RIDERS SURRENDERING SACKS AT RECORD PACE
Quarterbacks have been taking a pounding at a rate not seen here since the late 1980s
■ Barring a sudden spasm of satisfactory pass protection, the Saskatchewan Roughriders' offence will establish an ignominious record in 2022 — for most sacks allowed by the team in one season. In 1987, quarterbacks Jeff Bentrim, Tom Burgess, John Hufnagel, Kent Austin and Jeff Tedford were sacked, as a collective, 68 times. This year's edition of the Green and White has allowed 59 sacks with four regular-season games remaining. (Profuse thanks to CFL statistical maven Steve Daniel for that numerical nugget.)
■ Unsurprisingly, the 1987 Roughriders posted a 5-12-1 record while allowing a stratospheric sacks total. Surprisingly, the 1988 edition went 11-7-0 — thereby snapping an 11-year playoff drought — despite surrendering only two fewer sacks than it had permitted the season before. Figure that out.
■ The CFL did not introduce sacks as a team stat until 1980. The year before, the Roughriders had decided to rebuild their offensive line. The growing pains were excruciating. Tom Clements, Larry Dick, Lloyd Patterson, Craig Juntunen and Danny Sanders were sacked a total of 53 times in 16 games — just two of which were won by Saskatchewan.
■ The most revealing stat, however, is the ratio of passing attempts to sacks. In 1979, the Roughriders allowed one sack for every 9.30 passes thrown. The 1987 ratio: 9.08. This year's ratio (please read this while sitting down): 6.85.
SHAQ IS BACK
■ The Roughriders' Shaq Evans snapped a 20-game touchdown drought Sept. 16 when he hauled in a 42-yard scoring strike from Cody Fajardo. Much-maligned offensive co-ordinator Jason Maas should be commended for an inspired call. Evans enticed Edmonton Elks defensive back Jamie Harry to bite on an inside move before taking off on a deep route. The major was Evans's first since Oct. 5, 2019, when he scored on a 61-yard connection with Fajardo in a 21-6 victory over the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
■ The next step for Evans is to end another dry spell — 17 regular-season and playoff games without registering at least 100 receiving yards. His last triple-digit eruption was on Oct. 26, 2019, when he caught six passes for 174 yards to help Saskatchewan win 27-24 in Edmonton.
JOEY WALTERS: PART 882
■ More receiving stats jumped off the pages while I was flipping through the Roughriders' dusty play-by-play sheets from (cough!) 1979, for the purposes of tabulating the sacks totals. In only six games that season, Joey Walters caught 40 passes for 772 yards. Extrapolated over 18 games — the conventional length of each CFL team's regular-season slate since 1986 — Walters' totals compute to 120 receptions for 2,316 yards. Keep in mind, too, that he lit it up for a 1979 Roughriders team that registered only nine TD passes and a whopping 38 interceptions in 16 games. Ow!
■ Over the two full 16-game seasons Walters played with the Roughriders, he posted the highest receiving-yardage totals in franchise history — 1,715 (in 1981) and 1,692 (1982). The spectacular No. 17 sported those eye-popping stats even though the passes were thrown by non-legendary quarterbacks such as John Hufnagel, Joe Barnes and Joe (747) Adams.
■ It helped considerably that Saskatchewan rarely surrendered a sack (imagine that) in the early 1980s. Roughriders passers were felled only 29 times in 1981 and 28 a year later. The ever-popular attempts-to-sacks ratio: 20.83 (1981) and 23.79 (1982). This year's number: 6.85. Six point eight five!
EDMONTON ERRORS
■ Humility compels me to remind the rapt readership of the less-than-prophetic words that appeared in this space early last week. The headline: Edmonton game perfectly timed for reeling Roughriders. The Elks proceeded to win 26-24 at Mosaic Stadium, handing Saskatchewan its seventh loss in a span of nine games.
■ Maas is inexplicably enamoured with the slow-developing handoff out of the shotgun formation — with dismal results — in short-yardage situations. On Sept. 10, Frankie Hickson accepted a telegraphed handoff while virtually flat-footed and was stopped for no gain, whereupon Fajardo's third-down pass was dropped.
Six days later, Hickson's number was called once more on thirdand-one, when another doomed shotgun handoff was dialed up. Elks linebacker Adam Konar diagnosed the play (as did most of the 20,000-plus spectators) and proceeded unimpeded into the Roughriders' offensive backfield, whereupon he greeted Hickson. Splat! Turnover on downs.
JIM HONOURS JIM
■ A celebration of Jim Francis's life is to be held Oct. 8, 2 to 5 p.m., at the Italian Club. Jim, who died June 30 at age 84, was a great friend to our sporting community, assisting an assortment of teams — from the Roughriders to Regina Rams to Regina Silver Foxes to Regina Pat Blues — and athletes. He loaned his time, for example, to those who participated in the 2005 Canada Summer Games and was also a fixture at the Luther Invitational Tournament.
“Jim Francis was a unique individual whose dedication to supporting amateur sport in Regina over many, many years and sports was very noteworthy,” former Roughriders president-ceo Jim Hopson said via email. “I got to know him during my four years with the Regina Rams junior football team and we remained friends for the next 50 years. This was the norm for Jim and the literally hundreds of football, hockey and basketball players that Jim impacted as an athletic trainer. Jim's nickname was `Fossil' and he loved to play the role of the crusty, `don't bother me' trainer. In reality, he loved being around young people, being part of a team, telling stories (some true), bestowing nicknames on players, dispensing advice (requested or not), playing practical jokes, and being a staunch cheerleader for the team. He made a difference.”
ROLL CREDITS
■ Nice people who deserve a plug: Garry Braun, Cheryl Braun Pauls, Tori Dundas, Parker Berge, Rod Fink, Marianne Fink, Jamie Nye, Ted Nokonechny, Sam Berg, Nathan Wiebe, Mason Nyhus, Josh White, Justin Mckerracher, Brit Dort, Nathan Kanter, Dante De Caria, Xristos Assimakopoulos, Stuart Mccomish, Roger Brandvold, Peter Mills and Brayden Barcsik.