Isaac Owusu
Ticats.ca
Two days ahead of their first ever meeting with the expansion Ottawa REDBLACKS, the Tiger-Cats officially named their starting quarterback.
Head coach Kent Austin named Dan LeFevour the starter for Saturday’s home opener at Ron Joyce Stadium.
“I trust his decision making based on the last two games. I just feel like we need to give him an opportunity and see if he can command the offence from the beginning,” Austin said following practice on Thursday.
This is LeFevour’s first start of his three-year CFL career.
He has appeared in all three games this season as the team’s backup quarterback and received extra work in last week’s game against the Calgary Stampeders, filling in for Jeremiah Masoli, finishing with nine of 11 passes completed for 76 yards with an additional 15 yards rushing.
“He’s highly competitive he’s a very strong preparation guy. He’s very determined,” Austin said of his new starter.
“He’s been very successful, he’s been very productive in his past. A guy that wants to do everything the right way, and very unselfish. He’s very endearing to his teammates and he’ll play hard,” he added.
The six-foot-three 230-pound quarterback played his college football at Central Michigan where he stood out on a national scale.
He set the record for touchdowns with 150 (102 passing, 47 rushing and one receiving) and is the only player in NCAA history to amass 12,000 yards passing and 2,500 rushing.
Now that he has earned the reigns as the starter, LeFevour appreciates the benefits that come in the practices leading to the game.
“It’s good to get a full week of reps to get prepared. It’s one thing to watch film, but it’s another to execute on the field. I’ve always paid the same, but its really nice to get the field work as I have this week,” he said.
Going up against a tough REDBLACKS defence that picked off Toronto Argonauts quarterback Ricky Ray twice and sacked him three times in their last game, LeFevour knows his work is cut out for him, but his nerves are in control.
“I feel good right now. I’ve had three solid days of practice and have improved every day,” he said.
“I’m more comfortable with our game plan this week. It will be nice to get some rest tonight, get to sleep in a little bit and have a good walk through with the guys tomorrow and just being prepared and ready to play a game knowing when I’m going in, which is nice,” he added.
The REDBLACKS also boast the league’s second stingiest defence against the run with only 287 yards allowed on the ground. LeFevour understands the importance of establishing the ground game on Saturday.
“I think it’s important in any league, high school, college football in the states, CIS, whatever. You have to establish the run game otherwise you are going to be one-dimensional.
So it’s important to be multifaceted and be able to do different things, so they can’t just give you the same look every time you line up, and they will respect different parts of your game.”
