Roughriders stumble over management of clock
During the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ protracted Reign of Error, Regina Leader-Post legend Bob Hughes conventionally began his classic columns with a “Chaos-By-TheCreek” placeline.
In honour of Mr. Hughes, I would suggest a minor alteration now that the Roughriders — who are once again enduring the gory years — have opened a regular season with one of their regularly scheduled forehead-slappers.
Bumbling clock management was a contributor to the Roughriders’ 17-16 loss to the host Montreal Alouettes on Thursday night at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium. The Roughriders’ 36th loss in their past 46 meaningful games became a reality when Tyler Crapigna missed a 45-yard field-goal attempt without any time remaining on the clock.
Crapigna could have attempted a field goal from a shorter distance, but some wasted time left the Roughriders with little choice but to kick from 45 yards away.
With 21 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Kevin Glenn had advanced two yards on a quarterback sneak to give Saskatchewan a first down on the Alouettes’ 37-yard line.
Time was precious so, naturally, the Roughriders allowed the clock to wind down to ... tick ... tick ... tick ... eight seconds before calling a timeout. (Why not stop the clock with 21 seconds left? You don’t have to be, say, Wally Buono to figure that out. Wally Gator could make that call, and would do so in animated fashion.)
The offensive dynamism continued when Cameron Marshall erupted for no gain while strategically positioning the ball between the hash marks, whereupon Crapigna was wide right ... and the Rider Nation sighed, right?
OK, so Crapigna wasn’t exactly Robokicker on the game’s final play, but everything began unravelling well before the Roughriders’ placekicker trotted onto the field.
How can a professional football team, guided by well-paid and accomplished coaches, demonstrate such ineptitude when it comes to administering the basics in a crucial situation? Oh, there’s more ...
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Roughriders marched to Montreal’s 13-yard line with veteran quarterback Glenn at the controls.
So, of course, Glenn was summoned to the sideline and replaced by backup quarterback Brandon Bridge.
Bridge ran for three yards on first down before overthrowing Duron Carter, who was open on a fade route, on second-and-seven.
For good measure, the Roughriders — so stellar in pressurized situations — were called for illegal interference.
After an unsuccessful game of Bridge, the Roughriders settled for an 18-yard Crapigna field goal that gave them a momentary 16-14 lead. Montreal’s Boris Bede then hit an 18-yard chip shot of his own for what proved to be the winning points.
Earth to Chris Jones, Stephen McAdoo, and associates: With Glenn moving the offence smartly, as he is wont to do, what is gained — surely not meaningful yardage — by changing quarterbacks at that juncture?
If you want to bring Bridge into the game, do so in a situation where he can stretch the defence more effectively than Glenn.
While operating behind an upgraded offensive line, Glenn completed 70.5 per cent of his passes on the night, going 31-for-44 for 298 yards. There were mistakes, such as an underthrown bomb that averted what should have been a 103-yard major by Carter.
Nonetheless, Glenn still played well enough to win.
The game management, however, was that of a losing team — a description that once again applied to the Roughriders on a night when a victory, whatever that is, was there for the taking.
As it turned out, the post-game celebration included Alouettes quarterback Darian Durant, the erstwhile Roughrider, who threw two touchdown passes in his regular-season debut with Montreal.
Durant may have switched uniforms but, around here, things never change.
Way back in 1978, the Roughriders travelled to Hamilton and assumed a 20-3 halftime lead over the Tiger-Cats.
At the midpoint, then-Roughriders head coach Jim Eddy decided to replace a razor-sharp Ron Lancaster with raw rookie Larry Dick, The Little General’s heir apparent.
Hamilton ended up winning, 2723. Lancaster was suitably steamed. Eddy was inevitably fired before summer’s end.
And Hughes, for his part, was fired up.
“It is fine and dandy to give a rookie like Larry Dick experience under game conditions,” Bob opined in the best-selling, July 20, 1978 edition of the Leader-Post.
“But it should be obvious it is Ron Lancaster who is the one figure this team cannot do without, who is irreplaceable.
“And when you don’t have to, the logic in replacing him isn’t there.”
The logic in replacing Kevin Glenn wasn’t there, either.
In the final analysis, the quarterback switch wasn’t even moderately successful. rvanstone@postmedia.com