RIDERS’ OFFENCE MUST PAVE UNFAMILIAR ROAD TO VICTORY
They were defending Grey Cup champs last time they beat a West rival away from home
Justin Bieber recently cancelled 14 road dates and, in hindsight, the Saskatchewan Roughriders should have done the same thing.
The Roughriders, after all, have lost their last 14 away games against CFL West Division opponents — a protracted skid the Green and White hopes to end Saturday against the B.C. Lions.
Saskatchewan has not defeated a divisional rival away from Mosaic Stadium (pick one) since the Winnipeg Blue Bombers fell 30-24 on Sept. 7, 2014.
Despite the victory — the Roughriders’ seventh in succession — 9/7/14 is an infamous date in franchise history.
During the third quarter of that game in Winnipeg, Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant suffered a torn tendon in his right elbow and was sidelined for the remainder of what turned out to be a lost season.
Saskatchewan had an 8-2 record with Durant as the starter in 2014. He had punctuated the previous season by quarterbacking the Green and White to a 45-23 home-field Grey Cup victory over the Hamilton TigerCats.
Beginning with the 2013 regular-season opener, and concluding with that fateful first Sunday of September in 2014, the Roughriders were on a 22-9 roll. Since then, they are 12-38. Talk about a roll reversal!
Over the past 14 West Division road games — including one 2014 playoff contest in which the Roughriders were intercepted five times — Saskatchewan has been outscored (gulp) 449-234. The average score: 32-17.
The disparity was eight or fewer points on only five occasions.
The visitors were held to 10 or fewer points in six of the aforementioned, er, games.
Et cetera.
It’s ugly.
Since 9/7/14, the Roughriders have fired a general manager (Brendan Taman) and a head coach (Corey Chamblin) at a considerable cost, and expensively hired Chris Jones to run the football operations and John Murphy to handle the player personnel.
Players have been auditioned at a dizzying pace.
Hope has been fostered with periodic victories — such as last Saturday’s 38-27 home-field conquest of the Toronto Argonauts.
But the lengthy rebuilding process will not be validated until the Roughriders can win a meaningful divisional game — especially on the road.
Opportunity knocks Saturday, just as it did on July 22 when Saskatchewan played in Calgary.
It was billed as a statement game for the Roughriders, who ended up erupting for three first downs in the first half — after which they trailed 17-0.
Calgary won, 27-10. Saskatchewan’s other road game this season was on June
22, when the Montreal Alouettes won 17-16. The Roughriders had a chance to win on the final play, but Tyler Crapigna missed a field-goal attempt from 45 yards away.
At home, the latest edition of the Roughriders has been much more successful. Jones and associates are 2-1 at the new Mosaic Stadium, where they have outscored the opposition 115-90.
The offence has sparkled at home, having registered regulation-time point totals of 38, 37 and 37.
Over those three games, Kevin Glenn has guided his team to 12 touchdowns — an average of one per quarter — including 10 aerial majors.
Away from Regina, it has been a different story. The Roughriders have eked out only two touchdowns (one via the aerial route) in two road games.
The defence, for the most part, has played winning football on the road. Montreal was held to 17 points and Calgary’s point total of 27 was surprisingly low when you consider Saskatchewan’s defence was hung out to dry.
Now, with another West Division road game looming, it is time for the Roughriders’ talentladen offence to take charge and, at long last, bury some unflattering references to the past.