RIDER NATION UNDERGOES A TOTAL TRANSFORMATION
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are firing on all cylinders — without the imperative of firing anyone.
Scoring-wise, the Roughriders are enjoying their hottest threegame stretch since 2006, when they amassed 136 points while registering back-to-back-to-back CFL victories.
It was such a torrid run that, in the midst of it all, the Roughriders’ ruling class of the day saw fit to fire general manager Roy Shivers. He was cashiered on Aug. 21, 2006, two days after a 46-15 victory over the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
With newly anointed GM Eric Tillman in charge of the Danny Barrett-coached Roughriders, the Green and White proceeded to win 51-8 in Hamilton (Aug. 26, 2006) before downing the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 39-12 on Taylor Field (Sept. 3).
Precisely 11 years after that Labour Day weekend conquest, the Roughriders again bounced the visiting Bombers (this time by a 38-24 count) to extend a winning streak to three games. Saskatchewan has outscored the opposition 133-63 over that span.
The resurgence began Aug. 13, when the B.C. Lions fell 41-8 at Mosaic Stadium. Twelve days later, Saskatchewan eviscerated the Edmonton Eskimos 54-31 in the Alberta capital. That was a prelude to Sunday, which was generally a fun day for Chris Jones and associates.
This just in: Jones’ job is safe — more secure than ever, in fact.
Not even a month ago, the Roughriders had a 2-4 record and the buzzards were circling, or doing whatever it is that buzzards do.
A 30-15 loss to B.C., which led 30-0 until the final few minutes, created doubts about whether the Roughriders were going anywhere under their second-year head coach, general manager and vice-president of football operations.
Then the Jones-led Roughriders blew out a B.C. team that was enjoying a four-game winning streak.
Saskatchewan followed up by squelching Edmonton, which was 7-1 until the Roughriders came to town.
Winnipeg was 7-2 and the proud owner of a five-game winning skein before facing Saskatchewan’s version of shock and awe over the opening 30 minutes.
Saskatchewan led 24-3 after the first quarter and 34-16 at halftime. The Bombers made matters moderately interesting in the fourth quarter before the Roughriders repelled a thirdand-goal gamble from the fiveyard line.
Ed Gainey subsequently applied the coup de grace by intercepting Matt Nichols in the end zone.
Gainey is one example of the degree to which the Roughriders have reversed their fortunes. He had nary an interception after six games before snaring six picks over the past three contests.
Kevin Glenn, by contrast, has been consistently effective while enjoying a personal renaissance at age 38.
Glenn threw three more touchdown passes on Sunday, giving him 19 at mid-season.
The Roughriders’ single-season record, incidentally, is 35 — set by Kent Austin in 1992.
And the eye-popping numbers keep coming. Saskatchewan had three 100-yard receivers — Bakari Grant (seven catches for 139 yards), Naaman Roosevelt (six for 119) and Duron Carter (10 for 101) — on Sunday.
The Roughriders had three receivers reach triple digits for the first time since Oct. 23, 1993, when Ray Elgaard (154 yards), Jeff Fairholm (129) and B.K. Williams (112) sparkled in a 48-45 victory over the visiting Calgary Stampeders.
(The victors actually flirted with four 100-yard receivers that day. Tailback Darrell Wallace added 96 yards on four catches. Later that day, Joe Carter hit a World Series-winning home run for the Toronto Blue Jays. Turning to football ...)
A la Gainey, Roosevelt underlines the contrast in the 2017 Roughriders, from July to the present.
On July 1, during the first regular-season game at new Mosaic Stadium, the Blue Bombers’ Weston Dressler was wide-open for two touchdowns as Winnipeg won 43-40 in double overtime.
On Sunday, it was the Blue Bombers’ turn to have a bust — a description that also applied to their entire first half. Roosevelt was wiiiiiide-open for a 53-yard score and the game’s first touchdown. The tone was set.
The second half ? Well, it was a different story, but the Roughriders did prevent Winnipeg from completing one of its patented comebacks.
When the home team’s mettle was tested in the waning minutes, Gainey made a monstrous play by registering his second interception (with 2:16 left).
In so doing, he prevented the Labour Day Classic from being a legitimate classic, as the fans could breathe easily for the final two minutes.
Saskatchewan emerged with a 5-4 slate — its first winning record since the 10-8 campaign of 2014.
Thanks to the sudden transformation, there is a buzz. The buzzards, it seems, have disappeared.
“We’ve got an awful good football team,” Jones said. “We’ve got a lot of really good players. For me to sit here and say that we’ve got everything we need, that’s premature.”
The team, however, is maturing with each passing game.