Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-12) @ B.C. Lions (11-6)
B.C. Place – Vancouver, British Columbia
5:00pm (CST) Kickoff
TV: TSN 1/3/4/5
Radio: Rider Radio Network (Rod Pedersen and Carm Carteri)
CKRM 620AM – Regina
CJGX 940AM – Yorkton
CFWD (Cruz FM) 96.3FM – Saskatoon
CJNB 1050AM – North Battleford
CJNS 102.3FM – Meadow Lake
CKBI 900AM – Prince Albert
CKBI 92.5FM – Big River
CKBI 95.9FM – LaRonge
Estimated temperature at Kickoff: Retractable Roof – Closed.
A tumultuous calendar year – ok, 13 months, is almost in the books. Let’s recap what has happened in Riderville in that time:
– Interim Head Coach Bobby Dyce and the rest of the coaching staff were told they were not coming back.
– President and CEO, Craig Reynolds hired Chris Jones as the Vice-President of Football Operations, General Manager and Head Coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
– Jones introduced his staff, the majority of whom followed him from Edmonton.
– Fan favourites Weston Dressler and John Chick could not renegotiate their contracts and were released.
– Free Agency saw the signing of numerous players that were to be the backbone of the Riders in 2016 and into the future.
– Spring Camp in Florida.
– Training Camp in Saskatoon.
– A long grind of a season that will end up in an either 5-13 or 6-12 finish.
– Along with all of this, it was the final season of Mosaic Stadium and the beginning of a new chapter in Rider history a mere two blocks away at what will soon be called Mosaic Stadium (I think it’s time to drop the “new”).
There haven’t been many teams nor fan bases that have had to ride a roller coaster like this and tonight it will come to a conclusion in Vancouver with even more drama.
– Darian Durant will not make the trip as the trio of Mitchell Gale, G.J. Kinne and Brandon Bridge will probably all see action.
– The B.C. Lions will need a win to finish second and host a home playoff date for the West Division Semi Final.
– With 103 yards along the ground, Joe McKnight would be the Riders leading rusher, in just three games.
Many have said that this will be the backups for the Riders against the starters for the Lions. Well, it feels like that has been the story of the 2016 season for the Riders.
Tonight, other than Darian Durant, it’s the same story for the Green and White. There are seven player changes tonight, with one player making his Riders debut.
This pushes the number of players that have made an appearance on the Riders 46-man roster just shy of 100 (an incomprehensible 98 players to be exact – can you name them all?)
Once again, it will be a young in CFL experience Rider team squaring off against a very good Lions club that has turned things around with their Godfather back on the sidelines, Wally Buono.
I will give a season synopsis next week, so let’s just stick to what will happen on the field tonight.
The Riders will get a boost with the return of Joe McKnight, Joe Craig and Graig Newman to the lineup. There are more injury troubles as Ricky Collins, Matt Webster and Jarriel King will all miss the game tonight.
That means, 2016 first-round pick, Josiah St. John will make his sixth start of the season and first since week nine in Hamilton.
The most interesting piece of the game will be the rotation of the Rider pivots. All three received starting reps with Mitchell Gale getting the nod to start the game under the big top in Vancouver.
Gale is 1-and-1 this season with the Riders only victory in the first half of the season with a week-five win over the REDBLACKS. A week later, he had a difficult time in Calgary against the top team in the CFL.
He is the only one of the three that has a somewhat extensive CFL experience.
Brandon Bridge will be the third-stringer, but will no doubt see legit playing time for the first time since the final week of 2015 when he was a member of the Montreal Alouettes. Fun fact: it was against the Riders and he played well with 21 completions for 220 yards and two touchdowns.
That leaves us with the very unknown Gary Joe Kinne.
G.J. Kinne has yet to take a snap in the CFL and prior to coming to the Riders, he was released by the Calgary Stampeders during training camp.
Before he came to Canada, Kinne made stops with the New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles (half of that as a receiver) and New York Giants. As well as time with the Omaha Nighthawks of the defunct UFL and San Antonio of the Arena Football League.
Other than a handful of passes in NFL pre-season action and his time in Omaha, he hasn’t seen considerable playing time since being named the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl MVP in 2012.
He has the size, arm strength and the mobility to play, but considering he hasn’t seen real game reps for a very long time, it will be a thrilling night for the Texas native.
For one last time this season, Go Riders!!
Fast Facts:
College Ties:
– Jason Arakgi (BC) and Andrew Jones (SSK) McMaster University
– Bryan Burnham (BC) and G.J. Kinne (SSK) University of Tulsa
– Welcome to Rider Nation Kaelin Burnett (Nevada)!
– With the addition of four players, the Riders will now have had 98 different players on the 46-man roster.
– The Riders will finish the season with a total of 355 man-games spent on the injury list. For comparison purposes, the Lions just 102.
– Darian Durant will finish the season four passing touchdowns shy of surpassing Kent Austin for second on the all-time with the Riders.
– Former Riders on the Lions include: Paul McCallum, Keith Price, Anthony Allen and Nehemie Kankolongo,
– Three Rider players were not yet born when Paul McCallum made his CFL debut in September of 1993: Nic Demski, Kennedy Estelle and Joshua Stanford.
– Only three players will have started every game for the Riders this season: Thaddeus Coleman, Otha Foster and Corvey Irvin. Three others have played in all 18 games: Josh Bartel, Kevin Francis and Jonathan Newsome.
