Fraser Caldwell
Ticats.ca
Lulay’s strength lies in “extending plays”
Ticat Head Coach George Cortez discussed the quarterback his team will encounter on Friday.
Cortez argued that Travis Lulay’s greatest strength this season has been his ability to keep plays alive with his scrambling ability, even while designed runs on his part have been minimal.
“He’s done a great job of extending plays this year,” said the Ticat coach of Lulay.
“He’s been moving around in the pocket, scrambling when he needs to. He’s run a fair amount, but probably scrambled and thrown the ball more.”
“That’s really been a big part of their offence being successful.”
New-look lines have handled changes well
The coach was asked to comment on the performances of his offensive and defensive lines, which have both experienced changes of personnel due to injuries.
Cortez indicated that his offensive linemen had adapted well to the loss of some verteran players, and that their defensive counterparts had several options to turn to.
“I thought that the offensive line – we had a little bit of a different setup last week – I felt that they communicated pretty well together,” said the coach.
“I think defensively we’ve obviously got a number of new defensive linemen here. We’re just trying to get the best combination on the field. There’s not nearly as much working with the guy next to you on the defensive side as on the offensive one.”
Lions defence is “sound across the board”
Cortez assessed the Lions defence that his team is set to combat on Friday.
The coach praised the opposing unit and indicated that it was a well-rounded group that managed to frequently generate pressure despite largely sticking with a basic, four-man pass rush.
“They’re very sound across the board,” said Cortez of the Lions defenders.
“Their secondary is very good, they’re playing a little bit more man defence now than they did earlier in the year. But it’s a very good mix of man and zone. They play a number of different combinations of zone and they’re very experienced in the back end.”
“A couple of their guys do a great job of reading the body posture of receivers and play the route instead of the ball.”
“They’ve done a great job this year – no matter who plays for them – of getting pressure as a four-man rush team.”
