Cauz: Looking back on a world of change for Elks, Riders

Matthew Cauz

CFL.ca

@mcauz56

There are so many ways of looking at the Edmonton Elks’ home opener against the Saskatchewan Roughriders to end the first week of the 2023 CFL Season.

The obvious/intriguing quarterback angles such as Trevor Harris attempting to do what Cody Fajardo couldn’t get done and get Saskatchewan to the Grey Cup rather than on the other side of the playoff picture. Will 2023 be the year Taylor Cornelius takes the “big jump,” in his third year in the league?

You have the “new faces” conversation, such as determining the impact of high-end receivers like Jake Wieneke in Regina and the crown jewel of free agents, 2022 Eastern Division Most Outstanding Player Eugene Lewis in Edmonton.

You can go the doom and gloom route and wonder about the future in Saskatchewan for both the general manager and head coach as both Jeremy O’Day and Craig Dickenson are now in their respective final year of their contracts. If that’s too heavy you can just re-watch this funny video of Chris Jones responding to mean(ish) Tweets that I saw on Kristina Costabile’s Twitter account.

This is the greatest video on the internet. Everyone else can pack it up now 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/dokkGs6zck

— Kristina Costabile (@kcostabile1) June 7, 2023

Instead let’s examine one of the easier storylines from a different angle. Edmonton is looking to kickoff the season in style by ridding themselves of the inglorious record of the longest home losing streak in CFL history, currently at 17 games.

The obvious knee jerk reaction to this record could be derision for the organization or empathy for the fanbase but I look at this streak and it reminds me about just how much has changed since Edmonton’s last home victory and how quickly things can turn.

Yes, the past couple of seasons have been dark for Edmonton but in a blink of an eye everything can change. To all the cynics out there who are skeptical of my optimism (deserved) lets go back to the last time fans at Commonwealth Stadium streamed out to Stadium Road feeling good about the game they just watched.

On Oct. 12, 2019, the Elks defeated the BC Lions 19-6 and clinched a playoff spot; yes that’s right, they were in the playoffs. Edmonton’s starting quarterback that day was Logan Kilgore. He would attempt just 22 more passes for his CFL career. The team’s starting quarterback for the 2019 season, Trevor Harris, was injured at the time. Now he’s with Saskatchewan looking to beat his former employer.

Speaking of Saskatchewan, they had played a day earlier, narrowly losing 30-28 to the Calgary Stampeders on Oct. 11. On the field that day at quarterback were Bo Levi Mitchell and Fajardo. Now Mitchell is in Hamilton and Fajardo is in Montreal. I think it’s safe to say that Week 18 of the 2019 season feels like a lifetime ago.

This is not me dunking on Edmonton. Winning is hard and losing a quarterback as talented as Michael Reilly after 2018 will doom any franchise no matter how much collective brain power you have in the front office or how ingenious your coaching staff is. I simply bring this up as another reminder about how different this league looks if you give it four years of winning, losing, injuries and free agency.

The 2019 season saw Saskatchewan finish first in the West Division. Trevor Harris had a near perfect crossover playoff win for the Elks against the Montreal Alouettes, completing 36 passes on 39 attempts for 421 yards, setting the CFL single-game playoff record by completing a ridiculous 92.3 per cent of his passes. Those positive moments were short lived. Things got worse for both franchises as the Roughriders couldn’t get past the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the playoffs in 2019 or 2021 and then were shutout of the postseason this past year for the first time since 2016.

Trevor Harris threw for over 5,000 yards through 19 games in his time in Edmonton (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)

As for Edmonton, that win over Montreal represented the last great moment for the franchise. They would lose by 20 points the following week to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Eastern Final and since then have just seven wins against 25 losses in the last two seasons as the team has gone through growing pains while developing Taylor Cornelius.

This is all leads back to their season opener on Sunday. For Saskatchewan, they are hoping the former Edmonton star can be the answer and for Edmonton, they’re banking on all of the help at receiver they added will be the final piece for Cornelius. Bigger picture what makes this game so exciting for both fan bases is the 2023 kickoff could be the start of something special. The fact is that all teams (Stampeders excluded) go through the natural sports cycle of winning and losing.

The history of this league shows us that every year you need to be ready for the unexpected, that’s just the nature of the game. Edmonton won four games in 2013 then hoisted the Grey Cup two years later. Saskatchewan finished the 2011 campaign with five wins. Two years later they crushed the Tiger-Cats 45-23 for the last Grey Cup they’ve captured. That’s how swiftly the balance of power can and will change in this league.

So yes, when I look back to the last home win for Edmonton it feels like a different time, because it was. Back then the two teams who are about to face off on Sunday night were winning divisions and playoff games and soon after they descended to near the bottom of the West.

However, both teams look quite different from even last year and judging by the ebbs and flows of this game I feel confident that at least one of these teams will qualify for the postseason. And yes, Edmonton will start winning again at home. That record ends soon.

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