Sask. defence struggles in second half against B.C.
Through 30 minutes of football, the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defence was taming the B.C. Lions.
However, in the second half of Saturday’s CFL game at Mosaic Stadium, the Lions’ offence overwhelmed the Roughriders’ D. The Lions accumulated 317 yards of net offence and scored 30 points in the second half en route to a 4027 victory.
“It’s frustrating because we know we had an opportunity to win the game,” Roughriders linebacker Otha Foster III said after his team fell to 0-3.
“Defensively, we can’t allow that many points in the second half. We can’t allow those busts.”
The Roughriders led 23-10 at the half, having given up 188 yards of net offence while forcing two fumbles and recording a sack. Lions quarterback Jonathon Jennings was under constant pressure from an aggressive Roughriders defence in the first two quarters.
But things changed in the second half. Saskatchewan didn’t record any turnovers or sacks — and had two glaring coverage mistakes.
On the first, an alignment error left cornerback Tevaughn Campbell by himself on one side of the formation against two B.C. receivers. That allowed Jennings and receiver Nick Moore to connect on a 52-yard gain. On the next play, Jennings threw a touchdown pass to offensive lineman Jovan Olafioye. Chris Rainey’s two-point convert cut Saskatchewan’s lead to 23-19.
The second blown coverage occurred in the fourth quarter with the teams tied 26-26. Campbell was victimized after allowing Shawn Gore to slip behind him and catch a 59-yard TD.
“My eyes were in the backfield,” said Campbell, whose team allowed 429 yards passing and 505 yards of net offence in the contest. “I was kind of cheating on a different route and they caught me.”
“I bet you (the defenders) feel worse than I feel because that was their responsibility and, unfortunately, we didn’t get ‘em done,” Saskatchewan head coach-defensive co-ordinator Chris Jones added when asked about the busts.
“That’s part of football. You see it every single week. Unfortunately we had two in one game and it’s tough to win a football game when you have two coverage busts that result in 14 points.”
The Roughriders’ defence had opportunities to end B.C. drives in the second half, but missed chances to make tackles or force turnovers.
That was its undoing.