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Uncategorized July 20, 2013

Pre-Game Breakdown: Ticats at Roughriders

Ticats.ca Staff

The Tiger-Cats will head to Saskatchewan to face the undefeated Roughriders this Sunday, as they look to notch their first road victory of the 2013 season.

The Tiger-Cats will look to build on their recent success at Mosaic Stadium for the first game of the home-and-home series with the Saskatchewan Roughriders (7 p.m. ET, TSN / AM900 CHML).

With their 25–20 win last week against the Blue Bombers, the Tiger-Cats sit at 1–2. The Roughriders are perched atop the West Division after a 39–28 victory over the Toronto Argonauts last week at the Rogers Centre.

TIGER-CATS HISTORY vs. SASKATCHEWAN

  WINS LOSSES TIES PTS FOR PTS AGAINST
ALL-TIME  38 40  4 2,116 2,073
LAST 10 (TOTAL) 3 7   240 270
LAST 10 (vs. SSK on the road) 1 9   186 344
IN 2012: 1 1   51 77

 
HEAD-TO-HEAD

TIGER-CATS SECONDARY
   ROUGHRIDERS QUARTERBACK

Sunday’s matchup against the Riders will be a good test for the Ticats secondary as they face on of the league’s best offences.

Saskatchewan currently has the second-most efficient passing offence in the CFL with a completion percentage of 72.2%.

Although the Riders offence is decorated with three of the league’s top 15 receivers (Dressler, Getzlaf and Smith), the Ticats have not allowed a receiver to go for more than 100 yards through the first three weeks of the season. Additionally, opposing quarterbacks have been held to a completion percentage of only 63.9%.

Over the last two weeks, the Tiger-Cats secondary has allowed an average of 161 yards passing. In week 3, the Ticats defence held the Bombers to completion percentage of just 57.6% and 186 yards passing.

  

ridersThe identity of the Riders quarterback will remain a mystery until gameday.

Starter Darian Durant suffered a foot injury in the fourth quarter of the Roughriders 39-28 week 3 win in Toronto. Backup pivot Drew Willy took over the offensive reins from Durant and would be in line for his third career start if Durant can’t go.

In 2012, Willy completed 69 of 95 passing attempts for 709 yards and five touchdowns. In the two games that he was called upon to start, Willy has led his team to a 1-1 record, completing 68.4 percent of his passes for 413 yards and two touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Durant has enjoyed an incredible start to the season, boasting a 135.1 rating after completing 54 of 75 passes for 674 yards, eight touchdowns and no interceptions.

 

AUSTIN’S RETURN TO RIDERVILLE

Tiger-Cats head coach Kent Austin is kind of a big deal in Saskatchewan…

KA Riderville

PLAYERS TO WATCH

QB Henry Burris
Burris has picked up where he left off last season, leading the CFL in passing yards for the second consecutive week and has also led the Ticats in rushing in all three contests thus far. Last week, Burris tied Matt Dunigan for fourth on the CFL all-time touchdown passes list, when he threw his 306th major to rookie fullback John Delahunt. The Riders have allowed the most passing yards per game in 2013, and the last time the Ticats travelled to Mosaic Stadium, Burris was 29 of 40 passing for 356 yards and four touchdowns.

WR Bakari Grant
Grant had the best game of his career against Winnipeg last Saturday, leading the team with seven catches for 101 yards. Grant is the third receiver to lead the Black and Gold in receiving yards this season.

WR Justin Hilton
Signed as a free agent on Friday morning due to several injuries in the Ticats receiving corps, Hilton will make his CFL debut with the Black and Gold in Riderville.  Hilton attended training camp with the Ticats in June but was released by the team during final cuts. During the preseason, Hilton had three catches for 23 yards.

DE Eric Norwood
Norwood has only been with the Tiger-Cats since July 2, but he’s made an impact in a short time. After making one defensive tackle in his CFL debut in week 2, he notched a team-high six tackles in last week’s victory over the Blue Bombers.

GAME NOTES

  • In 2012, Chevon Walker compiled 184 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries against the Roughriders.
  • Last week, the Tiger-Cats recorded six quarterback sacks in their victory over Winnipeg.  The last time they had six sacks was October 31, 2009 against Saskatchewan.
  • In last week’s 25-20 win over Winnipeg, three Tiger-Cats receivers set new career highs in receiving yards – Bakari Grant (101), Sam Giguere (94) and Ed Gant (69).
  • This season, Henry Burris is averaging 37.7 rushing yards per game.  Prior to this season, his average per game was 23.0.  Burris leads all CFL quarterbacks with eight rushes for first downs
  • The Tiger-Cats and Roughriders offences are tied for the CFL lead with 9.1 passing yards gained per attempt.
  • The Tiger-Cats are far and away the top kickoff return team in the league with a 32.3 average.  Winnipeg ranks second with a 22.3 average.
  • Sunday’s game will see the CFL’s two leading punters (Ricky Schmitt – 46.9 average / Josh Bartel – 46.4 average) and two leading returners (Li
    ndsey Lamar – 434 combined return yards / Jock Sanders – 404 combined return yards)     go head-to-head.

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