Tiger-Cats pick on Rider quarterbacks
HAMILTON Dari an Durant’ s luck finally ran out.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback entered Saturday’s CFL game against the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats having gone 321 straight pass attempts over 12 starts without throwing an interception.
That was the longest such streak in CFL history, surpassing Ricky Ray’s 247 attempts between interceptions for the Toronto Argonauts. The last time Durant had been picked was on July 26, 2014, when Toronto’s Thaddeus Gibson got him.
Durant completed his first two pass attempts Saturday before Hamilton’s Emanuel Davis snared Durant’s third throw. That ended up being the first of four picks Durant threw in Saskatchewan’s 53-7 loss at Tim Hortons Field.
“I don’t think about (the streak ending); it’s just football,” Durant said. “If you look at some of the throws earlier in the season, some of those could have easily been picked off.
“Streaks are about luck sometimes. You have to have things go your way. Everything was going my way, but tonight (the Tiger-Cats) didn’t drop it.”
Durant was intercepted by Davis in the first quarter, Adrian Tracy in the second, and Rico Murray and Courtney Stephen in the third.
It was the first time in Durant’s career that he had been picked off four times in a game. He finished with 18 completions in 28 pass attempts for 235 yards and an efficiency rating of 31.1. He also was sacked four times, including twice by former teammate John Chick.
Durant credited the Tiger-Cats’ pressure for forcing him to make mistakes, but suggested that he wasn’t thrown off by their coverages.
“I was able to see everything,” he said. “I just made some bonehead decisions out there (that are) uncharacteristic of me. I was just trying to force some things.”
Equally painful for the Roughriders was the fact that the Tracy and Stephen thefts set up Tiger-Cats touchdowns and the Davis pick led to a field goal. The Murray interception also was costly in that it occurred in the Hamilton end zone.
The Roughriders managed only two Tyler Crapigna field goals and a Josh Bartel single. As a result, Saskatchewan’s skid without a touchdown reached exactly 90 minutes, dating back to the final play of the first half Aug. 13 against the Calgary Stampeders.
The Roughriders had their chances to score majors Saturday, but a pass into the end zone intended for Naaman Roosevelt was knocked down and another potential scoring pass to Caleb Holley was dropped.
Durant has been operating behind an offensive line this season that has had a number of different looks due to injury and roster changes. As well, the Roughriders’ receiving corps has been through several iterations.
Having said that, Saskatchewan had its chances Saturday and didn’t convert.
“We have to be able to capitalize when we get opportunities,” said Durant, whose team didn’t score a touchdown in either of its trips into the red zone. “We didn’t and they did (by going 3-for-6 in the red zone).”
Durant wasn’t the only Roughriders quarterback who coughed up a turnover Saturday. Backup Mitchell Gale fumbled on his first play, was intercepted by Dominique Ellis on the Roughriders’ next possession, and was sacked on third down on his third drive.
“Certainly when you only score seven points, offensively we didn’t do the things that we need to do,” Roughriders head coach Chris Jones said. “We’ve got to take a good, hard look at what we’re doing offensively.”