RIDERS LOOKING FOR FOCUS
Trounced by Tiger-Cats 53-7
Saskatchewan Roughriders HAMILTON defensive end Jonathan Newsome was deflated but defiant.
After his team lost 53-7 to the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday — dropping Saskatchewan’s record to a CFL-worst 1-7-0 — Newsome was asked where his frustration level was.
“At an all-time high,” he said. “But every great team battles adversity. For me, personally, I’ve got to keep the right mindset. Every day I’ve got to come to work ready to go and play with heart. That’s all I can do: control the controllables.”
Saskatchewan’s start to the season has been surprisingly slow.
The Roughriders hired Chris Jones to be their head coach, general manager and vice-president of football operations in December, just days after he had guided the Edmonton Eskimos to the 2015 Grey Cup title.
He has a well-earned reputation as one of the CFL’s top defensive coaches — and yet the Roughriders’ defence is last in most of the league’s statistical categories.
The 53 points Hamilton scored Saturday are the most a Saskatchewan team has surrendered since July 8, 2006, when the Calgary Stampeders prevailed 53-36.
Zach Collaros threw five touchdown passes, and Jeremiah Masoli added a sixth for Hamilton, taking advantage of missed assignments, dropped interceptions and penalties on the Saskatchewan defence.
On offence, the Roughriders entered the season with quarterback Darian Durant back under centre. He’d missed most of the past season and a half due to injury, but he was healthy and ready to lead the way.
In Saturday’s contest, Durant threw a career-high four interceptions. And the Roughriders’ streak without a touchdown reached 90 minutes, dating back to the final play of the first half of their game against Calgary on Aug. 13.
“Across the board, we’re very frustrated,” Roughriders centre Dan Clark said. “But it’s one of those things where we’ve got to take all that focus and frustration and think about Edmonton this week.”
The Roughriders will look to snap their four-game losing streak Friday against the host Eskimos.
“We’re just going to keep fighting it out,” Newsome said. “Everybody’s got to get in their (play) books, and everybody’s got to know their job.
“It’s a collective effort. It’s not one person, and it’s not one thing. It’s everything that we’ve got to put together.”
Jones has been trying to push the right buttons, but nothing has worked to any great extent so far. The secondary, with two new starters from the prior week and a third in a different position, struggled Saturday as Collaros and Masoli passed for a combined 421 yards. The Roughriders made one sack.
Offensively, Durant was under pressure from the get-go but admitted he made some “bonehead decisions.” As a result, the Roughriders failed to take advantage of several opportunities to score majors.
And now they have a reasonably short work week to bounce back.
“We’ve just got to get ready for Edmonton,” Durant said. “It’s not rocket science. It’s just get back to work, continue to grind and get ready for a big Western game.
“The season’s not over. Everyone we need to play we play coming up, and we have a chance with these Western games to kind of switch things around.”
Jones suggested the key is to learn from mistakes and build on the things his team did well Saturday.
“People can write whatever they want, they can say whatever they want, but I know the hearts of those guys in that room,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of young kids, and we’re going to keep grinding with them. We’ve got a great staff. We’re going to get that thing turned.”
Collaros threw five- and 13-yard TD passes to Chad Owens, a 37-yarder to Andy Fantuz, a 58-yarder to Brandon Banks and a 47-yarder to Terrence Toliver. Masoli added a one-yard scoring pass to Luke Tasker for Hamilton, which got six converts and three field goals from Brett Maher and a conceded safety.
Tyler Crapigna kicked two field goals, and Josh Bartel added a single for the Roughriders.
Every great team battles adversity. For me, personally, I’ve got to keep the right mindset. Every day I’ve got to come to work ready to go and play with heart. That’s all I can do: control the controllables. — Jonathan Newsome, Riders defensive end