Ticats.ca Staff
On Saturday night, the Tiger-Cats (4-7) will travel to Investors Group Field to visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for their final West Division road trip of the season.
The Tiger-Cats look to extend their two-game win streak after coming off a 25-23 come from behind victory over the Edmonton Eskimos in week 13. On the other hand, the Blue Bombers look to get back on track after losing five of their last six games heading into their bye week.
TIGER-CATS HISTORY vs. WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS
The Tiger-Cats have won four of the last five vs. the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and hold a two-game win streak at Investors Group Field. Here is a look at the matchup history between the two teams:
| WINS | LOSSES | TIES | PTS FOR | PTS AGAINST | |
| ALL-TIME | 30 | 51 | 1 | 1,956 | 2,260 |
| LAST 10 (TOTAL) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 271 | 233 |
| LAST 10 (at WPG) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 299 | 296 |
| 2014 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 27 |
HEAD-2-HEAD:
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TIGER-CATS DEFENCE |
DREW WILLY |
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The Tiger-Cats defence has been coming into their own in the month of September. Over the last four weeks, the Tiger-Cats defence has been ranked one of the best units in the CFL. In three of the last four weeks, the Ticats defence has held their opponents to under 250 passing yards and less than 50 rushing yards. The Tiger-Cats currently lead the CFL in rushing yards allowed (938), average rushing yards per game (85.3) and average yards allowed per rush (4.8) while ranking second in interceptions with 11 – only two interceptions between co-CFL leaders Edmonton and Saskatchewan (13). |
After a week a speculation, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers finally announced on Friday that quarterback Drew Willy will be return to duty. Willy suffered an injury to his throwing shoulder in the second quarter of the Bombers 25-9 loss to the B.C. Lions in week 12. The third-year quarterback currently leads the CFL with five 300-yard passing games and ranks second in passing, completing 238-of-363 passing attempts of 2,977 yards and 12 touchdowns. When the Bombers and Ticats met earlier this season, Drew Willy threw for 361 yards but only found the end zone once – the Bombers go-ahead touchdown in the final seconds of the game. |
TICATS TV GAME PREVIEW:
PLAYERS TO WATCH
QB Zach Collaros: Collaros has been on fire since returning to the Ticats lineup for the Labour Day Classic versus the Toronto Argonauts. In four games, Collaros has completed 111-of-152 passing attempts (73%) for 1,260 yards and six touchdowns – the best of all CFL quarterbacks during that time span. He has also put together three 300+ yard passing performances in the month of September.
RB Mossis Madu: Rookie running back Mossis Madu will re-claim the starting role after the team placed C.J. Gable on the six-game injury list this week. Madu, who missed the Ticats 25-23 victory over the Edmonton Eskimos last week, has put together 424 combined yards in four starts.
DE Justin Hickman: After a three-year stint with the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, former CFL All-Star Justin Hickman will make his return to the Ticats lineup on Saturday night vs. Winnipeg. Hickman, who led the CFL in quarterback sacks with 13 in 2011, previously recorded 144 defensive tackles from 2009-11.
GAME NOTES
- The Tiger-Cats offence had continued to control the game clock on a weekly basis. In the last four games, the Ticats have had possession for at least 31:00 minutes – 31:10 vs. CGY, 37:54 vs. TOR, 33:49 vs. MTL, 32:13 vs. SSK & 31:54 vs. EDM. 0
- Last week vs. Edmonton, defensive end Eric Norwood recorded seven defensive tackles and four quarterback sacks. Norwood’s four quarterback sacks tied him for second in Ticats history for sacks in a single game with Joe Montford and marked the first time a Ticats player had recorded 3+ sacks in a game since Jermaine Reid on November 6, 2010 vs. B.C.
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Hamilton is now at 3-1 in September and this is their best record in that month since 2001 when they ended up at 3-1. A win this week would make it a 4-1 .800 September – their best mark since 1985 (4-1).
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The Tiger-Cats are #1 against the run through 13 weeks – the last time they finished with the best run defence was way back in 2000 and before that in 1987.
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In Andy Fantuz’s last 4 games he has a CFL-high 27 catches for 288 yards including 6 receptions for 2nd down conversions. His two highest yardage totals have come in the last two games including 108 on Sep 14/14 (his 14th career 100+ game).
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Heading into Week #14 Hamilton had had 81 different players on their roster in 2014, by far the highest in the CFL and getting near the CFL record 88 they had in 2013.
