Shutter puts pressure on himself to lead Rams
Cayman Shutter is under the gun.
If the University of Regina Rams are to make the Canada West playoffs — the goal by which the quarterback wants to be measured — then Shutter has to lead them there. His task begins Saturday when Regina (1-4) faces the UBC Thunderbirds (1-4) in Vancouver.
“Certainly the challenge is there for him,” Rams head coach Frank McCrystal said before his team headed west. “This is as big a game as we’ve had in the past two years. It’s important for Cayman to answer that challenge.”
Shutter understands — and he’s eager to meet the challenge.
“I only have one guaranteed game that matters left and that’s going to be the case each week,” he said, referring to the magnitude of each of the Rams’ games down the stretch. “That definitely gives you added motivation and focus.”
Regina has three regularseason games remaining and, to avoid tiebreaking formulas and so forth, it needs to win all three to reach the post-season.
Last season — his first with the Rams after transferring from the University of Hawaii — Shutter played in seven games.
He led the conference in pass attempts (316), completions (180) and average passing yards per game (346.9) and was second in touchdowns (13), but Regina was 1-6 in the games he started. The Rams finished 2-6 and missed the playoffs.
This season, Shutter has completed 54 of 93 attempts for 688 yards with two TDs and two interceptions in the two-plus games in which he has appeared and Regina is 1-2 in those contests.
Wins, not gaudy numbers, are Shutter’s focus.
“I want to be remembered as a guy who led a team to the playoffs,” he said. “I want to be remembered as a great leader of a football team and that’s measured in wins and losses.
“We’ve had games where we put up 700 yards of offence and lost and that feels just as bad as a shutout when you’re on the bus going home. I’ll take a mediocre personal performance in a win any day.”
Shutter was 30-for-51 for 430 yards and two touchdowns in Regina’s 33-23 season-opening Sept. 5 victory over the T-Birds at Mosaic Stadium. A similar showing Saturday will require good decisions by Shutter and good execution by him and his teammates.
“It’s not all on Cayman,” McCrystal said. “Our guys have to block the right guy and our guys have to catch the ball. Defensively, we have to defend the run and get (Shutter) the ball.”
Shutter has to get back into a groove — due to a rib injury, he hasn’t played since the second quarter of Regina’s 44-42 loss Sept. 20 to the Alberta Golden Bears — and he expects that will take some time Saturday. If he can be in a rhythm midway through the first quarter, he said, “then it’s back to old ways.”
McCrystal said Shutter’s performance since joining the Rams has been exemplary in spite of the team’s record. He has met the coaches’ expectations and delivered on the considerable promise he showed.
As McCrystal put it: “Cayman has held up his end of the bargain.”
But the fifth-year quarterback has high expectations and he’ll have a different view of his time in the program if the Rams don’t reach the playoffs in either of his seasons at the controls.
“I’ll always look back on how far the team went,” he said. “I don’t think I’d call it a waste (to have come from Hawaii if the Rams don’t make the playoffs) because I’ve met a lot of great guys and I’ve had an amazing experience.
“But I want to give back. I want to have something to show for my experience here.”