Isaac Owusu
Ticats.ca
When provided with a list of potential candidates, Kent Austin was able to state which of the B.C Lions’ playmakers present the biggest challenge for his team.
“All of the above.”
The Tiger-Cats head coach spoke following practice on Monday about his team’s upcoming match-up when they head west to Vancouver for Friday night’s game.
Austin, renowned for his offensive mind, has taken note of the way his opponents move the ball.
“Offensively, they have been playing a lot better. They are getting the ball into the hands of the guys that can make the plays,” he said.
“We have to travel out west, and it’s tough going out there on a long trip but it’s a football game on a regulation size field, so we need to be ready,” he added.
The Lions currently sit at 3-3, led by the league’s top rusher, Andrew Harris, who has been a dual threat, with 381 and 341 yards rushing and receiving respectively.
Receivers Courtney Taylor, Emmanuel Arceneaux, and Ernest Jackson have been solid targets in the passing game as well, with a respective 305, 288 and 248 yards.
Quarterback Kevin Glenn, who spent three seasons in the Hamilton from 2009-2011, has been the Lions’ starter through their first six games this season and will get the call again on Friday. He has thrown for 1,390 yards along with seven touchdowns and nine interceptions in 2014.
On the other side of the ball, the Lions’ rank second in the league for total defence, averaging 303 yards per game. Austin expects them to present a great test for the Ticat offence.
“I think their interior two (Mitchell and Eric Taylor) inside are really good, we have to control them. I think their linebacking corps is excellent. They run, make plays around the ball, they tackle well in space, and they typically get you down if they if they get you locked up. They got a veteran secondary especially in the boundary, with a good boundary corner,” he said.
Their defensive unit carries the top league’s two leaders in tackles, linebackers Adam Bighill with 28, and Solomon Elimimian with 49, along with halfback Ryan Phillips who is currently tied for the league lead for interceptions with two.
Austin stated that he’s made it a priority to correct the issue of penalties, 19 of which hurt the team in their 27-26 loss against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers last week.
“We have addressed it,” he said.
“We’ve addressed it after the game, we addressed since the game, we have addressed it with staff members. We have to become a more disciplined football team. We were pretty good in the league last year and we will be by the end of the year, this year,” he added.
