CARTER HARKENS BACK TO 1978 AND PAUL WILLIAMS
The regularly scheduled LeaderPost-mortem begins with the regularly scheduled Duron Carter item.
Carter, who was showcased in this feature one week ago, merits even more ink (or digital whatever-they-ares) as a result of his stunningly spectacular show against the host Calgary Stampeders on Friday.
As you may have heard or read 76,248 times in recent days, Carter — starting at cornerback for the first time at any level of football — intercepted Calgary’s Bo Levi Mitchell and scampered 43 yards for a touchdown to punctuate Saskatchewan’s 30-7 victory.
As usual, Carter celebrated with a touchdown dance — and was therefore reminiscent of
Paul Williams.
The former Roughriders defensive back, who moonlighted as a receiver during his three seasons in Saskatchewan, was known for the “Williams Wiggle.” He performed it twice in 1978, his final CFL season.
On Friday, Carter became the first Roughrider since Williams to register an interception and an offensive touchdown in the same season.
Williams caught a 57-yard TD pass from Ron Lancaster in a 43-14 loss to the visiting B.C. Lions on Aug. 9, 1978. Eighteen days later, Williams had a 41-yard pick-six in a 31-10 victory over the Toronto Argonauts at Taylor Field.
If Carter — a receiver by trade — had been used on offence Friday and effectively targeted even once, he would have become the first Roughrider with a reception and an interception in the same game since Aug. 27, 1978. That afternoon, Williams complemented his pick-six with a 14-yard reception.
89 SHINES
Carter’s highlight-reel dash extended one obscure streak for the Roughriders.
A Roughriders player wearing No. 89 has scored a touchdown in each of Saskatchewan’s last four victories at McMahon Stadium.
Chris Getzlaf caught two TD passes from Darian Durant, including a 65-yarder late in the fourth quarter that propelled Saskatchewan to victory, as the Riders won 24-23 on Aug. 1, 2009.
Getzlaf subsequently scored one touchdown in the 2010 West Division semifinal (won 20-16 by Saskatchewan) and the 2013 West final (35-13, Roughriders).
Oddly enough, the Roughriders went eight years between regular-season victories at McMahon Stadium, but twice won a playoff game in Calgary during that span.
PIVOTAL POINTS
This one defies probability: None of the Roughriders’ 30 points on Friday were scored when their first- or second-string quarterback was on the field.
Saskatchewan’s one offensive TD was scored by short-yardage quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., who proceeded to reach the end zone on a two-point convert.
SWITCHING SIGNALS
The Roughriders have had a different quarterback on the field for each of their last seven offensive touchdowns against Calgary.
Those quarterbacks, in order, are Brett Smith (Oct. 31, 2015), Keith Price (Oct. 31, 2015), Durant (Aug. 4, 2016), Mitchell Gale (Aug. 13, 2016), Kevin Glenn (July 22), Brandon Bridge (Sept. 24) and Adams.
Gale was in the game in a shortyardage situation, momentarily replacing Durant. On Friday, Adams stood in for Bridge, who had replaced Glenn early in the game.
And how’s this for consistency? Saskatchewan has eked out one offensive touchdown in each of its past five games against Calgary.
COMMON DENOMINATOR
Calgary’s point total (seven) was its lowest against Saskatchewan since Oct. 19, 2003, when the Roughriders won 34-6 at McMahon Stadium.
Glenn threw three passes for the Roughriders in each game. In the 2003 contest, he finished up for Nealon Greene after the game was well in hand.
WHAT A RUSH
Roughriders head coach, defensive co-ordinator, general manager and vice-president of football operations Chris Jones
has absorbed some heat this season when his team has applied little heat while using a threeman rush.
However, three-man pressure was a successful tactic on Friday, as demonstrated by statistics that were compiled and thoughtfully shared by TSN’s Derek Taylor.
When the Roughriders were rushing three, Calgary completed only five of 11 passes for 39 yards, with one interception (by Ed Gainey).
The rest of Derek’s pass-rush stats are as follows:
Four-man rush: 8-for-13, 114 yards, one sack.
Five men: 1-for-2, 16 yards. Six men: 0-for-2, with an interception (Carter).
Seven men: 1-for-2, three yards, one sack.
Eight men: 0-for-1. (Second eight-man rush of the season.)
Jones dialed up a blitz 22.6 per cent of the time after sending at least one extra man with 36.4-per-cent frequency Oct. 13 in a 33-32 loss to the visiting Ottawa Redblacks. Six days earlier, Jones had blitzed 25 per cent of the time during a 27-24 victory in Toronto.
Over the last three games, the Roughriders’ three-man-rush percentages are 35.5 (versus Toronto), 15 (Ottawa) and 50 (Calgary).
When examining how Jones’ strategy is trending, one can only conclude that there isn’t a trend. And that is the purpose — keep’em guessing!
SACK SLUMP
Saskatchewan went the equivalent of nearly three full games — 172 minutes six seconds — without a sack before Jeff Knox Jr. felled Calgary’s Andrew Buckley with 1:07 remaining in Friday’s third quarter.
The Roughriders later added a second sack — Makana Henry’s first as a CFLer.
Shortly before Knox’s sack, Henry had been flagged for roughing the passer to wipe out an 89-yard interception return for a touchdown by Gainey.
Had the interception counted, it would have been Gainey’s 10th of the season. Terry Irvin (with 11 picks in 1984), Ken McEachern (10 in 1980) and Dale West (10 in 1963) are the only Roughriders who have hit double digits in interceptions.
West, like Carter, contributed on both sides of the football. In 1963, West intercepted 10 passes in addition to making five receptions on offence. Three of his five catches went for touchdowns.
In 1963, West averaged 34.8 yards per reception and 22.6 yards per interception return.
ROBO-CRAPIGNA
The Roughriders’ Tyler Crapigna has made his last 18 field-goal attempts. Remember when some gormless observers were calling for his release after two earlyseason misses?
Among regular kickers this season, Crapigna boasts the league’s second-best accuracy rate (89.2 per cent; 33-for-37). Calgary’s Rene Paredes has the best percentage (90.9; 50-for-55).
A case could be made, though, that Crapigna is having a better year. Crapigna and Paredes have both attempted 39 converts. The Riders’ kicker has hit every one, whereas Paredes has missed six times.
DEFENCE DOMINATED
The Roughriders’ defence on Friday enjoyed its finest game of the season, per a statistical model known as the Positive Plays Percentage (PPP).
The PPP was invented by this statistical nerd as a means of evaluating the consistency with which the Roughriders execute on both sides of the ball.
Per this formula, a win is awarded to the offence or defence on each play from scrimmage. A positive outcome for the offence is defined here as a touchdown, a first down, a firstand-10 play that gains at least five yards, or a second-down play that creates at least a third-andshort opportunity.
Calgary had a PPP of 34.7 per cent on Friday. The previous low — or the previous best by Saskatchewan’s defence — this season was on July 1, when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers checked in at 39.3 per cent in their 43-40 overtime victory at Mosaic Stadium.
So how was Winnipeg able to “win” fewer than 40 per cent of its offensive plays and still pile up points?
Simply put, the Bombers made their well-executed plays count. Matt Nichols, for example, threw four TD passes — including scores of 87, 35 and 31 yards — and added a 33-yard connection that set up a field goal.
Calgary’s longest offensive play, by contrast, was Friday’s 20-yard completion to Juwan Brescacin. On the next play, Mitchell was intercepted by Gainey.
Winnipeg averaged 6.5 yards per offensive play on July 1. Calgary’s average gain on Friday: 3.7.