Injury woes mount in dominant win over Ticats
Brescacin, Begelton take advantage of opportunity to shine, says Danny Austin.
HAMILTON, ONT. All things considered, Saturday was a pretty great day for the Calgary Stampeders.
Not only did they beat thoroughly beat the Hamilton TigerCats to improve their record to 10-2, the Stamps also watched as the Saskatchewan Roughriders fell to the Ottawa Redblacks in Saturday’s late game.
With the Riders and Edmonton Eskimos both sitting at 7-5 on the season, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to envision a realistic scenario in which the Stamps don’t win the West Division.
It wasn’t a perfect day, though, as the Stamps’ 43-28 win did cost them yet another star receiver. This time, it was DaVaris Daniels who was forced off the field with an apparent shoulder injury.
The rest of the Stamps’ receivers rose to the occasion — Juwan Brescacin and Reggie Begelton, in particular — but the absence of Daniels, Kamar Jorden and Eric Rogers is concerning long-term.
Here’s a few other take-aways from Saturday’s big win:
1.
BOUNCE BACK
The Calgary Stampeders defence had its worst game of the season last weekend against the Edmonton Eskimos.
Against the Ticats, though, they were right back to their dominant selves.
Even without all-star corner Ciante Evans and All-World defensive tackle Micah Johnson, the Stampeders had their way with the Ticats.
Yes, the Hamilton crew got in the end zone three times, but one of those TDs came from special teams, one came from a pick-six and the third was on a fumblerecovery.
The Stamps defence, in other words, didn’t allow a single touchdown.
It’s worth remembering that the Ticats have been putting up big offensive numbers in recent games. Shutting them down so thoroughly is no small accomplishment.
2.
STEPPING UP
We mentioned it earlier, but it’s worth repeating that Brescacin and Begelton were spectacular for the Stamps.
With their three big-name American receivers sidelined, the Mississauga, Ont. born-andraised Brescacin put on a show for his family in the stands.
He had his first 100-yard receiving game, and used his size to bull the Ticats DBs.
Begelton, meanwhile, is a guy who got talked about a lot but was waiting for his opportunity to prove that he could be a gamebreaking CFL receiver.
Since Jorden’s gone down, Begelton has made the most of his chance.
He’s had 150 receiving yards in both of the games in which he’s started and absolutely looks like a star.
It’s honestly pretty shocking how much depth the Stamps have at receiver.
3.
FINE COMING
In the end, Stamps head coach Dave Dickenson wasn’t overly upset about Ticats DB Don Unamba’s hit on Marken Michel that sent the Stamps receiver to the sideline.
There was contact to Michel’s head, but it can be argued that there was nothing Unamba could do to avoid it.
But the CFL needs to come down on Unamba for his late fourth-quarter head butt on Williams Langlais.
It was completely unnecessary — as head-butts usually are — came after the play was over and was caught on camera.
It should be pretty easy for the league to get this one right.
4.
RIGHT TIME
The Stamps now enter their third-and-final bye week of the season, and it couldn’t come at a better time.
The Labour Day back-to-back with the Eskimos takes its toll on both teams every year, and a tough month that saw big, tough games against close rivals has the Stampeders banged-up.
The Stamps need to keep improving and adding weapons to their arsenal, but right now the most important thing might be just getting some rest.
Their next two games are against the league’s worst teams in the Toronto Argonauts and Montreal Alouettes, so the next couple weeks are going to be a good time for the Stamps to make sure they’re fully healedup for the season-defining games that are coming in November.
5.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
There are other candidates who are deserving of consideration, but as of right now, Tre Roberson has to be the leader in the race for the CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie award.
Roberson has come in and looked great at corner for the Stamps this season, and he had another terrific game on Saturday.
Teams don’t throw the ball his way all that much, but that’s just because they’re learned quickly that it’s probably not worth it.
Yes, it’s way too early to start talking about end of season awards, but Roberson deserves the attention