August 18, 2018

The Roughriders want another shot at the Stamps

The Saskatchewan Roughriders learned a valuable lesson in their first meeting of the 2018 CFL regular season with the Calgary Stampeders.

A 24-point first-quarter deficit is nearly impossible to overcome.

“It put us behind the 8-ball way too soon in the game,” Roughriders cornerback Jovon Johnson said Saturday, looking back on Calgary’s 34-22 victory at Mosaic Stadium on July 28.

“But the good thing is, we showed promise. We fought back and got it within a touchdown (24-19) and that just goes to show that if we don’t give them 24 points in the first quarter, we’ve got a chance to win.”

The Stampeders (7-0-0) are to visit Mosaic Stadium on Sunday (5 p.m., CKRM, TSN) and the Roughriders (3-4-0) are eager to earn a measure of revenge.

“Anytime you don’t beat them, you owe them,” Saskatchewan head coach-GM Chris Jones said earlier this week. “They’re the team to beat. They’re undefeated and they’re the people who show up every week and play consistent football.

“They’re very well-coached, they execute, they protect their quarterback (and) they run the football effectively. Anytime you’re trying to get to the top of the mountain, you’ve got to go through them.”

In the first quarter on July 28, the Stampeders got a touchdown from Marken Michel shortly after a Marcus Thigpen fumble, a TD from Terry Williams on a punt return, and a major from Eric Rogers after the defence recovered a Jerome Messam fumble.

Add in a Rene Paredes field goal and you have a 24-0 lead by the 14:18 mark of the opening frame.

“We know that we’re that close to beating them. If you take away the first quarter of that game, it looks like a completely different ball game.”

The Roughriders scored the game’s next 19 points, aided by a defence that ultimately limited the Calgary offence to 12 first downs and 227 yards of net offence in the game. (By contrast, Saskatchewan had 14 first downs and 239 yards of net offence and held the ball for more than 33 minutes).

But after the Roughriders trimmed the deficit to five points in the third quarter, Calgary outscored them 10-3 the rest of the way to snap Saskatchewan’s two-game winning streak.

“We know that we’re that close to beating them,” Johnson said. “If you take away the first quarter of that game, it looks like a completely different ball game.

“It’s just a matter of doing all the little things right and matching their discipline because they’re a disciplined football team. They’re not going to take many penalties, they’re not going to turn the football over and they’re just going to keep plugging away.”

A number of Roughriders talked about “the little things” this week.

Johnson’s list for the defence comprised being in the right position, rallying to the football, being disciplined and hitting people.

Quarterback Zach Collaros suggested the offensive players can’t miss assignments when it comes to blocking, running their routes, throwing the football or running with it.

Jones pointed to holding onto the football, knowing what coverages are called and being aware of responsibilities on special teams.

Those don’t sound like “little things” — and Jones admitted that was the case.

“One of the coaches from the NBA this year said, ‘There are no little things,’ ” Jones noted. “The little things that they’re speaking of end up being big things because that’s what end up costing you football games.”

Meanwhile, the Stampeders have done virtually everything right this season.

Calgary’s defence has been exceptional (it went into the week leading the CFL in 20 of 28 statistical categories), quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell has been efficient while improving his career record as a starter to 63-10-2, and the team has led by at least 14 points in every game it has played in 2018.

That latter statistic includes its 24-point advantage on July 28.

“We’re not looking for any type of payback,” Thigpen said. “We know that we’re a good team and we know that we can hang with the best in this league. We’ve really just got to be consistent and pay attention to detail.”

Offensive tackle Thaddeus Coleman had a differing opinion, suggesting the Roughriders “definitely” want to pay back the Stampeders for the earlier loss. But Coleman noted that vengeance isn’t the only motivating factor Sunday.

“The motivation comes from playing Calgary,” he said. “Everybody wants to beat the undefeated team.

“I was telling the guys this week, ‘What would feel better than beating a 7-and-0 team, the No. 1 team in the league, at home?’ Fans would go crazy. We would go crazy in this locker room because we love this locker room when we win games — but it’s terrible when we lose them.

“We’re trying to get that love and that excitement back in this locker room. What better way to do it than beat Calgary?”

A victory over the Stampeders also would help Saskatchewan stay in touch with its West Division rivals. The Edmonton Eskimos, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, B.C. Lions and Roughriders went into the week separated by just four points.

For Jones, the previous game against Calgary is ancient history. His team lost to Edmonton in the interim — 26-19 on Aug. 2 — so the July 28 contest is long gone.

“We’re a 3-and-4 football team,” he said. “You can’t go back in time. Once you put yourself in the position that you’re in, you can’t do anything to change it.

“There’s no magic formula; you’ve just got to move on to the next thing.”