Kyle Myers
Ticats.ca
Heading into their week three matchup with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the Tiger-Cats are looking for their first win of the season.
Coming off an ugly rain-soaked affair in their home opener in Guelph, the Ticats will once again head to Alumni Stadium this Saturday, looking to hand the Bombers their second loss of 2013. Hamilton’s offence is ready to continue their offensive success against the Blue Bombers after a 52-0 drubbing of Winnipeg in the final pre-season game.
Of particular importance this week will be play of the Ticats offensive line, who will face a tough task in Winnipeg’s tenacious defence, especially their front four.
“Their defence has caused 26 punts in two games,” said Head Coach Kent Austin, emphasizing just how sharp the Ticats will have to be on offence this weekend. “They’re very aggressive up front, aggressive in the secondary, they’re well coached, and they’re going to be a real challenge for us.”
But Henry Burris expressed his confidence in the Ticats offence, and their ability to rise to the challenge on Saturday.
“I’m confident in this offensive line, I think we have the best O-Line in the league,” he said Thursday. “I know those guys felt just as embarrassed as I did (after Sunday’s game against the Eskimos). We’re looking forward to coming out and playing the style of football we need to play.”
One addition to the offence this week is Chevon Walker, who will be slotted into the depth chart at running back with C.J. Gable is unable to play due to injury. Walker has been a scratch in the first two games of the 2013 season, and could add a new dimension to the Ticats offensive attack.
“(Chevon) brings fireworks,” said Burris. “He’s probably one of the most explosive players in this league. Chevy is a guy who caught the league by storm last year and it’s time for him to get back to work and show everybody what he’s capable of doing.”
Walker did indeed take the league by storm in 2012, scoring eight touchdowns, and he’ll certainly be hungry to earn a starting role moving forward with a strong showing in his first appearance.
“He’s definitely an explosive guy and every time he touches the ball he’s capable of taking it the distance,” Burris continued.
He was also sure to make note of the improvements he’s seen in the past week in some of the Ticats young receivers, including Ed Gant and Simon Charbonneau-Campeau.
“The young guys that we have in there were playing fast this week, and you can tell that their experience last week in practice and being in the game for those guys more comfortable,” he said. “You can always tell a difference when those guys are out there playing, and when they’re thinking. We don’t want them to think, we just want them to do their job and play at 100 miles an hour.”
As far as improvements on defence, Coach Austin was clear with his expectations for Saturday.
“We need to not give up the big play, not take the stupid penalties,” he said. “The home-run shots, you have to make a team work harder than that. Instead of giving up a 70 yarder we’d much prefer to give up a 15-yarder and get them to the ground.”
“We had a defence that was very opportunistic in the preseason in their ability to make plays and get turnovers, and we’ve not done a great job doing that yet. We’ve had opportunities for interceptions in these two games, and for whatever reason we haven’t made those plays. When you have the opportunity to make a play, you have to be able to.”
The Tiger-Cats and Blue Bombers will kick off at 6:30 PM on Saturday.
