Liam Richards/Electric Umbrella
The wins are adding up for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Saskatchewan goes into Friday’s CFL game against the visiting Ottawa Redblacks with eight victories in 14 games this season — a win total that matches the Roughriders’ output in the 2015 and 2016 seasons combined.
“When things are going well, it’s obviously a very good feeling,” says fullback/special-teamer Spencer Moore, one of the eight current Roughriders who have been with the organization since the 2015 campaign. “But for myself and the other guys who were in the situation the last two years, you’ve seen what the bottom feels like so you have more of an appreciation for when things are going well.
“It’s tough to win in this league. Having seen the bottom and working our way hopefully to the top means a lot.”
The Roughriders take an 8-6-0 record into Friday’s game against the Redblacks at Mosaic Stadium (8 p.m., CKRM, TSN). A Saskatchewan win coupled with a B.C. Lions loss to the hometown Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday would clinch at least a crossover playoff berth for the Roughriders.
That in itself would represent progress; Saskatchewan missed the playoffs in each of the past two seasons.
The Roughriders went 3-15-0 in 2015, a tumultuous season that saw both general manager Brendan Taman and head coach Corey Chamblin fired after the team lost its first nine games.
Saskatchewan hired Chris Jones to be its head coach, general manager and vice-president of football operations in December of 2015, shortly after he guided the Edmonton Eskimos to the Grey Cup title.
In Jones’ first season at the Roughriders’ helm, injuries to key contributors helped doom the team to a 5-13-0 finish. It was the first time in Jones’ 15-year CFL coaching career that he had missed the playoffs.
And now, 14 games into the 2017 campaign, Saskatchewan has a playoff berth within its grasp after winning as many games as it did over a two-season span.
For receiver Rob Bagg, the Roughriders’ success this season relative to the previous two isn’t necessarily a feather in the team’s cap.
“Unfortunately, it’s more of a reflection on how difficult and trying the last two years were,” he says. “There aren’t many guys who were here the past two years, but for the ones who were, (the turnaround) is not really something we ever thought about. You never go into a year saying, ‘It’d be good if we doubled the wins we had last year.’
“At the end of the day, if you make the playoffs with nine wins, that’s a great season. If you miss the playoffs with 12 wins, it wasn’t much fun. We’re just trying to put ourselves in the best position and, in order to do that, we’ve got to win every game.”
The Roughriders started the season with two wins in their first six games, but they’ve turned things around with a 6-2-0 run.
An offence that produced 31 touchdowns (ninth-most in the league) and 16 passing TDs (ninth) in 18 games last season already has put up 44 touchdowns (third) and 30 passing majors (first) this season.
A defence that gave up averages of 29.4 points (eighth) and 383.7 yards of net offence (eighth) per game in 2016 has allowed moderately better totals of 25.0 points (third) and 375.1 yards (sixth) per game so far in 2017.
There still have been injuries and lineup changes, but the relative consistency has been a major factor in the increased win total.
“The experience that every individual on this team has gathered over the last 18 months has improved our chances week in and week out,” Bagg says. “That’s the big thing: Playing with the same guys on a regular basis and having the good fortune as far as the health factors that have kept some guys on the field who we missed in the last two years.
“Then, once you get that belief going and you get a couple of wins under your belt, it’s amazing how that team mentality — the belief that you’re going to win games rather than find ways to lose them — can carry you through some of those tight matches.”
And that attitude has been forming over the past two seasons.
“It’s the culture that Coach Jones and his staff have brought in; our goal is to win,” Moore says. “It’s not just to get a few wins or to have some fun. The ultimate goal is to win. That’s how the coaches feel and that’s how we feel in the locker room. It’s translating into positive results.”
The Roughriders’ confidence level has risen along with their win total, but they’re not getting ahead of themselves.
While there have been positives (such as snapping a 15-game road losing streak against West Division rivals), there also have been negatives (such as two losses to the Calgary Stampeders, who now have won 10 straight against Saskatchewan).
Even so, the Roughriders have reached a level they haven’t been at since they won 10 regular-season games in 2014.
“We still have games to play down the stretch and they mean quite a bit,” Moore says. “We’re moving in the right direction, but the work is far from done. There’s a lot of season left and the ultimate goal comes in the post-season. We’re going the right way.”
