Derek Mortensen/CFL.ca
While the bright lights of Sunday’s 101st Grey Cup Championship shine directly on the starting quarterbacks, the battle on the ground and in the trenches may hold the key to victory.
Sub-zero temperatures and possible wind gusts of up to 60 km/h set the stage for two exceptional runners, Kory Sheets and C.J. Gable. That means expect both game plans to involve the ground game – music to the ears both for Gable and the Ticats’ offensive line.
“We love to run the ball,” Ticats’ rookie offensive lineman Joel Figueroa said after team walkthroughs on Saturday. “As an offensive line you always want to establish the run first to open up the pass, and we try to do that every week.”
“I’ve never really played in the snow, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be tougher for the guys to catch the ball and I guess throwing the ball for both teams,” he continued. “I would think the game’s won or lost in the trenches.”
| Southern comfort |
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“I can run in anything, it doesn’t really matter,” said CJ Gable, who grew up in sunny California and played us college ball at USC. “The weather’s not going to affect me, when I start playing I warm up anyway so I’m just going to be me.” |
For the Roughriders the game plan won’t likely be any different than it’s been all season. Led by Sheets, they had one of the most efficient rushing attacks in the CFL, finishing with a league-best 423 rushing attempts.
The second-year back finished second in the league with 1,598 rushing yards and likely would have been up for Most Outstanding Player if not for a record-breaking season by Calgary’s Jon Cornish. He’ll of course be on the Ticats’ radar on Sunday.
“He’s unbelievably productive, hard to bring down, very elusive, he’s patient, he’s got great vision – outside of that he’s not very good,” joked Austin when asked about Sheets. “He’s a really good back that we’ve got to get on the ground.”
But stopping Sheets is just half of the Ticats’ battle in the run game. Of equal importance will be getting the rookie Gable his share of opportunities, particularly given that the Ticats had the second-fewest rushing attempts this season with 303 attempts.
“Establish the run early and keep it going,” said Gable. “It’s a big deal, we need to do that. When I get the ball I can run physically out here because there’s no holding back, it’s the last game.”
“On my part I’ve got to run hard every down.”
If the Ticats can do that out of the gate, their offensive line can push its weight around and turn its momentum downhill – in which case there’s no telling what Gable can accomplish.
Despite getting fewer than half the carries Sheets did this season, the 26-year-old finished fourth in the league in rushing yards with 782 yards, giving him an average of 6 yards per carry – ahead of Sheets’ average of 5.6.
Yet all season he’s drawn praise mostly for his ability in pass protection.
“C.J.’s an unbelievable young man, he’s completely unselfish,” said Austin. “He does everything we have to ask him to do – if he had to block 60 times a game, he would do that.”
“But we also need him to be a really good runner and to be able to catch the ball coming out of the backfield,” he continued. “We use our back as a receiver in our offence so we need a guy that can do all three.”
Gable added that he’s willing to do whatever the team needs in order to win, but hinted he’d also love to be game’s big hero. Last season Argos’ running back Chad Kackert stole the thunder from the likes of Jon Cornish and Ricky Ray to earn Grey Cup MVP honours – an idea Gable admits has crossed his mind.
“I’m thinking about that, I want to win it,” Gable said, slightly breaking his usual character. “But if I don’t, at least hopefully we’ll win the Grey Cup. But I have been thinking about it.”
As for the battle with Sheets, that seemed to be one the offensive line is taking more personally than anyone else.
“Definitely,” Figueroa said when asked whether the running back duel matters. “We’ll do whatever it takes for C.J. to thrive in this offence, a lot of stuff we do is around his abilities and his talents because he’s such a versatile back – he can block, he can run, he can catch.”
“In my opinion I wouldn’t have any other back in the league,” he continued. “It’s exactly what we need, he fits this offence and he does exactly what the coaches expect of him and more.”
Gable on weather: “I just run, I don’t really care”
The weather conditions have been a major talking point leading up to Sunday’s game, but C.J. Gable said he’s not worried.
“I can run in anything, it doesn’t really matter,” said Gable, who grew up in sunny California and played us college ball at USC. “The weather’s not going to affect me, when I start playing I warm up anyway so I’m just going to be me.”
If anything, he’s ready to be more physical.
“I can run physically if I want to, but sometimes I choose not to because sometimes I don’t need to,” he continued. “But if I need to I will do it, and if this game requires me to run physically then I will do it.”
Earlier in the season Roughriders’ running back Kory Sheets said some defensive players don’t like playing in the cold because the hits hurt more, but Gable doesn’t prescribe to that theory.
Instead he believes it’ll be a physical game all around.
“I don’t feel anything, I don’t know,” Gable said. “I just run, I don’t really care.”
“If that’s how defenders feel when they play in the cold then they shouldn’t be playing defence.”
