TigerTown Notebook – October 1

Fraser Caldwell
Ticats.ca

Lineup not yet set for Friday

The logjam at tailback will be a hot topic of discussion for the Ticats once again this week.

But Cortez indicated that running is not the only area in which roster decisions remain to be made before Friday’s visit to Edmonton.

“We’re looking at how we’re going to be able to line up this week,” said the coach. “There are a number of ramifications to how we’re going to be lined up.”

“As I told one of the players today, I can’t predict what’ll be going on Friday, today. It’s not just at the running back position either. It’s several positions.”

Defensive line has improved

Cortez was complimentary of his defensive line in the wake of a performance that saw the group hold Montreal under 50 rushing yards.

He explained however, that said total was influenced as well by the Alouettes trailing position throughout Friday’s game.

“We only gave up 41 yards rushing,” said Cortez. “I think [the defensive line] played pretty well up front.”

“The rushing totals are always helped when you’re ahead, because the other team doesn’t get to hand the ball off as much. When you’re up in the fourth quarter, you usually get to run more and you make more yards rushing.”

“I think over the last couple of games for the most part we’ve been improved up front.”

Impressed with offensive line play

Cortez addressed the contribution of the Ticats offensive line to the team’s attacking success against the Alouettes.

He indicated that the group should not be judged on the basis of the four sacks allowed, and suggested that it had blocked well for the run on Friday.

“Sometimes you can have sacks and have great protection,” explained Cortez. “Other times you can have no sacks and have awful protection.”

“I think our offensive line played well. We ran the same play about seven times in a row at the end of the game, so they must have been doing something right. They got a pretty good push going.”