ROBSERVATIONS: Pursuing perfection at 3-0 … which ex-Rider coached Michael Jordan? … Mario in motion … above-average averages … A.J. the weather expert
There is room for elevation in Rider Nation.
That is the assessment of Saskatchewan Roughriders middle linebacker Jameer Thurman as he awaits Saturday’s CFL game against the B.C. Lions (5 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).
“We want to put together a complete game and be dominant from start to finish,” Thurman stated. “Yeah, our record is 3-0 and all that, but I know we can be a lot better and we have not put that on tape yet. Each week is another opportunity to do that.”
Each week leading up to the home-field collision with B.C. has been a stressful experience for Roughriders fans — at least until the game concludes with the desired result.
Saskatchewan opened the regular season with a 31-26 victory over the visiting Ottawa REDBLACKS on June 5th.
The Roughriders held a 24-7 third-quarter lead before the REDBLACKS roared back. The outcome was not determined until the Roughriders forced a turnover on downs with 39 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
A failed third-down gamble also settled matters on June 14th, when the Roughriders outlasted the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats 28-23. The Riders and their supporters could not breathe easily until linebacker A.J. Allen knocked down a Bo Levi Mitchell pass with 12 seconds on the clock.
Six days henceforth, Saskatchewan posted a 39-32 road victory over the Toronto Argonauts. After Toronto tied the game with a touchdown and a two-point convert, Mario Alford answered with 99-yard kickoff return for six points. He crossed the goal line at 14:51 of the fourth quarter.
So add it all up: 39 seconds … 12 seconds … nine seconds. That is 60 seconds (an exact minute) of relief, collectively, over three games.
“We find a way to win,” said Thurman, who has helped the cause immensely with two sacks and a league-high 22 defensive tackles.
“A win is a win at the end of the day.”
But he would prefer to prevail in more emphatic fashion.
“I think this year for us, that’s when we have to separate ourselves,” Thurman said. “We don’t have to make games close.
“That’s what separates the good teams from the great teams — putting teams away and winning decisively.”
Perhaps that will happen in a few hours as the Roughriders strive to enjoy a 4-0 start for the second season in succession. The Green and White has not accomplished such a feat since 1969-1970.
If Saskatchewan improves to 4-0, the team will sport such a slate for the sixth time in the post-Second World War era. The Roughriders of 1969, 1970, 2008, 2013 and 2024 all started at 4-0.
Corey Mace was asked if there is a commonality between the Roughriders’ early-season tendencies of 2024 and 2025.
“A lot of heart attacks to get there,” the team’s second-year Head Coach replied. “I think that’s the only commonality.
“One way or another, these guys early have found a way to lean on each other and get the job done.
“Certainly, we know that a 4-0 start or a 3-0 start doesn’t give you an automatic bid for anything.
“We really don’t pay attention to that. It’s just, ‘How can we win this game?’ We’re really just focused on that stuff.
“How it winds up is how it winds up.”
MENTORING M.J.
The Roughriders signed Jack Hartman on June 27th, 1950 — 75 years ago on Friday.
As the Roughriders’ starting quarterback for most of the 1950 Western Interprovincial Football Union season, Hartman threw for 1,217 yards and seven touchdowns.
He also caught three passes for 89 yards and one TD and handled the team’s placekicking.
In May of 1951, Hartman accepted a high school football and basketball coaching position in Hominy, Okla.
He later coached Division I men’s basketball at Southern Illinois (1962 to 1970) and Kansas State (1970 to 1986). He guided Kansas State to five NCAA tournaments.
In 1983, Hartman coached the United States to a gold medal at the Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela. The Americans’ roster included 20-year-old Michael Jordan, then of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels.
At Southern Illinois, Hartman also coached another future Hall of Famer — New York Knicks legend Walt Frazier.
Hartman was 73 when he died in Santa Fe, N.M., on Nov. 6th, 1998.
Jack Hartman Drive is located outside the Kansas State Wildcats’ home arena, Fred Bramlage Coliseum, in Manhattan, Kan.
RUNNING TOTALS
The Roughriders are averaging 5.9 yards per handoff to a running back so far this season.
That is the team’s best showing in that department since 2015, when the average was an eye-popping 7.6.
A.J. Ouellette leads the ground attack this season with 208 yards on 33 carries (6.3-yard average).
Thomas Bertrand-Hudon has 80 yards on 16 rushes (5.0). Ka’Deem Carey has gained 26 yards on four attempts (6.5).
A year ago, the Roughriders were averaging 3.3 yards per handoff at the three-game mark.
At this juncture in 2015, Saskatchewan’s running backs had gained 428 yards on 56 handoffs.
Jerome Messam led the way with 31 carries for 244 yards (7.9-yard average). Anthony Allen had 25 rushes for 184 yards (7.4).
WYLIE VETERAN
Alford is one kickoff-return touchdown shy of tying a CFL All-Time record.
Harvey Wylie set the standard with the Calgary Stampeders, taking five kickoff returns all the way during a period that spanned 1956 to 1964.
Last week’s 99-yarder moved Alford past Hal Patterson, Larry Highbaugh, Henry (Gizmo) Williams, Beshir Levingston and DeVonte Dedmon on the career kickoff-return TDs list.
FOOTBALL FORECAST
The aforementioned A.J. Allen was the guest weather specialist on CTV Regina earlier this week.
The following excerpt from his TV appearance may get temperatures rising.
“Our record is 37.8 degrees in 1931,” Allen said. “That’s around the year that Coach Mace was born.
“Our record low of 2.2 degrees is from 1917, which is the year Trevor Harris was born.”
Stay tuned for the rebuttal.
ROLL CREDITS …
• Nice people who deserve a plug: Jake Paczko, Thomas Judek, Dave Thomas, Blair Ross, Terri Strunk, Dave Pettigrew, Barry Clarke, Tommy Stevens, Lake Korte-Moore, Aaron Patrick, Dhel Duncan-Busby, Kerfalla Exume, Jayden Dalke, Jason Johnson, Anthony Allen, Rich Preston, Dale Derkatch, Alan Millar, Joe Couch, Brett Lauther, Jamie Campbell, Trevon Tate, Chris Chipak, Mike Farmer, David Wilson, Jenn Senger, Cyndi Cherney, Lori Dattilo, Rylen Hill, Blake Tiedeman, Jacob Carr, Brent Buchko, Lee Jones, Tami Makowsky, Dylan Earis, Carlo Palazzo, and, having recently celebrated 10 years as a member of the Roughriders organization, Kent Paul (Chief Financial Officer).
