REGINA — Saskatchewan Roughriders' linebacker Nick Wiebe is quickly developing a reputation in the Canadian Football League for his ability to make life miserable for opposing punt and kick returners.
And that was no more evident than on Friday night when the former University of Saskatchewan standout came up with one of the biggest plays of the game when his team needed it the most.
With the Riders trailing 10-7 and having just scored a touchdown as they tried to regain momentum from an awful start against Ottawa, Redblacks' returner Kalil Pimpleton took the ensuing kickoff and appeared to be on the verge of giving his team excellent field position to start their next drive.
But Wiebe had other ideas.
One of the last players on the line of defence, Wiebe put together just good enough of an angle of pursuit that he could make a diving attempt to strip the ball from Pimpleton along the sideline. He did just that, and then immediately recovered and dove on the loose ball to force the turnover.
WIEBE FORCES THE FUMBLE 😤
Saskatchewan comes away with the recovery!
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Saskatchewan would go on to kick a field goal on the ensuing drive, tying the game 10-10 and making a tough first quarter a thing of memory.
Now, it might seem like a play like that just happens organically, that the special teams guys are all just trying to get to the ball carrier any way they can minus any regard for substance, but to hear Wiebe describe how things went down tells a different story.
“I was actually the scraper on the play, so we sent our guy, the usual scraper hot, so that means I got to be behind everybody else,” Wiebe began in his post-game conversation with Luc Mullinder of the Rider Broadcast Network. “It felt like there was 25 yards to the boundary on us, so I had to come crash down on it, and Aubrey [MIller] did a great job of spilling it right to me. So one of 12 effort, honestly. They cut the field off, it was a middle-field return all the way, and our field guys won right, and all the guys in the interior won, so it left that to me to make a play, and I was fortunate enough to do so.”
The Riders came into the game more than aware of the danger Ottawa special teams coach Jeff Reinbold can create with Pimpleton and crew, to the point Mullinder made dealing with that situation one of his three keys to the bame in the RBN pre-game show.
In the end, the Riders were able to win in a couple facets of that part of the game, first with Wiebe’s strip and scoop and then later in the game when Mathew Sexton had his punt return touchdown. But it was the first special teams victory of the night that helped set things in motion for Saskatchewan’s win.
“We knew we had to be ready for anything with coach Reinbold. He has a long history of throwing some crazy looks at you, and stuff you've never seen before,” Wiebe said. “So we knew we had to be on point on the punt team, and generally, all the special teams had to be on point, especially with Pimpleton back there. He got one on us last year, they got called back on a holding, so we knew what we were in for and we were fortunate enough to contain him. It was a group effort.”
Being a crucial part of that success is part of Wiebe’s rapid progression into a special teams leader, something that really came into fruition last season when he led Saskatchewan with 20 special teams tackles. Taking on that role is a source of pride for the third-year veteran.
“I love those guys in that room. It's not hard to lead those guys,” Wiebe said. “You can talk to any of the captains on the team, this is an easy group to lead. Everyone wants to be great, everyone's like-minded, so I do my job and then show up every day, hopefully with a smile on my face, and we go from there.”
The Roughriders will now turn their attention to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who travel to Regina on Sunday for their Week 6 match-up. Game time is 5 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium.
