Argonauts look to run all over Redblacks

Toronto hosts Ottawa, owners’ of CFL’s best run D

It took three games before the Toronto Argonauts finally got a reminder of what Brandon Whitaker is capable of.

The team’s starting running back had been relatively held in check until last week’s win on the road over the B.C. Lions, where he had 13 carries for 97 yards. He also caught seven passes for 55 yards in the Argos’ win, pushing his team to 2-1 while forcing a tough B.C. defence to take its eyes off quarterback Ricky Ray and his receivers.

“It felt good to open some things up for us,” Whitaker said Tuesday. “A lot of teams have been dropping nine or ten guys back (in their defences), and I was able to run the ball a little bit.”

Whitaker’s good feeling and the threat of a balanced offence are already in danger. The 2-0-1Redblacks are in town for their Wednesday night meeting with the Argos and in the very early stages of this season, they boast the top run-defence in the CFL, limiting opponents to 53 yards per game.

Argos coach Scott Milanovich said he wouldn’t let an opponent’s stats dictate how he approaches a game.

“B.C. had a great run defence too,” he said. The Lions were second in that category this time a week ago, before Whitaker dropped them down to fourth (69 yards per game).

“It’s always going to be the same for us,” Milanovich continued. “We’re always going to take what they give us. I don’t mind throwing it every now and then, and I don’t mind running it the whole second half.

“I don’t care. The stats don’t matter to me. So we’ll try to go in being

“I don’t mind throwing it every now and then, and I don’t mind running it the whole second half.” ARGOS COACH SCOTT MILANOVICH

somewhat balanced. We’ll try to get Ricky into the football game in the first half and see where it takes us.”

With Ray essentially embedded in the pocket to pick defences apart — he’s rushed three times for 21 yards this year — they boast the top rundefence in the CFL. Even if Ray and his understudy of a year ago, Trevor Harris, engage in the gunslinging match that everyone will want to see Wednesday, the threat of Whitaker picking up a big gain will enable Ray to work at his best.

The Argos’ offence has produced, averaging 25 points per game, but is last in net offence, at 880 yards.

“That was what we needed last week,” Ray said. “The last two weeks, we saw defences that were dropping nine (men back) in the coverage a lot.

“For us to be able to run the ball when they’re doing that is going to be able to keep them from playing that coverage and give us some better looks in the secondary, so that was big for us offensively. If we continue to do that and keep defences, honest then it’s going to help us out.”

As much as Whitaker would love to carry the ball all night, or try and turn a short Ray pass into something much bigger, he knows his work has to come within the flow of the game.

“It’s just a matter of how the game’s going,” he said.

“If we run the ball like we did last week it forces them to . . . give us some chances for more one-on-one coverage in the back end,” Ray said. “If we can run the ball again, it’s going to make it tougher to stop us.”