Today’s column is brought to you by the number 1.
ONE: The number of penalties assessed to the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday, when they posted a 28-16 CFL pre-season victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at IG Field.
ONE: The number of sacks Saskatchewan permitted en route to winning both of this year’s pre-season games.
ONE: The position occupied on the depth chart by quarterback Trevor Harris — whose first completion on Friday was to No. 1, Jake Wieneke. The gain: 11 yards … double ones! Speaking of which …
ONE-ONE: Saskatchewan is now preparing for its regular-season opener — on June 11! — against the host Edmonton Elks.
In the pre-season finale, the Roughriders played most of their “ones” — the projected starters — in the early stages and looked impressive while doing so.
“To win any game at the pro level, whether it’s the pre-season or not, is a big accomplishment,” Roughriders defensive tackle Cody Roscoe said.
“I like that we’ve got the momentum going into Week 1 undefeated and I feel like we’re going to keep this going for as long as possible.”
If the momentum can apply to the penalties, or virtual lack thereof, that would be beneficial.
Saskatchewan was penalized seven times for 88 yards in the pre-season opener — a 30-27 victory over the visiting B.C. Lions on May 27. Three other penalties were declined.
After the first game, Dickenson articulated his displeasure over the infractions and vowed to take corrective action.
Mission accomplished. On Friday, Saskatchewan was penalized to the tune of six yards — for an illegal block on a punt return with only seven seconds remaining in the first half.
“That’s certainly an improvement over last week,” Dickenson said. “I think it’s starting to stick a little — I really do.
“We’ve emphasized it all camp and I think the guys are starting to get it. We’re going to have some bumps in the road and some ups and downs, but (Friday’s performance) is something you can really build on.”
Especially when you consider that the one penalty assessed to Saskatchewan didn’t matter one iota, anyway.
After the illegal block resulted in a retreat of six yards — half the distance to the goal line — quarterback Mason Fine proceeded to simply kneel down on back-to-back plays to exhaust the minimal time that had remained before halftime.
With 6:31 left in the third quarter, Saskatchewan was flagged for illegal contact, but the penalty was declined.
As a bonus, there aren’t any red flags pertaining to the offensive line after the Roughriders’ quarterbacks were afforded reliable protection over the course of the pre-season.
“I think the O-line’s playing well,” Dickenson said. “Now, we know we’re going to see some better fronts once the real games start, so we don’t want to get too comfortable, but all signs point to (progress).
“We’re going to be improved on the offensive line and hopefully we can stay healthy.”
Consider, too, that Jerald Hawkins — who is expected to start at left offensive tackle — is away from the team for family reasons.
In his absence, Philip Blake shuffled over one spot from left guard and performed to his accustomed high standard. Blake, remember, was the starting left tackle for the victorious Toronto Argonauts in the 2022 Grey Cup game.
Blake was a high-priority free-agent signee by General Manager and Vice-President of Football Operations Jeremy O’Day during the off-season. The Assistant GMs, Kyle Carson and Paul Jones, have also played an integral role in the infusion of top-flight talent along the offensive line and, for that matter, across the board.
“I think the personnel side of the Riders — Jeremy, Kyle and Paul — has brought in some good players,” Dickenson noted.
“I think adding Philip Blake has helped and I think the quarterbacks have done a good job of getting the ball out of their hands.
“So far, so good.”
RUNNING START
Saskatchewan’s 26 first downs on Friday broke down as follows: 13 via the pass, 12 via the run, and one on a penalty.
The balanced attack was such that Saskatchewan produced 154 of its 361 yards along the ground. In other words, the running game accounted for 42.7 per cent of Saskatchewan’s total yardage.
“It’s a big thing for us to see the run game get churning and to be able to chew up yards through the run game,’’ Harris said. “That way, teams can’t empty the box on us.
“They’re going to have to respect the run all year, especially when we’ve got a plethora of running backs and the diversification of what they can do in their skill sets. That poses a problem for the defences.”
It is much more comforting for Dickenson, who is a proponent of the ground game.
“I think it starts up-front with your O-line, so I felt like they played well,” he said.
Dickenson also lauded the work of Shea Patterson, who carried the ball eight times for 36 yards while being deployed as the short-yardage quarterback and as a change-of-pace running option.
“With the third-quarterback run game that Shea did, I thought we had some really good looks in that,” the Roughriders’ field boss noted. “That was very productive.
“I think the offensive coaches are really gelling. The goal to run the football is going to be there every game. The more we can do it, the better we’re going to be.
“Hopefully we can build off of the success that we had in the pre-season.”
Over two games, the Roughriders have rushed the football 58 times for 246 yards — compared to 30 times for 136 yards during the 2022 pre-season.
IN THE LONG RUN …
Saskatchewan twice moved the chains after handing off in a second-and-long situation.
Second-and-seven: B.J. Emmons for 10 yards after the Blue Bombers lined up with a three-man front. Blake and fellow offensive lineman Brandon Council made mighty blocks to spring Emmons, who was not touched until he had achieved first-down yardage.
Second-and-10: Javian Hawkins for nine yards, followed by a three-yard Patterson QB sneak on third-and-one. Once again, Winnipeg lined up with only three defensive linemen. Evan Johnson, playing right guard, eliminated a linebacker to enable Hawkins to flirt with first-down yardage.
Asked about the Emmons and Hawkins rushes, Dickenson said: “That’s not necessarily a called run, but we’ve got the ability in our offence to get to a run if we see a front we like. When teams go real light in the box, we want to run it. When teams load the box up, we want to pass it. That’s going to be a continuous work in progress, but that’s the philosophy of our offence.”
AS FOR THE DEFENCE …
Winnipeg, which rested quarterback Zach Collaros and several other starters of note, was held to 266 yards of total offence.
Saskatchewan registered three sacks to swell its pre-season total to five. Two of those sacks were registered by Bryan Cox Jr. Roscoe, Jerry Garner Jr. and Christian Albright had singles.
“I feel like with our ceiling as a D-line, there’s no telling how high we can go,” Roscoe said. “There’s so much talent at every position. So many guys are so versatile. They can rush from any position and stop the run.
“I just feel like the sky’s the limit, really, for the whole group.”
MANY HAPPY RETURNS
The Roughriders averaged 36.7 yards per kickoff return.
Rodney Smith had returns of 46 and 28 yards. Javian Hawkins took off on a 36-yarder.
The 46- and 36-yard returns set up three-pointers by Brett Lauther, who was 3-for-4 on field-goal attempts.
Most notably, Lauther made a 51-yarder with considerable assistance from Adam Korsak, who did a superlative job of pinning the ball after a low snap.
Punting-wise, Korsak averaged 51.5 yards on two boots. Net average: 49.5.
The first punt — a soaring 50-yarder — had 4.20 seconds of hang time.
The second punt, which travelled 53 yards in 3.90 seconds, was fielded by Matt Cole and returned for no gain. Cole was instantly tackled by Deontai Williams.
Korsak was not required to punt during the second half.
Over the final 30 minutes, Saskatchewan’s possessions had the following play counts: Eight (the last of which was a field goal), five (field goal), 13 (TD) and seven (turnover on downs).
The Roughriders scored on six of their 10 possessions, excluding the clock-killer at the end of the first half. The two kneel-downs accounted for Saskatchewan’s only two-and-out.
Six of Winnipeg’s first seven possessions concluded with a punt.
PERFECT PRE-SEASON
The Roughriders are 2-0 for only the sixth time since each CFL team’s pre-season schedule was reduced from four games to two in 1986.
The 58 points scored were the second-most by a 2-0 Saskatchewan team, post-1985.
The 1988 Roughriders went 2-0 while amassing 68 points. In 2003, Saskatchewan scored 61 points while going 1-1 — thanks primarily to a 51-17 victory over Winnipeg.
The six 2-0 pre-seasons in Roughriders history: 1988, 1996, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007.
ROLL CREDITS …
- Nice people who deserve a plug: Billie Groom, Godfrey Onyeka, Kolby Harvell-Peel, Deion Melvin, Pete Robertson, Adam Korsak, Kaare Vedvik, Larry Kielo, Judy Samuelson, Sorrel Steinberg, Noah Pelletier, Deontai Williams, Taylor Bryan, Lauren Anderson, Kent Paul, Owen Paul, Terri Harris-Strunk, Tevin Jones, Nelson Lokombo, Taylor Beasley, Amanda Whitaker-Smith, Elsa Clausing, Shane Clausing, Bob MacPherson, Lynda MacPherson, Paris Maniatis and Elektra Maniatis.
