RIDERS A TEST FOR REDBLACKS
Ottawa beat Edmonton in season opener despite getting little in the way of offence
Underdogs by 10 1/2 points for Saturday's game in Regina, the Ottawa Redblacks are turning away from the doubters, blocking whatever negative vibes are being lobbed in their direction.
Coming off a bye week that followed a 16-12 CFL-season-opening win over the Edmonton Elks, the Redblacks again aim to beat the odds, looking to beat the very good Saskatchewan Roughriders, who go into Saturday's showdown with a 2-0 record following wins over B.C. and Hamilton.
Saskatchewan has it all — a tough defence, good special teams and an offence that has a strong running game and passing attack, with quarterback Cody Fajardo as the catalyst for both. The Roughriders also have the support of their watermelon-head-wearing fan base, a noisy distraction for any visiting team at Mosaic Stadium.
The Redblacks have had plenty of time to watch film of their opponents and they're not backing down.
“There's a quote I really like, `We never needed acceptance from outsiders, so we worry about ourselves,'” said Redblacks long-snapper Louis-Philippe Bourassa following Thursday's practice at TD Place. “It's just outside noise for us, we're focusing on ourselves and on the work we have to do and every team we have to beat every week.
“There's a lot of confidence in the locker-room, even though there are a lot of new faces. It's a new chemistry to build and everything, but I like where we're going. I like what I've seen so far and what the vibe is like with the guys. I feel like we're all pushing toward the same objective.”
It seems highly unlikely the Redblacks can rely so heavily on their defence and special teams this time. In Game 1, the defence had three interceptions, one of them by Abdul Kanneh going for 102 yards and a touchdown. Kicker Lewis Ward had a convert and three field goals to provide the other points.
Missing in action was the offence, which needs to do much better than the 71 yards in passing it accumulated against the Elks. They also need to find a rushing game to not only chew up time on the clock, but to keep drives going and put up points. The problems offensively went much deeper than quarterback Matt Nichols, starting with an offensive line that's short on CFL experience.
“We've got to get better firstdown productivity,” said Redblacks head coach and offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice. “This is a defence that does a lot of different things. We've got to make sure we stay on the field on second down, put drives together and then finish in the end zone. We have to make sure we limit how many plays they have. You have to match sevens with sevens.”
There have questions about the health of Nichols, who had right-shoulder surgery two years ago and didn't do much in Game 1. It's worth noting the quarterback noticeably stepped up his game in practice this week. He looked more in sync with his receivers and aired it out a couple of times for long pass completions.
Asked how Nichols has looked, LaPolice said: “Fine. He's done everything we've asked and he's hit some balls and done some good things. Everybody keeps asking about Matt, but we have to play better as an offence. We can't just say Matt Nichols has to do it all.”
Nichols, who has a 7-4 career record against the Roughriders, isn't tossing out any excuses.
“I've been playing football since third grade, there was never a year off, so I think part of it was that,” he said. “But I don't want to use that as any kind of excuse. I expect us to go out and play well. I've personally felt great the past couple of weeks. I feel like I can catch up reading defences at full speed and make all the throws. I expect myself to go out and play much better than I did Week 1.”
Asked about the bye week coming off a win, LaPolice said: “I think it was an advantage for us because we have a lot of new players. It was really good because we're all here, the guys got to spend time together. We got to have a couple extra practices, we got to see some other games throughout the league and work on developing our culture and our team. When the schedule came out, you're like, `Ah, geez.' But I thought it was good.
“We started 1-0. You always want to win before the bye, and we were able to work on the mistakes we need to improve on.”
LINING UP THE LINE: The Redblacks' offensive line, which allowed five sacks against Edmonton, knows it has to get better in Regina.
“It just comes with a bit of time,” said right tackle Na'Ty Rodgers. “That wasn't a good performance (in Edmonton). We all knew that; I'm happy the way everybody responded. From the guys we're starting to guys who are not starting, everybody's working hard, everybody's coming in with a good attitude. I'm pretty confident in what we're going to put up out there.”
THE END AROUND: The Redblacks' injury report says defensive backs Sherrod Baltimore and Abdul Kanneh, both injured two weeks ago, were full participants in Thursday's practice. Receiver Anthony Coombs was limited. Nolan MacMillan, Nigel Romick and Brendan Gillanders did not practise.