The Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the B.C. Lions in CFL action on August 13th, 2017 at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, SK. Derek Mortensen/Electric Umbrella
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are feeling right at home in their new home.
The CFL’s Roughriders went into the bye week with a 3-4-0 record, with all three victories coming at Mosaic Stadium. Saskatchewan is 0-3-0 on the road.
“Playing in front of these fans, obviously, that speaks for itself,” cornerback Kacy Rodgers II said when asked about the disparity in the Roughriders’ home and away records. “When you go on the road, you have to play that much better because (the hosts) have the momentum. Anytime they make a good play, their fans are going crazy.
“We just have to learn how to step it up another notch on the road. Once we get that, I think we can start putting the pieces together.”
That’s the plan, anyway.
“A couple of offensive guys said this was a good win, but we’ve got to win on the road,” quarterback Kevin Glenn said after Sunday’s 41-8 victory over the visiting B.C. Lions. “If we want to be at the top of this league, we have to win on the road.
“We know that we can play like this at home, but we’ve got to play this exact way on the road. We’ll get a test after the bye week in Edmonton.”
The Roughriders are off this week; their next game is Aug. 25 in Edmonton.
Saskatchewan has been dominant at home this season, scoring an average of 39.0 points per game while allowing an average of 24.5. On the road, the Roughriders have averaged 13.7 points for and 24.7 against.
They’re still trying to figure out what’s happening.
“I don’t know what it is,” centre Brendon LaBatte said. “It doesn’t feel any different (on the road) — and that’s the crazy thing. In warmups and pre-game in the locker room, it doesn’t feel any different. Why it happens when we go out on the field, I don’t know.
“(On Sunday) it started right from the hop and we were rolling. I wish we could do that consistently, but that’s part of the work in progress.”
Saskatchewan opened the regular season on the road and lost 17-16 to the Montreal Alouettes on June 22. The Roughriders had a chance to win the game, but a last-play field-goal try went astray.
They played their first home game July 1, losing 43-40 in overtime to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. That was the last time that Saskatchewan lost at Mosaic Stadium.
The Roughriders thumped the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 37-20 on July 8, downed the Toronto Argonauts 38-27 on July 29 and manhandled the Lions on Sunday.
But other than the nailbiter in Montreal, the Roughriders’ road games have not been close. They were beaten 27-10 by the host Calgary Stampeders on July 22 and 30-15 in Vancouver on Aug. 5.
“I think the biggest thing has been the slow starts,” Glenn said while discussing the Roughriders’ struggles away from home. “We haven’t started very fast on the road like we have at home.
“I don’t think there’s a formula or an ingredient that you can say, ‘OK, this is what we’re going to do and every time you go on the road, if you do this, you’re going to start off fast.’ You’re going to have ups and downs whether you play at home or on the road and it’s about how you make the adjustments to overcome those things.”
The statistics bear out Glenn’s assertion.
On the road, Saskatchewan has been outscored 16-0 in first quarters and 26-10 in second quarters (with all 10 of those second-quarter points coming against Montreal). At home, the Roughriders have outscored teams 37-17 in first quarters and 45-23 in second quarters.
Visiting teams own a 38-24 advantage in third quarters at Mosaic Stadium, but the Roughriders have a 47-14 edge in fourth quarters at home.
“The opposing offences that come in, you can tell that they’re a little rattled — or I should say they’re having trouble communicating,” Glenn said. “You can see the quarterbacks screaming more than once to each side of the ball and typically you don’t have to do that if you can hear.
“The noise factor is something that helps us. Everybody talks about the 13th man and that’s what it is; it’s the fans in the stands who help with the energy, too.”
The statistical difference between the Roughriders at home and on the road is striking.
Glenn has completed 111 of 154 pass attempts for 1,417 yards (an average of 354.2 yards per game) with 13 touchdowns and four interceptions at Mosaic Stadium. On the road, he’s 70-for-100 passing for 687 yards (a 229-yard average) with one TD and three picks.
Receiver Duron Carter has 26 receptions for 308 yards and four touchdowns at home. On the road, he has nine catches for 107 yards and one TD.
Saskatchewan is averaging 418.7 yards of net offence at home compared to 316.3 on the road. Defensively, the Roughriders have allowed an average of 331.5 yards of net offence at home versus 420.0 in away games. They also have 14 sacks at home and one on the road.
The question remains: Why the difference?
“We’re going to take the bye and think about that,” said head coach-GM Chris Jones. “We played decent football in Montreal, basically shot ourselves in the foot too many times in all three phases and ended up losing the game. (We) had a ton of penalties. Then there’s two black eyes out there on the road in Calgary and B.C.
“We’re going to take the bye and we’re going to look at
