It will be a short column this week, but not because the Saskatchewan Roughriders lost to the Montreal Alouettes 20-16 on July 25.
On away games for the past few years it has been possible for reporters in Saskatchewan to ask questions after away games on Zoom calls. There was no call after the Montreal game. The stadium at McGill, while a great place to watch a game live, is not an easy place for post-game communications.
The Riders lost a game they should have won. Earlier in the season they won games with fourth quarter comebacks. On Thursday night they could not stop the Alouettes once they got rolling behind third string quarterback Davis Alexander.
The Riders are not skilled at managing time during the last minute of the second and fourth quarters.
In Montreal they got the ball at the Montreal 49-yard line with 0:41 to go in the second quarter. They managed to get four plays off in 33 seconds.
I did not understand running Frankie Hickson. It is a low percentage play and ate up time.
They ended up with a procedure penalty when they got anxious over the time.
With eight seconds to go they were at the 14-yard line and elected to go for a field goal. I thought they should have used a timeout. With the clock starting on the snap after a timeout they had time to go to the end zone and kick the field goal if unsuccessful. You do not get many chances to be at the opponent’s 14-yard line.
They would definitely have had time if they had not used a running play and if they were better at lining up and being able to snap the ball within 2-3 seconds of the play being whistled. Current CFL refereeing allows teams who have the play called to be at the line in the last three minutes before the whistle starts the play. Winnipeg is the best. Collaros will have the offence lined up and ready to go before the referee blows his whistle. Not a second is wasted.
Now Mike O’Shea in Winnipeg is not perfect. Not kicking a field goal in the final minute of the game against Toronto was a mistake he acknowledged after the game.
Mace had the better approach against the Argos early in July when he said he calmed himself down and said he would not be a goof as he went for a field goal from the Argo 3 to be up 10.
It was Mitch (Picton) time late in the fourth quarter when Shea Patterson looked to Mitch on 3rd and 10 from the Alouette 30. Unfortunately, his foot was out of bounds and the game was lost. It was a surprising mistake from one of the Riders esteemed for his knowledge of the game and the ability to play multiple positions. It did appear to me to be the same play or at least the same location that Patterson completed his first late second down pass to Mitch against the Argos as the Riders ran out the clock.
I was surprised that Ajou Ajou was targeted but once in the Alouette game. The previous week he had a breakout game with 110 yards on four receptions including a 46-yard play. He showed a good burst after catching the ball.
After the Blue Bomber game he told me likes to go north, a straight line up the field.
On his second long reception the Bombers had blitzed. He knew the middle was open and ran the right route to that area and then charged up field after making the catch.
Watching Tre Ford give the Edmonton Elks a spark of energy in the blowout loss to the Hamilton Tiger Cats brings back bad memories of him running around against the Riders. I listened to Elks Head Coach Jarrious Jackson after the game. He agreed with an Elks radio commentator that he would have a tough decision to make on his starting quarterback for the Rider game this weekend. He continued he will consider the alternative. I cannot figure out how it will be a tough decision. If an 0-8 record with McLeod Bethel-Thompson as starting quarterback is not enough to get Ford the start I do not know what could convince Jackson.
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.
