RIDERS PLAYED IT SMART FROM START
Augmented O-line kept Glenn upright to help upend defending Grey Cup champs
On your Marcus ... get set ... GO! ... to Toronto for the CFL’s East Division final.
Marcus Thigpen’s 75-yard scoring sprint was the signature play Sunday as the Saskatchewan Roughriders clinically disposed of the Ottawa Redblacks by a 31-20 count in the East semifinal.
Having won twice at TD Place this season, the Roughriders are now hoping the third time is the charm — considering that the Grey Cup game is to be played in this fine burg on Nov. 26.
That date could be a good omen for the Green and White. Saskatchewan won its first championship on Nov. 26, 1966 — Larry Dumelie, a member of that ’66 team, was at Sunday’s game
— and precisely 23 years later claimed the Cup for the second time.
But now they are hoping for a first. Not once has a crossover team advanced to a Grey Cup. Saskatchewan, which finished fourth in the West Division and earned a spot in the East playoffs, is one victory away from setting a precedent.
Ottawa being a comfortable haven for the Roughriders, they are to remain here until Friday before travelling to Toronto for a Nov. 19 showdown with the 9-9-0 Argonauts.
Despite a superior regularseason record (10-8-0), the Roughriders will be the visiting team — not that it matters one iota to Chris Jones and associates.
Their immediate objective is to reprise a regular-season set that consisted of an 18-17 victory in Ottawa on Sept. 29 and a 27-24 conquest of Toronto on Oct. 7.
If you examine the Roughriders’ statement games this season, most of them have been on the road.
They set the CFL abuzz on Aug. 25 by defeating the host Edmonton Eskimos 54-31. On Oct. 20, Saskatchewan defeated the Calgary Stampeders — first-overall finishers in the CFL — 30-7 at McMahon Stadium. Then came the East semifinal.
So the venue, it seems, is immaterial.
Regardless of the site or the circumstances, Jones — the Roughriders’ second-year (inhale) head coach, defensive co-ordinator, general manager and vice-president of football operations (exhale) — takes the same straight-ahead approach.
Jones does not concern himself with outside noise or perceived distractions. He is known for his fixation on all things football. From the outset of Sunday’s game, it was clear that Jones’ players were dialed in as well.
Saskatchewan scored a touchdown on each of its first two possessions with an efficient Kevin Glenn calling the signals.
Although the 75-yard touchdown run by Thigpen dominated the highlight reels, the key to Saskatchewan’s success was the systematic manner in which it prevailed.
The offence picked away at the Redblacks without turning over the football — a contrast to the home side, which lost a fumble, served up two interceptions (three other possible picks were dropped) and failed to convert a third-down gamble. Three of the turnovers were registered when Ottawa was in scoring range.
Offensive co-ordinator Stephen McAdoo deserves plaudits for designing a scheme that kept Ottawa off-balance and off Glenn.
In recent weeks, Jones had routinely replaced Glenn with Brandon Bridge when the opposition exerted too much pressure on the 38-year-old passer.
Bridge did enter the game on Sunday, but solely in a mopup role after Glenn had gone 18-for-28 for 252 yards and one touchdown. His quarterback efficiency rating: an impressive 105.1.
The most telling number, however, was zero.
Glenn was not sacked a single time.
It helped that the Redblacks were passive on defence, playing into the hands of Glenn and McAdoo.
Additionally, the Roughriders often augmented the offensive line — which excelled in the absence of injured all-star guard Brendon LaBatte — with some extra bodies. The added tonnage also helped the ground game, as evidenced by Thigpen’s 15-carry, 169-yard gem.
The defence, choreographed by Jones, kept Ottawa off-guard. Jones rushed with as few as three men and as many as eight.
Redblacks quarterback Trevor Harris never really knew what was coming or from which direction. He threw for 457 yards, but without piling up a comparably eye-popping point total.
Special-teams co-ordinator Craig Dickenson also sparkled schematically. He called for a reverse on a punt return with Chad Owens flipping the ball to Christion Jones. A 44-yard advance set up a 31-yard Tyler Crapigna field goal that gave Saskatchewan a 31-14 lead on the final play of the third quarter.
Thereafter, the catchphrase throughout Rider Nation became: “Don’t blow it.”
On Oct. 13, remember, the Roughriders had gassed a 32-20 lead in the waning minutes and lost 33-32 to the visiting Redblacks.
On the road, by contrast, the Roughriders applied the coup de grace.
And now, with the East Division final approaching, Saskatchewan is one crucial step closer to engineering a finish that few could have envisioned in August when the Roughriders were 2-4 and the critics were howling.
Jones, in typical fashion, blocked out that noise. A sellout crowd in Ottawa having been silenced as well, it’s onward to Toronto.