Ticats.ca
Kent Austin is determined to get the Ticats back on their feet.
A slow start out of the gate is not what people around the Canadian Football League would have predicted. However, each game easily could have been flipped into the win column.
Against the Argos a handful of plays stood out: Luca Congi rang a 37-yard field goal off the upright in the third quarter, in the fourth Ryan Hinds dropped an interception in the end zone, and finally, on the Tiger-Cats last drive, CJ Gable couldn’t squeeze a screen pass with a clear path to the end zone right in front of him. If anyone of those three plays are made Hamilton comes out of Hogtown with a victory.
As for the Ticats home opener in Guelph, it wasn’t just a select few plays. Penalties, coupled with losing the turnover margin put the Ticats behind in the field position game for many of the 60 minutes.
“The undisciplined penalties, that’s on me,” Austin said. “We can’t take those penalties and continue to get backed up on offence simply because we’re undisciplined. So I have to coach the guys better obviously.”
“We’re not going to make excuses, we have to make more plays and we can’t put the ball on the ground, period.”
Austin is referring to the five fumbles Hamilton had against Edmonton. Although only one was lost and recovered by the Eskimos, no team can afford to be so careless with the football. The Ticats were a minus two in the turnover category.
After the Ticats scratched and clawed their way back into the game, down by just three at half time, a crucial interception thrown by Henry Burris proved to be the turning point in the game. In the third quarter, with the offence backed up against their own goal line, Burris was picked off, leading to a Hugh Charles touchdown to put the Eskimos up by 10. A deficit the Ticats were never able to come back from.
“We just can’t have the mistakes that we’re making, drive killers and momentum killers. The two teams we’ve played have done a good job of not making those mistakes,” Burris said.
“The thing is it’s not so much anybody else, it’s us who are making the mistakes. We know the mistakes that we made. The stuff that was self-inflicted, coach talked about it all camp long. We can’t keep doing those things. Whether it is penalties or not doing are assignments or whatever it is, we have to do our jobs as players.”
Addressing and fixing the mistakes will certainly be a focus during practice in preparation for when the Blue Bombers come to town on Saturday. Even though the frustration level might be high for fans of the Black and Gold, Burris assured nobody is more frustrated than all of the men in the Ticats locker room, but Hank knows very well, it’s a long season. 
“We can’t put our heads between our legs because there is a lot of football remaining. We can learn from this and get better or we can just sink the ship, but I know that’s not going to happen because we have way too much pride on this team.”
Hamilton’s effort level was apparent, despite the loss to the Eskimos. The ‘Cats could have easily packed it in and called it a day after being down 16-0 early in the first quarter. Instead the team fought, through torrential rain and all, to get back in the game. Not to mention there were a few standout performances as well.
Most notable, especially when looking at the box score, was Ed Gant and his 40-yard touchdown catch. The 26-year-old rookie had 52 receiving yards in his first ever CFL start, which came just days after he was signed by the team on July 2.
Gant hadn’t even been around long enough to have a nameplate on his game day locker against Edmonton, just his number, 17, was on his stall. Gant had no name on his locker and has no place, yet, to call home in Hamilton.
“Hopefully by next week or the following week I will find somewhere to stay. I have go on Kijiji and find a place,” the rangy receiver said with a chuckle.
Gant bounced around the NFL for four years before coming north, attending Eskimos training camp earlier this year. After he was released by the Eskimos on June 23 the Ticats scooped him up.
“I had heard of the CFL and I was grateful to come to this league,” Gant said.
“I always love new experiences. The CFL is no joke, it’s a lot of running, guys are hungry and people are flying around.”
The 6-foot-3 200-pound pass catcher had an idea he was going to start after taking reps with the first team offence all week leading into the matchup with Edmonton. A big part of the reason Gant was able to crack the starting lineup so soon was because of how fast he picked up the offence.
“I stayed after meetings and put in extra work to get caught up on everything,” Gant said. “The coaches thought I was ready, so they just threw me into the fire.”
“He made some plays,” Burris said “He has a lot going on in his head, but the kid has a lot of potential.”
It was clear in their first game together Burris and Gant have quickly developed a solid feel needed for a successful connection between a quarterback and receiver.
“The rapport is good, we’re figuring each other out on certain things as well, how he’s going to runs his routes and what he’s expecting from me,” Burris explained.
“We’re going to continue to work with him, he’s got a lot of ability and he’s a good guy to go to – he’s going to be dangerous.”
Gant is a perfect example of what Austin means when he talks about finding the right mix of players, a talented team first contributor who cares about the game and goes about his work on and off the football field in a professional manner.
“We’re not going to tinker too much longer, we’ve got the players that we have and we as coaches need to develop those players,” Austin said.
“We have a good group of guys and I think they’re pretty close. We’ll get it turned around.”
