Ticats.ca
Justin Dunk
Bouncing back from adversity is the true test for any professional athlete. It is easy to stay high after a win, but what defines a group of pros is their ability to rise above the tough times and prevail.
Edmonton provides that opportunity for the Ticats this Saturday.
“It’s still week two. Nobody’s won the Grey Cup in week two. We will go out this game and we will execute,” Kevin Glenn said after the team’s final day of preparation before they head west.
After an outing to forget in week one, the offence looks to get rolling at Commonwealth stadium.
“Kevin’s going to bounce back and he’s going to play a good football game. I’m certain of that,” head coach Marcel Bellefeuille said.
The franchise pivot knows he must get all cylinders firing within the offence.
“It’s important to get everybody going,” Glenn said. “I want to get into a rhythm. How you get into a rhythm is getting everybody the ball.”
Glenn believes the Eskimos defence will provide him with the opportunity to get the ball out his hands and allow his receivers to get into the flow of the game.
“I think we’ll do a good job of getting Bruce the ball early, and the rest of the guys too,” Glenn said. “Getting them into a groove of catching the ball so they don’t go two, three quarters without catching a ball.”
Glenn will direct the Tiger-Cats offence against a new-look Eskimo defence. Rich Stubler is new to Edmontonians, but is not new to coaching CFL defences. As an 11-year veteran, Glenn has certainly faced Stubler-coached units throughout his career, and he knows the keys in order for the Ticats to have success against it on Saturday.
“It’s one of those bend-but-don’t-break defences. [Stubler] wants you to make a mistake,” he said. “Not turning the ball over, win on first downs, stay in second and mediums, that’s the biggest thing that you need to do against that kind of defence.”
The Eskimos are playing a version of Stubler’s defence made famous in his time as Argos defensive coordinator. Although, the scheme is in its infancy in Edmonton as the long time defensive guru teaches the nuances to the Green and Gold defenders.
“It’s probably going to progress, if I know Rich, as the players start to get it, he’ll start to add more and give them more responsibility, but you certainly can see the beginnings of it and the skeleton of what he likes to do,” Bellefeuille said. “It’s one of those defences where you have to attack it conceptually.”
‘Winning’ and consistency on first down will allow Hamilton to keep the whole playbook available in what they hope will be second and favourable situations.
“We just need to be consistent, move the ball, take advantage of what they give us,” Arland Bruce said.
Bruce had a couple of uncharacteristic drops in week one and his coach knows how to cure what ails the veteran receiver.
“He’s gotta find a way mentally to stay in it and be ready when his number is called,” Bellefeuille said.
The bench boss has seen his team pay closer attention to the details of their week two opponent in practice.
“The players did a great job this week or putting more emphasis on the preparation,” Bellefeuille said. “They did a good job preparing last week, but this week they took an attitude of it will be perfect the first time in practice.”
