Matt Cauz
CFL.ca
No team faced more pressure coming into Week #3 than Hamilton. A team filled with mile high expectations during the pre-season was suddenly facing the prospect of falling to 0-3 with a trip to Montreal coming up. They needed to beat Winnipeg and they did so rather convincingly 28-7. A loss and they would have joined ‘Knight & Day’ as the biggest summer flops.
The reason the Ticats won the game was the stellar play of their linebackers and of course Kevin Glenn. I decided to focus this week’s column on the Tabbies’ quarterback.
After watching Kevin Glenn slice up the Winnipeg Blue Bombers it’s easy to see that his great performance was really all about accuracy and scheme. Marcel Bellefeuille, offensive coordinator Mike Gibson and quarterbacks coach Khari Jones deserve just as much credit for Glenn’s 29-for-36, 340 yards, 3 TD night.
Here’s a quick review of Glenn’s first 13 completed passes:
#1 Quick hitter, a nine yard gain to Dave Stala. Stala ran a shallow crossing pattern with no Winnipeg defender close to him. Glenn hit him quickly allowing Stala to gain several more yards. This will be an ongoing theme.
#2 Arland Bruce III for six yards on a tight slant. The coverage was good but Glenn’s throw was better, hitting Bruce in the chest. And yes this is another theme. Even when the Winnipeg defensive backs were in good position Glenn’s throws were just that much better.
#3 Kevin rolls out to his left and completes a simple pitch and catch with Stala for 15 yards. Good idea to put Glenn on the move. His first two completions came from the pocket. Now Winnipeg’s defence has to contend with Glenn’s mobility.
#4 Another quick hitter, this time to Marcus Thigpen. Kevin uses a play fake to freeze Odell Willis, leaving Thigpen wide open in the flat. Solid play design as Thigpen uses his speed to take a short catch and turn it into a 13 yard completion.
#5 Kevin’s first downfield throw results in the longest completion for either team, this one 40 yards to Dave Stala. Kudos to the offensive line for giving Glenn the time he needed to find Stala wide open in the middle of the field. No way was Stala the #1 target on this play.
#6 The touchdown pass to DeAndra’ Cobb was more about scheme than athleticism. Once again Winnipeg was not prepared to cover the Tiger-Cats running backs coming out of the backfield. Just like completion #4 except this time with Cobb replacing Thigpen as the intended target, the back was wide open, making for an easy completion. Hamilton leads 7-0.
#7 On 2nd & 8 Glenn with a short pass to Stala that turns into a first down. The impressive part of the throw is just how accurate it was. Glenn puts it in the perfect spot allowing Stala’s momentum to get the first down. Anything less and Stala would’ve slowed down to match the catch, giving the Winnipeg defensive backs time to make the tackle and prevent a first down conversion.
#8 Best throw of the night comes on Glenn’s 19-yarder to Thigpen who was running a wheel route out of the backfield. Again Glenn could not have been more accurate getting the ball just out of the reach of Ike Charlton and right to Thigpen’s shoulder. At first I thought Thigpen could not have been the first option but after watching it back Glenn looks to his right for a split second but then is locked on to Thigpen. Good work by the Hamilton coaching staff to getting Thigpen more involved with the offence. In fact, it looks like the Tiger-Cats could have a fairly dangerous duo with Cobb and Thigpen in the backfield together. Just gives them so many options.
#9 Chris Bauman with his first catch of the day. A rather risky throw by Glenn as the coverage was fairly tight and you could see that Kevin had locked onto Bauman. That said Glenn did get rid of the ball quickly. Another trend in the first half, Glenn rarely gave the Blue Bomber pass rush a chance to hit him. The only sack was a meaningless one by Odell Willis late in the second quarter.
#10 First example of Glenn beating the blitz. Winnipeg sends pressure on the left side of Hamilton’s offensive line but both Glenn and Maurice Mann read it correctly as Glenn hits Mann for seven yards, converting a 2nd & 6. Good work by Mann to break off his route.
#11 This time Glenn rolls out to his right. For the majority of the first half he had been going to his left. A solid decision by Mike Gibson & Co. to keep the Blue Bombers guessing. Stala again is the recipient of the Glenn pass, this time for eight yards.
#12 The first bad play of the day. On 2nd & 3 Glenn got a little too conservative hitting Thigpen right at the line of scrimmage with several Winnipeg defenders around Marcus. The play loses yards forcing Hamilton to punt.
#13 The second touchdown of the day saw the perfect marriage of scheme and superior athleticism. From the 17-yard line Glenn rolls out to his right than throws back to his left to Maurice Mann. After a solid block by Alexandre Gauthier, Mann just embarrasses Brandon Stewart with a shoulder fake leaving Stewart tackling air and Mann with his first touchdown of the night.
Bonus Track! Kevin wasn’t asked to throw downfield much, but he threw a dandy (Yes I’m old I just used ‘dandy’ as an adjective) for Maurice Mann’s second touchdown of the game with just over five minutes to go in the third. The coverage was actually fairly good. I was impressed that Donald Brown was able to stay with Mann considering Glenn had enough time to double pump, but once again Glenn’s throw was better than the coverage. This time, he threw the ball just high enough for Mann to catch it, but no way for Brown to get a hand on it.
In the end Hamilton dominated as a result of proper execution, the discipline to stick with the short pass and above everything else with Kevin Glenn’s ability to deliver accurate throws.
