Bert Faibish
Ticats.ca
With a young CFL season approaching its fourth week there is one thing that is becoming increasingly apparent.
Kevin Glenn means business.
The same Kevin Glenn that lit up the league in 2007 and was nominated for Most Oustanding Player as a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers has been dissecting opposing defences like an eleventh grade biology class.
Glenn has completed 70% of his passes and thrown for 893 yards, good enough for third in the league and a nod for week 3’s Offensive Player of the Week, after he torched his former team for 340 yards and three touchdowns on the way to 28-7 victory.
“It’s my comfort level but also having the guys around you playing well and giving you the opportunity to be successful,” said Glenn.
“The guys up front give me the time to throw and when I put the ball in the air, the receivers and running backs are catching it,” he added.
The wealth of talent he has to work with is obvious.
Case in point, last Friday at Ivor Wynne Stadium. On a day last week where Arland Bruce III was limited to just 44 yards receiving, he found Maurice Mann for two touchdowns and Dave Stala chipped in with 124 yards. The diversity on the field being showcased by the Ticats this season has led some to compare them to the ’07 Winnipeg squad that made it to the Grey Cup and led the league in receiving yards.
“I think there is a comparison, there were a lot of good receivers on that team and we have a lot of good receivers on this team,” said Glenn.
“I don’t necessarily think you can compare the teams as a whole because they are completely different, but what you can compare is the extra work that guys put into it.”
“You can see some of that same outside and off the field stuff that guys are doing to help their game on the field and it’s showing,” he added.
The team’s biggest test of the season now looms before them in the form of the defending Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes and an additional 5,000 members to their already very vocal crowd.
“Every game is a must-win game, but last week that was really how we prepared,” said Glenn.
“We’re pretty much taking the same approach to this game, with the same sense of urgency,” he said.
The Al’s went undefeated at home last season, but one of their closest calls came against the Ticats, who narrowly missed leaving McGill Stadium with a victory, falling 41-38 in a shootout.
The Montreal secondary has look susceptible to the big play this season, giving up 53 points to the Roughriders, allowing Kelly Campbell and Fred Stamps to burn them for 170 and 119 yards respectively in week 2 and most recently being flagged for five defensive pass interference penalties against BC.
Montreal still managed to go 2-1 to start the season despite this, so the key will be to finish drives with touchdowns and not settle for field goal attempts inside the red zone.
