.
But Tovell, who scored the Als’ only touchdown last Saturday at Toronto on a 61-yard interception, is recovering from a concussion, not the knee injury head coach Jacques Chapdelaine had stated a day earlier. That means Sarao will make his Canadian Football League regular-season debut, in Montreal’s ninth game of the season, Thursday night at Molson Stadium against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
If pro sports are all about timing and opportunity, that nugget hasn’t been lost on Sarao, who realizes the door has been left ajar, perhaps only slightly, and understands he must do his best to produce and seize the moment.
“Opportunity’s the key word. That’s been my life,” Sarao said following Tuesday’s practice at Olympic Stadium. “Nothing was handed to me and I never asked for handouts. It was work, and when your opportunity comes, you can’t let it go.”
Sarao, 5-foot-11 and 233 pounds, has spent the majority of his time on the Als’ practice roster while the team has relied on Tovell, another rookie, who’s three inches taller and 15 pounds heavier. This all became necessary, of course, when management shockingly released Woods on the second day of camp. Woods, the East Division’s most outstanding defensive player two of the last three seasons, eventually signed with the Argonauts.
Sarao, a native of Atlantic City, signed with the Als last February, after he failed to stick with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent. And he came to Montreal with impressive college credentials, spending four seasons at the University of Southern California.
He completed his career with 217 tackles, seven quarterback sacks, two interceptions and five knockdowns. Twelve-and-a-half of his tackles were for losses. He was a Trojans’ captain as a senior. He played both weakside and middle linebacker for USC while also being used extensively on special teams.
He said he wasn’t surprised when the coaching staff ultimately decided on Tovell, who has made a smooth adjustment to three-down football. Tovell has 43 defensive-tackles and has pressured the quarterback three times. The touchdown was the first of his career.
“This is football. You can’t be surprised by anything. That’s my mentality,” Sarao said.
Defensive co-ordinator Noel Thorpe has no fears about Sarao, saying he and Tovell push each other at practice. Thorpe believes Sarao comes into the game well prepared.
“He has been dialed in. He’s shown a real maturity level,” Thorpe said. “He takes great notes (during meetings) and has studied well. He understood he could be on the field next at any given moment.
“He’s ready to go. We’ve given him reps. He’s mentally dialed in. He has been since day one. He wants it and this is his opportunity.”
Sarao isn’t the only significant roster change the Als will make for this game. Brandon Rutley practised for the second consecutive day and will replace Tyrell Sutton at tailback. Sutton, according to Chapdelaine, has a bruised knee. He could have played, Chapdelaine maintained, had the game been later in the week and held more significance, such as an elimination match.
The Bombers (6-2) have won four consecutive games since overcoming a 12-point deficit in less than two minutes against Montreal in the fourth quarter on July 27, scoring a dramatic 41-40 victory. The Als then had a bye week in the schedule, returned to defeat Toronto 21-9, although the Argos were without quarterback Ricky Ray. Ray returned last weekend and Montreal was pasted 38-6.
The Als still possess one of the league’s stingiest defences, having allowed a modest average of 24.6 points per game. Take away the kickoff Stefan Logan fumbled against Toronto that was returned for a touchdown by Justin Tuggle, and that average drops to 23.9 points.
But Montreal averages only 21 points per game, a significant reason why the team has lost five of eight. The 41 and 38 points allowed in two of the last three games might be somewhat misleading — the Als were relatively sound for 58 minutes against Winnipeg and settled down in the second half against Toronto — but it’s also a trend that can’t continue.
“In this league, teams have opportunities to score. You know the pride we take in low-scoring games,” Thorpe said. “We held Edmonton and B.C. to 23. We just held a team to nine points and then they scored 38. But they didn’t do anything different offensively with Ray. We didn’t run a different defensive system. They executed at a higher level and stuck with what was working.
“We didn’t match Toronto’s intensity level early. If you want to say that’s on me, that’s fine. They did a good job of stretching the field laterally, putting us in a chase situation. I have to put our guys in a better position, a better situation. We responded in the second half. That was important.”
Or perhaps the Argos, ahead 35-0 at halftime, merely put the engine on cruise control?