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In an 18 game season, young football teams like the Edmonton Eskimos are going to have experiences like they did against the Roughriders last week.
And while it was shocking to have it happen in their home opener, fullback Calvin McCarty is confident the Esks won’t let it happen again.
“Its professional ball and you got to come out of the gate swinging,” McCarty said.
“It’s tough to try and match someone else’s intensity and they set the tone and you are not where you should be. It’s even worse because you haven’t been of the field for six or seven months and that’s how you come out of the gate.”
Not the way to make a good first impression.
It was a game filled with turnovers and a lack of discipline to the tune of 15 penalties for 90 yards. Too many times a bad penalty either changed field position, erased a second and long on defence or a second and short on offence.
McCarty says it comes down to having better attention to detail.
“Just knowing situations, second and short and they might try to draw you offside,” McCarty explained.
“Even not taking the shot in the back, you see their numbers and it’s tough because you know you’re getting your butt kicked out there and you see a shot that might be there but we’re a team and that’s really selfish and we can’t make those kinds of mistakes.”
The good news is it’s early in the 2013 season and we’ve seen time and again team’s rallying from a tough start to end up having a successful season.
The 2011 B.C. Lions are the recent example as they erased a 0-5 start to win the Grey Cup at season’s end. The challenge for the Eskimos is that they are a young football team.
And while the talent might be there, growing pains are expected.
Quarterback Mike Reilly had an up and down game going 17 of 35 for 259 yards passing, throwing one touchdown, and two interceptions.
None more costly than the pick he threw at the end of the first half which resulted in a Riders touchdown giving the visitors a 22-1 lead at halftime.
Reilly did show good pocket presence, and determined spirit and the ability to make some big plays. He found Fred Stamps for some big gains and for the Eskimos only touchdown of the game late in the fourth quarter.
Reilly says this young group of Eskimos needs to learn soon how to be a more resilient team.
“We have to be able to become a veteran team and take a deep breath and calm down and say hey, it’s just one play and it’s not the end of the game and then focus on the next play and forget what’s happened in the past,” he said.
“There are 70 or 80 snaps offensively in a game and the same defensively and you have to bring that focus every single play and you can’t take any plays off.”
The Eskimos will need a short memory on Sunday as they visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cars at their temporary home of Guelph Alumni Stadium. The Tiger-Cats will also be looking for their first victory, but put up 34 points in their loss the Toronto Argonauts.
The Eskimos defence needs to be that dominant group many expected them to be. The offence needs a lead to work with but regardless of the score, stick to the game plan and as head coach Kavis Reed pointed out this week “don’t abort” the game plan too early meaning stay balanced.
NOTES: Receiver Shamawd Chambers will be held out of Sunday’s game after receiving a blow to the head in late stages of last week’s loss to the Riders. Marcus Henry will move into the receiving corps. Former Tiger-Cat Eddie Steele will make his Eskimos debut on the defensive line. The University of Manitoba product spent three seasons in Hamilton. Fellow defensive lineman Almondo Sewell comes out of the lineup. After missing last week’s opener because of injury, safety Donovan Alexander will make his 2013 season debut. Shea Pierre is out.
