Dunk: Austin set to make his return to Riderville

Kent Austin doesn’t want it to be about him, but there is no getting around the fact that his return to Regina headlines the July 21 matchup between the Tiger-Cats and Roughriders.

Austin makes his first trip back to Mosaic Stadium since coaching the Riders to Grey Cup glory in 2007, 18 years after he quarterbacked the Green and White to a thrilling 43-40 victory in the 1989 Grey Cup, which many people believe was the best Canadian Football League championship game ever.

Austin played integral roles in each of the last two Roughrider Grey Cup titles – the franchise has won three all-time – etching his place in Rider history forever.

At Mosaic, you can park in the Austin Lot and if you walk in the west entrance of the stadium, Austin has a banner with him in a classic quarterback pose from his playing days as a Rider.

“They may tear it down before I get there,” Austin said laughing about his banner.

“Some of my best memories ever in football were obviously there. That team, that organization, that community means a lot to me.”

After leading the Riders on a storybook Grey Cup run in 2007, Austin surprisingly left his head coaching position with the team to become the offensive coordinator at the University of Mississippi, his alma mater.

In 2010 he moved again, as he was hired as the head coach at Cornell University, a position he held for three years. After a total of five years in the NCAA Austin returned north of the border when he agreed to become the Ticats general manager and head coach last December.

Despite being away from the CFL for half a decade, Austin hasn’t forgotten what it’s like in Riderville.

“It’s a great environment, great fans, they love their football team. I’ve experienced that as a player and a coach,” Austin said.

“They have an environment that you want in football. That’s what makes the game great, to play in those kinds of environments. There are very few as unique.”

In his initial visit to Regina since leaving in 2007, Austin is unsure of the reception he will receive from the Green and White faithful.

“I don’t really know and it doesn’t really matter.”

Ticats quarterback Henry Burris knows exactly what his coach can expect to hear from the Rider fans.

“He’s going to get booed, he might as well get ready,” Burris said.

“Hopefully I can take some of the boos from coach. Me and the Saskatchewan fans – as well as coach – go way back.”

Burris will look across the line of scrimmage on Sunday and see a former teammate, linebacker Rey Williams who has lots to prove against the Ticats after being released by the team after the 2012 season.

“We know he’s going to be peeing out vinegar before this game,” Burris said.

Williams has put together an impressive start to the season, registering 14 tackles, three sacks and one interception, which he returned for a touchdown.

“He’s made a number of plays and he’s making the right calls and getting his guys in the right positions as far as carrying out their defensive assignments,” Burris explained.

“He’s doing what a typical leader would do on the field and that’s what we expect from Rey.”

Burris also expects to hear a lot of trash talking from Williams, but the poised quarterback won’t respond, at least not vocally.

“I’m not a trash talker, I just run around and smile and laugh during the game,” Burris said.  

“I don’t get caught up in the talking game, you let your play do the talking and hopefully at the end of game, then you can do your talking.”

The Ticats hope to be doing lots of chattering after the final whistle in Austin’s return to Regina.

Gettin’ ‘Giggy’ with It

Sam Giguere’s explosiveness was on full display on his 61-yard catch and run touchdown against the Bombers in week 3.

Less than three minutes into the game quarterback Henry Burris broke the Ticats huddle and saw the Bomber defence morphing into a zone defence before the snap of the ball.

“It was kind of like a flat top what they call a cover four,” Burris said.
Hamilton was in a balanced four receiver set with Giguere in the slot and Ed Gant at the wide spot, together on the left side. Off of a criss-cross release the receivers broke into their patterns, Giguere went overtop onto the numbers and Gant dipped underneath inside the near the hash mark.

Burris’ read on the left side was simple, as he stepped up in the pocket to avoid the rush, three Bomber defenders, including halfback Demond Washington, jumped on the short curl route run by Gant, leaving Giguere one on one with Jovon Johnson.

Giguere did a near perfect job of stemming Johnson and getting on his toes before breaking on a skinny post route. Burris let go a precision pass, leading Giguere down field instead of across into the danger zone or middle of the field where Winnipeg safety Cauchy Muamba was lurking.

“I led him up the field because defensive backs are taught to undercut the ball,” Burris explained. “If I lead him out across the field it gives the safety a chance to wheel back and maybe make a play on it. To me it’s like eliminate all the indecision or grey areas where somebody can make a play on it and just put it in a place where the corner or safety can’t make a play.”

Giguere made a beautiful over the shoulder grab on the up field pass and fought his way into the end zone.

“When the halfback jumped on Ed it opened Sam up and he did a great job of setting up things on Jovon Johnson and when he got behind him I just let it go and let the bobsledder go get it,” Burris said.  

“The protection was great – it’s a route that takes time. It was a good adjustment on Henry’s part and I just had to fade back a little bit towards the ball,” Giguere said of his catch.

The 61-yard score was the longest reception of Giguere’s CFL career and it was the type of explosive play most thought he would be producing on a regular basis after signing with the Ticats before the 2012 season.

“It’s not the same Sam as last year,” Burris said. “Last year he was still wide eyed, bushy tailed and so wet behind the ears, he was still a baby to this game because technically he really hadn’t played football for four or five years. He was on practice rosters and such, but not really getting a chance to play.”

Giguere is off to a better start in his sophomore campaign. Through three games last season he had just 65 yards, compared to 124 yards and a touchdown already in 2013. Part of the reason for the increased early production is Giguere getting a chance to run routes from different receiver spots within the offence. Instead of being stuck as the strong side receiver for every play, like he was in 2012.

“Being the far side wideout all the time, sometimes it’s more difficult to really focus in and feel involved,” Giguere said. “Getting moved around now and seeing a bit of everything, it’s challenging but it’s fun and I like it like that.”