After last week’s Saskatchewan Roughriders win over the B.C. Lions I went to see if I could talk to any Lions.
I was late to figuring out where the post-game was being held at the Aug. 20 game and quarterback Vernon Adams was finishing up when I arrived. I made a tactical mistake by starting with a question about his interception and his fumble. His face tightened and he said he would have to watch the film. I followed up with a question on the impact of the four Lion turnovers on the game. He said tersely he would have to watch the film. There seemed no point in any more questions. I do not think he would have had to watch the film if I had asked him about his 455 yards passing in the game.
With less than two minutes to go in the game the Riders were trying to run out the clock. On 2nd and 13 from their 39 I could see the play clock winding down from 20 seconds and the Riders not ready to snap the ball. While it would have been frustrating to have to use his timeout I was surprised Riders head coach Craig Dickenson call the timeout. The Riders incurred a time count penalty and had to kick the ball away.
After the game I asked what had happened. Dickenson said it is on him. He said there had been an injury and a different player on the field. The formation was confusing and the offence was not lined up properly. He said he lost track of the play clock as he was trying to get a guy on the line to avoid an illegal formation penalty.
Dickenson added that the play was a teachable moment for quarterback, Jake Dolegala, as he has to be aware of the play clock especially in the last three minutes of the second and fourth quarters when a violation on second down is a loss of down.
Dickenson has a candour not often forthcoming from head coaches.
He said Dolegala played well and then added that the quarterback was a little nervous late in the game.
While saying Vernon Adams was throwing bullets, the best he has seen him, he tucked in that the defence was tired late in the game. He continued that he had used his first timeout before the 3:00 mark of the fourth quarter as he was trying to slow down Adams who was swiftly moving the Lions.
I agree with Dickenson that the contest felt like a really big game with the Riders playing physical football. He said to remain relevant in the West they wanted to win the game.
With B.C. losing again this past weekend the West has become much more interesting. Two weeks ago I thought the Riders had no more than a faint chance of beating the Lions and I was wrong. Going into Labour Day the odds are still against them but the CFL is proving unpredictable in 2023. I am most interested to see if the offensive line, which has been getting a little better each week, can handle the Bomber defensive front seven.
The Riders are exactly where they were last year at 5-5 in late August. In 2022 they beat B.C. to go 6-5 and then lost the remaining seven games of the season. Football teams are never static. They are either getting better or worse. I feel the 2023 Riders are improving but I will not predict the Labour Day Classic.
Bill Selnes, who’s based in Melfort, has written about the Saskatchewan Roughriders since the late 1970s. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, Football Reporters of Canada wing on Nov. 24, 2013.
