Preview: Riders, Lions focused on ‘finishing’ in BC

CFL.ca Staff
#FNF

VANCOUVER — It’s far too early for must-win games in the CFL, but if there’s ever one in Week 3 Friday night’s matchup between the BC Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders might come close.

Two teams vying for their first win of the season meet at BC Place on Friday Night Football, as the Riders look to bounce back from a pair of season-opening heartbreakers while the Lions play their first game at home in 2015.

In a game that hardly looks like a meeting of two winless teams, the Lions are looking to take a step forward on an offence featuring new head coach Jeff Tedford and the long-awaited return to action of both Travis Lulay and Andrew Harris, both of whom started and finished last week’s 27-16 loss in the Nation’s Capital.

Yet the onus in this game will be on the defensive side of the ball, where the Lions face a Roughriders team off to an historical start offensively.

“We have to make sure we bring everything we’ve got defensively, because offensively they’re really clicking at a high level,” Lions defensive coordinator Mark Washington told BCLions.com.

The Roughriders may have lost their first two games to open the season, but only by a combined total of six points. Offensively, meanwhile, they’re without a doubt the class of the league, despite missing starting quarterback Darian Durant, sidelined for the season with an Achilles injury.

Through two games the Riders rank number one in both passing and rushing yards and have started the season with 1,076 net yards, the highest number of yards any team has started a season with throughout two games in CFL history.

“Their offence is really playing efficiently,” Washington said of the Riders, led by Kevin Glenn’s 477 passing yards on 33-of-40 passing in a 42-40 overtime loss to the Argos last Sunday. “Kevin had a great day against Toronto. He was in the zone. He was really figuring out what they were doing and able to attack their defence and hopefully he won’t have that kind of day against us.”

The Lions’ defence was just average against Ottawa, which handed the Lions a 27-16 loss in their season-opener last weekend. BC led the REDBLACKS throughout a good part of the game but was shutout 14-0 in the fourth quarter. A pair of touchdowns from Greg Ellingson and former Lion Ernest Jackson made all the difference, as BC did everything well but finish.

That’s the emphasis the Lions are going into this weekend’s game with on both sides of the ball.

“We need to be opportunistic,” said Lulay, who threw for 254 yards and a touchdown but completed only 18 of 32 passes and threw one interception. “When we get good opportunities we need to find ways to take advantage of them.”

The Lions accumulated 204 first-half yards but managed only seven points off a pair of field goals and a single, leaving points off the board and allowing the REDBLACKS to keep the game close and even take a late halftime lead.

Lulay played his first game from start to finish since 2013, something the Lions can obviously take as a positive. But after scoring a touchdown in the third quarter, the first of Austin Collie’s CFL career, the Lions made only two first downs and 19 net yards along with a pair of two-and-outs on their final four possessions.

In the second half they were held to only 13 rushing yards on four carries.

“We took a lead into that fourth quarter last game and when you’re in a position to win the football game, you’ve got to find a way to do it,” lamented Lulay. “You learn that every single win is earned and nothing comes easy, so you’ve got to go get it.”

“It’s not going to come to you, you have to go out and earn it and you have to execute well late in ball games to win tight games.”

The Lions aren’t the only ones having trouble finishing, as that’s been the key to the Riders’ opening two losses this season. Their double-overtime loss to Toronto was full of ups and downs and included many opportunities to put the game away. Perhaps the sticking point comes from the fourth quarter when, up by two scores and in perfect position to put the game away, Glenn was picked off by A.J. Jefferson who turned in a 100-yard pick-six.

For fourth-year head coach Corey Chamblin and veteran quarterback Glenn, there’s a certain balance the team is striking between panic and satisfaction.

“I want to continue building on what we did well last week and that’s what I told the team – we want to continue to do the right things and pretty soon we’ll get those wins,” Chamblin told Riderville.com. “I’ve been in meetings and the same thing the coaches are complaining about, we’ve complained about during wins.”

“They’re doing the right things; we just have to continue to work on finishing.”

Yet while the Riders can take solace in the many things they’ve done well, there’s still a bitter taste if dissatisfaction, something Glenn said is important has his team hits the road hoping to avoid an 0-3 hole to start the season.

“After the performance that we had, especially offensively just to know we were a couple of plays away from the win and then the tie, it can have a different turnout,” said Glenn. “The mood in the locker room is that we’re not satisfied, and that’s a good thing.”

“Even though we were successful in certain aspects of the game, we’re not satisfied.”

Despite the Riders’ winless start, Glenn is off to a terrific start with his fourth different club in the last five years (not including Ottawa). His 477-yard performance vs. Toronto was the eighth 400-plus yard game of his career and the second highest output he’s had.

While the Green and White continue to look unstoppable on offence, however, the defence is where the biggest improvements must be made. The Riders currently own the league’s fourth-worst defence overall in 2015. On Friday night this unit will see a familiar opponent, as former offensive coordinator George Cortez is now in on the Lions’ offence in BC.

Game Notes:

– Austin Collie was targeted eight times in his first CFL games and of his five receptions, three were for second-down conversions.

– Ottawa controlled the ball for 34:24 vs BC last week and ran the ball 31 times picking up 26 first downs. The Lions were forced to start on average from their own 31-yard line and did not start a drive in Ottawa’s end. BC averaged only 5.5 yards on 30 first down plays.

– Emmanuel Arceneaux started last week’s game with a 50-yard connection with Lulay and went to record his 12th career 100-yard game. He was targeted 12 times, tops on the Lions and second in the league in Week 2. Arceneaux needs 126 yards to reach 4,000 for his career.

– Andrew Harris returned to action after missing the final six games of 2014 due to an ankle injury. He led all BC players with 16 touches and rushed for 48 yards on 13 carries (3.7 yards per attempt).

– The Riders have been so successful of late that they have started a season at 0-2 only two times in the last 11 years (2011 was the other). In 2011, they were unable to rally and finished the year at 5-13.

– It has been a very rare occurrence that Saskatchewan started a season with two losses and both were at home. It has happened only four times in their entire 80-year history (1936-2015), previously in 1953 (8-7-1), 1995 (6-12), and most recently in 2011 (5-13).

– Saskatchewan ranks first in both rushing and passing and is averaging 538 yards per game despite a different starting QB in each game and losing Darian Durant to injury. The Riders are averaging 23 rush attempts per game behind Messam and Allen and have a 78 per cent pass completion rate.

– Paul McCallum, the CFL’s second-highest scorer in history was signed by Saskatchewan last week after being released by BC. He made all four FG attempts in Week 2 and scored 13 points including the first 32-yard convert of his career. That extended his consecutive made convert streak to 793 (he has never missed one). As a BC Lions from 2007 to 2015, he made 333 of 384 FG attempts for a remarkable 87 per cent average.

– Jamel Richardson has been targeted by Rider QBs 17 times already with 10 catches for 82 yars. Of those 10 receptions, 6 have
gone for key 2nd down conversions, tops in the CFL.

– The Riders’ O-Line has allowed only one sack in 77 pass plays through two games to rank first in the CFL. The Riders also rank number one in the CFL in fewest two-and-outs with only five in the first 24 possessions of the season.