Derek Mortensen/CFL.ca
The week in Saskatchewan has lived up to the hype. Riderville was packed Friday night, the opening ceremonies were jammed and Regina braved the cold for the Grey Cup parade.
Now, it’s time to play.
Sunday will have 84 men all trying to achieve a dream.
The Riders are the favourite and everyone knows it, including the Tiger-Cats.
Hamilton can’t look out their hotel windows without seeing Rider Nation ready to explode with a championship party.
There starts the motivation for the visiting team. They are the underdog, nobody is giving them a chance, they’re expected to be beaten and some believe easily.
The Riders motivation will surround history and legacy and going down as the most celebrated team in Saskatchewan.
All that talk however will go out the window once the ball is on the tee. It’ll be individual battles that take over.
| 101st Grey Cup Centre |
|---|
The 101st Grey Cup Championship is all set as the hometown Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday night at Mosaic Stadium…Click here for more.
|
For the Tiger-Cats to win, they need to control the play like they did last week in the second half. Darian Durant has shown in the 2013 Grey Cup Playoffs that when the ball is in his hand when it matters that you shouldn’t bet against him.
That’s where C.J. Gable can be a major factor. The Tiger-Cats can look back to the Western Semi-Final and try to do what the Lions did to the Riders early in the game as they controlled the play with the run game.
Doing so may even lead to Henry Burris not having the ball as often as he’d want in the Grey Cup. Dan Lefevour can test the edge of the line with play-action and if that leads to success Burris may be able to take advantage of defense that tries to play too aggressive at the line and can open up
Andy Fantuz, Bakari Grant and others behind coverage.
The offensive line is also going have a major challenge in front of them. The Riders rotation doesn’t have a weakness. They have an all-star defensive end, a two-time Grey Cup Champion tackle, a double dose of Grey Cup Top Canadians, and a 2009 Defensive Player of the Year.
To establish a run threat and be multi-dimensional, Burris and Lefevour need time to run the game plan. Not easy against arguably the deepest and most talented defensive line in the league.
The Riders key for a historic day in Saskatchewan surrounds their run game as well. Looking back at the West Final it was their front five who controlled the Stampeders. Brendon LaBatte, Dominic Picard and Ben Heenan in the interior were so good it allowed more focus on the defensive ends to keep Darian Durant on his feet.
Kory Sheets wants to prove he is the best back in the league and this is the stage to do it. While Jon Cornish is the Most Outstanding Player and Canadian, Sheets can become a champion and be an integral role in that feat.
Offensive Coordinator George Cortez established the best run/pass balance in the CFL early this season and it’s created a threat and allowed the quarterback to have a little pressure taken off.
And that’s where we find the biggest storyline: Darian Durant.
When you discuss the history and legacy that can be earned on Sunday, there isn’t a player that can establish that more than the Riders quarterback.
Durant has only talked about history and legacy. He knows only three quarterbacks have ever won a title, he knows that he’s had detractors who didn’t believe he could ever lead a team to a Grey Cup title and he knows if he is able to win he’ll turn into an icon of this organization.
The 1966, 1989, 2007 Roughrider alums have walked around Regina like rock stars this week and Kerry Joseph, who was only in Saskatchewan for two years has been the most photographed man at every even, because he was the quarterback who won the team the cup.
Durant wants to leave a legacy in Saskatchewan. He wants to be a player that every professional athlete dreams about being. Early in his career he was known as ‘Bounce Back’, a moniker given because of his propensity to bounce back after a bad game or a bad few quarters.
A win on Sunday, and ‘The Franchise’ would be a much more fitting label.
