Lancaster and Durant: They got the job done
While approaching Mosaic Stadium on Sunday, I stopped and took long looks at the two legendary Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterbacks whose giant images are conspicuous on the exterior of the west grandstand.
On the left, there was Ron Lancaster ... The Little General ... the master of the fourth-quarter comeback.
Sadly, it was precisely eight years ago on Sunday that we lost No. 23. So I took a picture of his picture, posted it on Twitter, and suggested that people take a few moments to remember Ronnie.
A few steps later, I looked to the right and there was a larger-thanlife pictorial portrayal of Darian Durant, shown holding the Grey Cup over his head on Nov. 24, 2013.
It was a signature shot of a landmark moment in Roughriders history — a celebration of the team’s first home-field Grey Cup victory.
I reminded myself of how things had changed over nearly three years.
Entering Sunday’s game, the Roughriders had won but six of their past 38 contests, dating back to mid-September of 2014.
The team’s tailspin coincided with an exasperating run of bad luck by Durant, who suffered a torn tendon in his right elbow on Sept. 7, 2014. The Roughriders went on to post a 30-24 victory over the host Winnipeg Blue Bombers, but the season was lost. Sans Durant, the 2014 Roughriders won two of their final nine games, the last of which was a playoff defeat in Edmonton.
Durant returned for the 2015 opener against the visiting Blue Bombers, only to suffer another season-ending injury — a ruptured left Achilles tendon — near halftime. A 3-15 season ensued for Saskatchewan.
Undaunted, Durant has returned for the 2016 season. The injury bug bit briefly — he missed two starts with a sprained ankle — but most of the bad luck was on the field.
Saddled with a depleted offence in a rebuilding year, Durant has not posted statistics that are reminiscent of 2013. There certainly will not be an image that evokes recollections of three years ago, being that Saskatchewan is 2-10 and last in the CFL’s overall standings.
Nonetheless, Durant treated the crowd to a throwback performance Sunday as the Roughriders defeated the Eskimos 26-23 in overtime.
The statistical ledger shows that Durant threw for only 174 yards, with one interception and nary a touchdown pass. His efficiency rating: 70.2.
So what? Lancaster’s career efficiency rating is 72.4, and he is a Canadian football icon.
I recall many games in which Lancaster’s interceptions outnumbered the touchdown passes. Yet, the victories greatly outnumbered the losses during his 16-year run as Saskatchewan’s No. 1 quarterback.
Nobody wanted to face Lancaster in the final two minutes of a game. He had an uncanny knack for making the biggest plays at the most opportune times.
At a shade under 5-foot-10, he was not a classic passer, but he was a battler. The intangibles he brought to the equation were unquantifiable, yet undeniable.
The same can be said of Durant, another Roughriders quarterback of considerable renown. At 5-foot-11, he does not adhere to the template that coaches and personnel men like to set for quarterbacks. He will never throw the ball 70-plus yards, and some of the passes will wobble.
At times, seemingly rudimentary throws will hit the turf in front of a receiver, or sail over the head of the target. And, yes, there will be grumbles from that pocket of Durant detractors. Some of them might very well be the same people who found fault with Lancaster or Kent Austin.
Durant leapfrogged Austin on Sunday and moved into second on the Roughriders’ all-time pass-attempts list. Earlier this season, Durant had moved past Austin in completions and passing yards.
Lancaster, of course, is first in all categories. That is one of many reasons why The Little General is shown on the left side of the west grandstand.
On Sunday, the Rider Nation was reminded of why Durant appears on the right side.