Now’s a good time to spark some offence
Team is currently worst in the league in time of possession
Trying to put into words what the Ottawa Redblacks need to do collectively to get to where they want to be, head coach Rick Campbell referred to a phrase popularized by John F. Kennedy a long time ago.
“A rising tide lifts all boats.” The Redblacks need to get that tide rising in a hurry — we’re talking about an offence that had just four first downs in the second half last week with five two-and-outs in a 16-12 loss in Edmonton.
“It’s a team effort,” explained Campbell following Friday’s walk-through in preparation for a game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday at 4 p.m. at TD Place. “It’s amazing how we can all make each other look good — the players and coaches. When you start making some plays, all of a sudden everybody starts to look better. The mistakes that are made in every football game then get shoved to the background. All of us upping our game — we’ve played three games in a row that have come down to the last play of the game and we’ve been losing the time of possession on a consistent basis — if we can tip that in our favour, it would suggest we definitely have a chance to win some games.”
While the Redblacks go into Saturday’s game with a 3-5 record, the 6-2 Ticats are in first place in the East Division. An Ottawa win keeps them in the race, a loss knocks them four games back.
“We still control our destiny,” said Redblacks defensive back Antoine Pruneau. “This week is a good time to start over and correct the mistakes we made in previous weeks.”
“We’re not really focused on the three-game lead” over the Redblacks, said Ticats coach Orlondo Steinauer. “We’ve established a pretty good little rivalry. They got us pretty good last year (winning all four games), but that’s all last year. It’s an Eastern Conference game — we expect it to be a battle.”
To have success, Ottawa will need to hang onto the ball, stop coughing it up after quick twoand-outs. The Redblacks are worst in the CFL with an average time of possession of 25:32. Ironically, the Ticats are thirdworst with an average of 26:56, but have made enough big plays to compensate for it.
Asked if time of possession was a valid statistic and if his team’s numbers were concerning, Campbell said, “It’s valid if it happens on a consistent basis. If you don’t have the ball as much, you need to be making big plays, something that changes the game. You don’t want to live by that. You want to keep the other team’s offence off the field so it makes it easier on your defence.”
Redblacks receivers coach and offensive play-caller Winston October knows the offence has to get better.
“We don’t have a lot of guys pointing fingers outside of themselves, so I need to do my part,” October said. “Everybody’s looking for somebody to blame, but I look at it like, ‘Hey, I can do a better job of calling plays.’”
With quarterback Jeremiah Masoli out for the season with an ACL injury, Dane Evans has stepped in as Hamilton’s starter. He has plenty of weapons the Redblacks have to be wary of, especially dynamic receiver Brandon Banks.
Banks is “a fun player to watch on TV, not so much fun to play against,” Campbell said. “You really have to do a good job on your tackling angles, rally to the ball, get hats on him and try to limit the space he’s in. Part of limiting space is getting multiple guys around him.”
Offensively, the Ticats changed philosophically with the departure of architect June Jones and the promotion of Tommy Condell into the offensive co-ordinator position.
“They’re different, no question,” said defensive co-ordinator Noel Thorpe. “Different style, different philosophy — you can see that on film — just the way they attack defences. Within that, there are still similarities across the board. Teams are going to run some of the same route concepts, it’s not individualized to any certain co-ordinator or team.
“The offence hasn’t changed in what they do. When you’ve got Jeremiah back there, you’ve got a guy who’s got experience and his reads probably happen a bit quicker. But Dane is playing some good football, he’s making some things happen with his legs. He’s negotiating the pocket, you can tell he’s a guy who wants to push the ball downfield.”
SECOND AND LONG: De’Chavon Hayes steps in to start at field corner for the Redblacks. Maurice Fleming Jr. started there last week and lasted one play before getting injured. Asked about Hayes, Campbell said, “He’s looked really good. He’s quick, he’s physical. If he plays like he does in practice, I think he’s really going to do some good things. He’s truly a corner, a cover guy, which is good.” ... Stefan Logan, who was signed this week after an injury to DeVonte Dedmon, is in the lineup returning punts and kickoffs. He will be joined on kickoff returns by Greg Morris. Also in the Redblacks lineup are RB Mossis Madu Jr., WRs Caleb Holley, Jacob Scarfone and R.J. Harris, who missed the past four games with an injury. Out are DE Kene Onyeke (on the six-game injured list) and RB John Crockett, who may only miss one game . ... Receivers/ returners Rafael Araujo-Lopes and Dedmon and OL Jason Lauzon-Seguin have been put on the six-game injured list.
THE END AROUND: Added to the Ticats lineup this week: QB Hayden Moore, OL Darius Ciraco and OL Kelvin Palmer. Out are DB Tevin Mitchell, OL Ryker Mathews and OL Brett Golding.
... Rick Campbell is closing in on Game No. 100 as a head coach. This will be Game 99 — he is 4452-2 and 42-36-2 since 2015 . ... Asked about the buzz around so many punt and kickoff returns for touchdowns this season, Campbell said, “It’s certainly fun watching it on TV and for the fans. But it gives you grey hairs as a coach. The CFL’s great because of stuff like that.” ... Five of six CFL.ca writers picked Hamilton to win — Jim Morris took the Redblacks. tbaines@postmedia.com