Hamilton Tiger-Cats (3-3) vs. Toronto Argonauts (1-5)
Game 7 | Saturday, August 13 @ 7:00 p.m., EST
Ivor Wynne Stadium – Hamilton, Ontario
BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV BROADCAST: TSN featuring Rod Black (play-by-play) and Duane Forde (analyst)
RADIO BROADCAST: AM 900 CHML featuring Rick Zamperin (play-by-play) and John Salavantis (analyst)
THE MATCH-UP
Saturday’s game will be the first of three regular season meetings between the Tiger-Cats and Argonauts. This will be the only time the Argos visit the Hammer during the 2011 campaign, with the remaining two games in the series taking place at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. The match-up will be the 209th meeting between the two teams since 1950. Hamilton holds the edge in the all-time series, 120-86-2. The Ticats have won four straight and seven of their last 10 games against the Argos. The last time Toronto won in Hamilton during the regular season was in 2009 on Canada Day.
The Tiger-Cats three game winning streak came to a halt in Calgary last week, when they failed to score in the second half against the Stampeders after holding a lead going into halftime. The Cats will be looking to rebound against the lowly Argos who are in the middle of a five game slide, getting outscored by their opponents 157-105 during their losing streak. The Argos defence is giving up the most yards per game in the league (407.1) and their offence is seventh in the league in yards gained per game (315.8). Plagued by injuries, the Double Blue will try and right their ship, but it will not be an easy task at Ivor Wynne with a Labour Day-like atmosphere and a motivated Ticats team waiting for them.
This will be the fourth meeting between head coaches Marcel Bellefeuille and Jim Barker. Bellefeuille has a career record of 22-28 as a CFL head coach in the regular season and holds a 5-2 record against the Argonauts. Barker has a career record of 24-36 as a CFL head coach in the regular season and holds a 3-5 record against the Ticats.
2011 STATISTICAL RANKINGS
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Total Offence Per Game |
339.0 (6th) |
315.8 (7th) |
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Rushing Offence Per Game |
94.3 (6th) |
97.8 (5th) |
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Passing Offence Per Game |
254.7 (5th) |
233.2 (8th) |
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Total Defence Per Game |
354.0 (4th) |
407.1 (8th) |
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Rushing Defence Per Game |
92.7 (3rd) |
129.8 (8th) |
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Passing Defence Per Game |
282.8 (6th) |
289.3 (7th) |
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Points Per Game |
25.3 (3rd) |
21.3 (7th) |
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Opponents Points Per Game |
24.0 (4th) |
29.7 (7th) |
2011 INDIVIDUAL STATISTIC LEADERS
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| Passing | K. Glenn: 119/196, 1449 yds, 10 TD, 5 INT | C. Lemon: 88/139, 1042 yds, 4 TD, 4 INT |
| Rushing | A. Cobourne: 78-398, 3 TD | C. Kackert: 54-314, 4 TD |
| Receiving | C. Williams: 26-352, 3 TD | J. Copeland: 20-306 |
| Tackles | J. Johnson: 36 | R. Foley: 31 |
| Sacks | J. Johnson / J. Hickman: 3 | Three players tied with 2 |
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Stevie Baggs #55 / DE / Hamilton
After a hot start to the season which included nine tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble in his first two games, the leader of the Ticats defence has been kept in check as of late. Baggs, who is still adjusting to new defensive coordinator Corey Chamblin’s schemes, is due for a huge game. In his one apperance against Toronto last season, Baggs racked up seven tackles and two sacks, and has said countless times he enjoys playing in the Battle of Ontario. With Argos All-Star left tackle Rob Murphy listed as questionable with an injury for Saturday’s game, this is Shakespeare’s opportunity to get back to what he does best, make plays.
Aaron Kelly #81 / WR / Hamilton
Kelly led the Tiger-Cats receivers in yards last week with five catches for 92 yards against Calgary. The rookie out of Clemson showed veteran poise along the sidelines, making some impressive grabs over the course of the game. Kelly’s best catch came on a corner route from Kevin Glenn, where the rookie jumped up in double coverage, readjusted to the ball in mid-air and came down with a 31-yard gain. Look for Glenn and Kelly to hook-up early and often on Saturday, as the veteran quarterback becomes more comfortable with his big target. The Cats will try and exploit the height of 6’5″ Aaron Kelly against the Argos defensive backs who have an avearge height of 5’11”.
Cory Boyd #3 / RB / Toronto
Boyd has missed the last four weeks with a knee injury, but will make his return to the Argos lineup Saturday in Hamilton. The sophmore running back, who finished second in the CFL in rushing in 2010 with 1359 yards, only collected 161 of those yards against the Tiger-Cats in three games. The Tabbies ‘D’ essentially subdued the physical running back in 2010, a trend they will look to continue this year; but Boyd has other plans. The outspoken running back has been talking in the media all week about how excited he is to get back on the field in Hamilton. It will be interesting to see if Boyd is fully healthy and if his play backs up his talk.
Ricky Foley #95 / DE / Toronto
The Tiger-Cats offensive line has done a flawless job of protecting their quarterback Kevin Glenn in the last two games, not giving up a single sack in the past 78 passing plays. Ricky Foley, the Argos defensive end and former Most Outstanding Canadian award winner, would like nothing more than to end the Ticats sackless streak. Foley, who had 12 sacks with the B.C. Lions in 2009 only has one sack this season but he’s sixth in the leauge in tackles with 31. He is the only defensive lineman in the CFL in the top 25 in that category. Ricky Foley and the rest of the Argos front seven will be gunning for Kevin Glenn Saturday, and in a game that could be won or lost in the trenches, Foley will need to play well if the Argos want to win.
KEY MATCH-UP
Hamilton’s Running Game vs. Toronto’s Front Four
Avon Cobourne has to be licking his chops coming into Saturday’s match-up against the Argos. This season, the Boatmen have given up the most first downs rushing (53), the most yards ru
shing (779), the most average yards rushing per game (129.8), the most rushing attempts (148) and the most rushing touchdowns (8) in the CFL through six weeks. With the Argos linebacker corps losing three time CFL All-Star Kevin Eiben and starting middle linebacker Jason Pottinger to long term injuries, Toronto will have to dig deep to slow Hamilton’s ground game. Look for Pottinger’s replacement, Ejiro Kuale, and defensive linemen Claude Wroten and Ronald Flemmons to step up and fill some holes on Saturday in an attempt to shore up their run defence. Expect the Tiger-Cats to feed Mr. Cobourne, who’s third in the league in rushing with 398 yards, the rock early and often, forcing the wounded Argos front seven to respect the run game.
