Rob Vanstone: Mason is in fine company on a long list of victorious Roughriders QBs

Dating back 75 years, 56 different quarterbacks have started at least one game that the Saskatchewan Roughriders ultimately won. 

The latest addition to that lengthy list is Mason Fine, who piloted the Green and White to Sunday’s 26-24 CFL victory over the visiting Ottawa REDBLACKS. 

Some admittedly nerdy number-crunching reveals that, yardage-wise, Fine is in the top 20 per cent of the aforementioned 56 pivots. 

The 296 passing yards is the 11th-highest by a Roughriders quarterback in his first victory as a green-and-white-clad starter. 

Above and below Fine, you will find some famous names (such as Ron Lancaster, Darian Durant, Kent Austin, Frank Tripucka, Kerry Joseph, Glenn Dobbs, Henry Burris and Trevor Harris), along with a few erstwhile Roughriders whose inclusion here could very well jog your memory. 

Consider Dave Grosz, who piloted the Roughriders to an ice-breaking victory over the Calgary Stampeders on Aug. 19, 1961. 

That evening at McMahon Stadium, Grosz caught his own pass after it was deflected near the line of scrimmage and took off for a six-yard gain. 

Fine also completed a pass to himself in his first win. An eight-yard advance resulted on Sunday. 

Without further preamble, here is an expansive list of all the triumphant Roughriders quarterbacks, ranked in descending order by the yardage total in the first victorious outing. 

430 — Cody Fajardo (24-for-31, two TDs, zero interceptions); 32-7 vs. Toronto Argonauts, July 1, 2019. 

394 — Joe Barnes (22-39-5-0); 43-23 at Montreal Alouettes, Aug. 2, 1981; Barnes’ five TD passes tied a team record, since broken. 

355 — Joe (747) Adams (24-35-2-2); 26-19 at Ottawa Rough Riders, Aug. 12, 1982. 

354 — Mitchell Gale (21-36-1-0); 30-29 vs. Ottawa REDBLACKS, July 22, 2016. 

347 — Darian Durant (23-32-2-0); 33-28 at Hamilton Tiger-Cats, July 12, 2008. 

329 — Reggie Slack (20-32-1-1); 27-23 vs. Toronto, July 12, 1997. 

328 — Rick Worman (17-31-3-0); 52-16 vs. Hamilton, July 26, 1991. 

311 — Henry Burris (17-32-3-1); 30-20 at Edmonton, Aug. 25, 2000. 

310 — Bob Ptacek (15-20-4-0, plus 13-yard TD run); 45-35 vs. Calgary, Sept. 26, 1960. 

298 — Kevin Mason (8-18-2-0); 41-23 vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Sept. 1, 1996. 

296 — Mason Fine (23-37-1-0); 26-24 vs. Ottawa REDBLACKS, Aug. 6, 2023. 

292 — Kent Austin (15-24-1-2); 23-20 at Hamilton, Oct. 11, 1987. 

289 — Don Allard (15-24-0-1); 15-14 at B.C. Lions, Oct. 5, 1959. 

269 — Drew Willy (14-25-3-0); 32-20 at Hamilton; July 27, 2013. 

262 — Tom Burgess (19-38-2-1); 27-23 at Ottawa Rough Riders, July 19, 1987. 

260 — Tino Sunseri (20-30-2-0); 35-32 vs. Ottawa REDBLACKS (OT), Sept. 21, 2014. 

259 — Frank Tripucka (16-27-3-2); 23-19 at Winnipeg, Sept. 7, 1953. 

248 — Marcus Crandell (20-35-1-0); 45-26 vs. Winnipeg, Sept. 4, 2005. 

239 — Nealon Greene (16-35-1-2; 30-27 at Ottawa Renegades (OT), June 28, 2002. 

232 — Eric Guthrie (12-23-1-0); 38-28 vs. B.C., Oct. 30, 1977. 

231 — Brandon Bridge (21-31-3-0); 27-19 at Hamilton, Sept. 15, 2017. 

229 — Marvin Graves (13-24-3-0); 54-52 at Edmonton (OT), Oct. 28, 2000. 

213 — Isaac Harker (23-28-0-0); 23-13 vs. Edmonton, Nov. 2, 2019; the victory clinched first place for Saskatchewan. 

211 — Kerry Joseph (19-31-2-1); 32-24 vs. B.C., June 25, 2006. 

211 — Brett Smith (19-25-1-0); 37-19 vs. Winnipeg, Sept. 6, 2015. 

208 — Danny Sanders (12-23-1-0); 26-12 vs. B.C., Oct. 28, 1979. 

204 — Joe Paopao (17-39-0-0); 46-24 at Ottawa Rough Riders, July 29, 1984. 

203 — Zach Collaros (18-25-1-0); 27-19 vs. Toronto, June 15, 2018. 

200 — Jimmy Kemp (13-22-2-0); 27-19 vs. B.C., Oct. 19, 1996. 

195 — Bernard Quarles (9-17-0-0); 33-14 vs. Ottawa Rough Riders, Aug. 4, 1986; replaced by Paopao to begin second half. 

194 — Jeff Bentrim (11-23-1-1); 29-24 vs. Edmonton, Oct. 14, 1990. 

179 — Trevor Harris (20-33-1-2); 17-13 at Edmonton, June 11, 2023. 

176 — Larry Dick (8-22-2-2); 36-26 at Edmonton, Oct. 29, 1978; replaced by Lancaster in fourth quarter. 

170 — Stan Stasica (6-9-2-0); 12-7 vs. Calgary, Sept. 27, 1947. 

165 — Rocky Butler (9-16-0-0; nine rushes for 63 yards and three TDs); 33-19 vs. Winnipeg, Sept. 1, 2002. 

162 — John Hufnagel (19-30-0-0); 19-18 at Hamilton, July 30, 1980. 

161 — Steve Sarkisian (17-24-1-0); 20-15 vs. Toronto, July 30, 1999. 

154 — Warren Jones (19-31-3-2); 42-31 vs. Winnipeg, Sept. 4, 1994. 

146 — Keith Smith (15-25-0-1); 13-7 at Montreal, Oct. 8, 2001. 

141 — Jack Hartman (5-11-1-1); 17-2 vs. Winnipeg, Sept. 4, 1950. 

140 — Keith Price (10-25-1-0); 30-24 at Montreal (OT), Nov. 8, 2015; replaced by Brett Smith in fourth quarter. 

139 — Ryan Dinwiddie (7-20-0-0); 19-3 vs. Hamilton, Oct. 29, 2011. 

127 — Ron Lancaster (9-20-0-2); 5-3 vs. Hamilton, Aug. 15, 1963; the game was played in a downpour. 

119 — Homer Jordan (11-29-1-2); 11-5 vs. B.C., Oct. 30, 1983. 

107 — Michael Bishop (10-24-0-1; 11 rushes for 51 yards and one TD); 19-6 vs. Winnipeg, Aug. 31, 2008. 

100 — Frank Filchock (4-9-1-1); 18-13 at Winnipeg, Oct. 10, 1953. 

100 (estimate) — Dave Grosz (7-15-2-0); 22-15 at Calgary, Aug. 19, 1961. 

99 — Steven Jyles (7-13-1-2); 55-9 vs. Edmonton, Oct. 25, 2008; replaced by Durant to begin the second half. 

98 — Ron Adam (4-13-2-1); 21-13 vs. Winnipeg, Aug. 21, 1958. 

83 — Glenn Dobbs (5-18-0-0; also punted for five singles); 8-1 vs. Calgary, Aug. 25, 1951. 

83 — Kevin Glenn (10-27-0-1); 14-11 at Toronto, Aug. 25, 2001. 

70 — Don Weiss (4-8-1-3); 30-11 vs. Winnipeg, Sept. 7, 1970); replaced by Lancaster early in the third quarter. 

41 — Lloyd Patterson (2-9-0-1); 26-25 vs. Edmonton, Oct. 14, 1979; replaced by Danny Sanders in the second quarter. 

37 — Johnny Cook (3-10-0-1); 17-6 at Winnipeg, Aug. 21, 1948. 

29— Jesse Kaye (2-6-0-1); 21-10 at Edmonton, Aug. 30, 1967; replaced by Lancaster midway through the first quarter. 

19 — Doug Belden (1-5-0-0); 20-0 vs. Winnipeg, Sept. 5, 1949. 

100 AND COUNTING 

Saskatchewan has not allowed an offensive touchdown in 100 minutes 18 seconds. 

Moreover, the Roughriders’ defence has surrendered only two TDs over a three-game span for the first time in four years. 

Aug. 1, 2019: Hamilton was held to one major as the Roughriders won 24-19 at Mosaic Stadium. 

Aug. 8, 2019: Montreal did not reach the end zone while losing 17-10 to Saskatchewan at Percival Molson Stadium. The game was called with 2:41 remaining in the third quarter due to inclement weather.  

Aug. 24, 2019: Ottawa scored one touchdown in a 40-18 loss at Mosaic Stadium. The REDBLACKS’ Lewis Ward, who had five field goals on Sunday, connected for four three-pointers in that 2019 contest. 

(Profuse thanks to Steve Daniel — the CFL’s Senior Director, Football and Team Analytics — for unearthing this factoid for me. And now for some actual independent research …) 

DEFENSIVE DOMINATION 

The Roughriders’ standard for sustained stinginess was set in September of 1963, when they didn’t allow a touchdown of any description for 319:35 — the equivalent of five full games, and then some. 

The streak began on Sept. 2, when the Blue Bombers’ Jerry Jones (no, not THE Jerry Jones) scored on a 37-yard interception return at 5:51 of the second quarter. Winnipeg was held out of the end zone for the remainder of the proceedings as Saskatchewan won 15-9. 

The opposition was held to single digits on the scoreboard and zero touchdowns over the next four games. 

Then came another game against Winnipeg, which lost 12-10 at home on Sept. 30 but did reach the end zone, courtesy of a three-yard run by Roger Hagberg at 10:26 of the third quarter. 

If the discussion is expanded to include offensive touchdowns only, the Roughriders’ defence effectively padlocked the end zone for 327:05. 

On Aug. 23, 1963, the Stampeders’ Earl Lunsford registered a one-yard touchdown run at 7:30 of the fourth quarter to help his team win 17-16 at Taylor Field. 

Another 39 days elapsed before Saskatchewan surrendered another offensive TD. 

ROUGE LOVERS, REJOICE! 

ODDITY: In September of 1963, the Roughriders were a part of three consecutive games in which neither team reached double digits in points. 

Sept. 9: B.C. 8 at Saskatchewan 2. 

Sept. 14: Saskatchewan 4 at Calgary 4. 

Sept. 21: Edmonton 7 at Saskatchewan 8. 

With 1:35 remaining in the latter game, Dale West caught an eight-yard TD pass from Lancaster to cap a 109-yard drive. Reg Whitehouse added the game-winning convert. 

West’s TD was the Roughriders’ first on offence in 184:58. 

SHORT SNORTS 

•  The Roughriders (2023 version) are second in the CFL in passing yards per game (297.3), just behind Winnipeg (299.1).
• Saskatchewan is third in the league in touchdown passes (10) and completions of 30-plus yards (15).
• Shawn Bane Jr. is the CFL’s leader in catches (47) and receiving yards (615). Only three Roughriders players have led the loop in both categories in the same season — Jack Hill (60 catches for 1,065 yards in 1958), Joey Walters (102 for 1,692, 1982) and Curtis Marsh (102 for 1,560, 2000).
•  Brett Lauther’s 54-yard game-winner against Ottawa on Sunday tied him with Ward for the longest field goal in the CFL this season.
• Larry Dean’s 53 defensive tackles place the Roughriders’ middle linebacker second in the league, nine behind Calgary’s Micah Awe.
• Saskatchewan’s A.J. Allen has 11 special-teams tackles — more than anyone in the league except Hamilton’s Carthell Flowers-Lloyd (17).