A playoff thumping of epic scale
Ottawa QB Harris throws record six TD passes as Redblacks roll over Ticats on way to Grey Cup
Jeremiah Masoli was almost speechless. He was standing in the middle of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ locker-room with a blank expression, his eyes avoiding contact, his voice barely audible, his words, the few he had, close to meaningless.
“We just didn’t execute,” the quarterback whispered. “I can’t believe we didn’t give it a better shot than that.”
And when asked why and how this happened, he just stood there, saying nothing. Not moving. Not offering up anything. A lot like his play on the field in Sunday’s East Division final.
A lot like a one-team statement game by the Ottawa Redblacks.
Just a few minutes earlier, in the finals seconds of the 46-27 Ottawa thumping, the stadium operations people at TD Place had a little fun, or a little bad taste: You take your pick.
On the big screen scoreboard, they showed a bloodied Ric Flair, looking nearly dead like in one of those Halloween movies, with blood everywhere and a guillotine beside him.
One week ago, Flair, the legendary pro wrestler, was lead cheerleader for the apparently Grey Cup-bound Ticats.
A week later, Flair was on the screen covered in blood, well made up in ashen colours, with red streaks everywhere. And it seemed more than symbolic that this was all that remained of a Ticat season ending in shock.
One win away — yet never even close.
This was, as coaches will call it, a good old fashioned butt-kicking. The Ticats were outcoached by the Redblacks, out-schemed, out-gameplanned, out worked, out-run, out-quarterbacked and just about every other out you can come up with.
For some reason, the 48-8 win a week ago over the B.C. Lions seemed closer than this demoralizing 46-27 loss in which Trevor Harris, the onetime understudy to Ricky Ray, managed something no CFL quarterback has ever done: He threw for a record six touchdown passes in a playoff game. Doug Flutie never did it. Warren Moon never did it. Anthony Calvillo never did it.
Part of it was Harris was near perfect, his receivers were as wide open as any receivers will ever be, his offensive line protected the quarterback all day long and the rest seemed easy and natural for the Redblacks.
And away from Masoli in the Ticats locker-room, there was quiet grumbling by defensive players not knowing what hit them, not able to explain any whys: Among themselves they tried to come up with answers. Really, they didn’t have any.
“Give them credit, man,” said the giant defensive tackle Ted Laurent. “They had a better game plan than us. They executed, and we didn’t.”
Ottawa landed the big punch and a lot of little punches and then wide rights and lefts almost at will. Hamilton coach Jerry Glanville played the part of the defensive coordinator who had no clothes. He was undressed and exposed by Ottawa’s offensive coordinator, Jaime Elizondo.
Almost everything the Redblacks tried, worked, and based on the reaction postgame in the Hamilton room, the players didn’t know what hit them.
Harris completed 29 of 32 passes for 367 yards and of the six touchdowns thrown, five were to different receivers. Almost every one of the 29 completions were thrown to receivers who weren’t properly covered. It looked easy and Harris made it look easy.
Masoli never looked comfortable at any time Sunday. He threw three interceptions. His receivers didn’t get open much.
The co-favourite to win the Most Outstanding Player played understudy to Harris, and lost for the fourth time this season against Ottawa. Against Calgary, Saskatchewan and Ottawa, the three strongest record teams of the CFL season, Masoli was 0-and-8.
For that statistic alone, Calgary’s Bo Levi Mitchell should win the big award this week.
Harris, whom Masoli beat out in MOP voting, threw for 10 touchdowns and no interceptions in four wins against the Ticats. Hamilton never found a way to solve the quiet quarterback from the quiet team.
“It’s disappointing,” said June Jones, the Hamilton head coach, who has never been to a Grey Cup before. “We felt we were prepared. We thought we had a chance.”
Then the game began, and nothing went Hamilton’s way.
Jones is contractually signed to coach the Tiger-Cats next season but he doesn’t know what the future holds for him. Ticats assistant coach Orlondo Steinauer is considered a favourite to take one of the CFL head coaching openings, which includes the Argos job.
The Ticats will have to make a decision whether they are willing to keep Jones and lose Steinauer or stay with Jones and let Steinauer walk.
This was a game the Ticats lost because their players weren’t good and their coaching wasn’t good enough.
And in the quiet losing locker-room, there was shock and a sense they need more to move on to a Grey Cup.