REGINA — During every Rider Broadcast Network pregame show, former Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive lineman and current live game analyst Luc Mullinder offers his Three Keys to the Game. In a recurring segment this season, we’ll take a look at how the Riders met or missed when it came to those metrics and how big of an effect they had on the outcome.
When it comes to how things went in Week 6 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, well, it’s safe to say pretty darn well. The Riders effectively met all three of Luc’s metrics and that led to their most commanding win of the season, a 38-7 victory that improves their record to 4-1 on the campaign.
1 – Need to get fluids in. This started far earlier than Sunday’s game, and it shouldn’t be a surprise — blazing hot weather has been in the cards for this contest since the beginning of the week, so players should have been getting ready for it for days now. Who prepared through heavy hydration? We’ll see.
How did the Riders do? — From what we can tell, pretty much perfect.
With temperatures pushing a ridiculous 50 C on the field at gametime, there was a sense that we’d see all sorts of delays for cramping and other heat-related issues. What we got is two professional football teams who acted like professionals both in the lead-up to the game and during. Both clubs obviously made sure their guys were ready for the blast furnace and as a result there were few if any instances of players going down because of the temperature.
So that’s a win for both clubs!
2 – Get Jake Dolegala off his spot. As Riders fans know, Hamilton quarterback Jake Dolegala is a big guy — 6-foot-7, 242 pounds — so he can see the field. Get him moving out of the pocket, though, and Luc thinks there’s plenty of room for forced throws and mistakes.
How did the Riders do? – Good enough to get the job done, for sure.
While Saskatchewan didn’t make life completely miserable for Dolegala, there were few times he was comfortable for long in the pocket, and that led to plenty of rushed throws that were well out of range of Hamilton’s incredible corps of receivers.
All told, the Riders would get to Dolegala three times, with James Vaughters picking up a pair of sacks and Caleb Sanders grabbing another. The Hamilton pivot ended up 17-for-30 passing for a mere 122 yards before giving way to Tre Ford late in the game, and had to scramble more than a few times to avoid danger.
Any time you can get enough pressure to make the opposing quarterback uncomfortable, you’re probably going to be in good shape, and Saskatchewan did what they needed to get things done.
3 – Target the strong-side linebackers. Turn the veteran front and A.J, Ouellette to work against the strong-side of the field and a Hamilton linebacking corps that doesn’t have much by way of overall experience.
How did the Riders do? — Ouellette got his yards and that side of the field was plenty busy, so it’s safe to say pretty well.
Without going over every play the Riders had on the ground it’s hard to say precisely how things went in that regard, but the numbers give you an idea of what was happening. All three of Hamilton’s top tacklers — linebackers Wynton McManis and Reggie Stubblefield and defensive back Kaleb Hayes — came from the strong side of the field, meaning the ball was going that way more often than not.
And Saskatchewan was plenty effective moving the ball in that direction, as Ouellette finished with 18 carries for 83 yards and quarterback Tommy Stevens with eight carries for 54 yards. Any time you can crack over 100 yards on the ground, you’ve done something right, and that was the case on Sunday.
You gotta attack your opponent’s weaknesses in this game, the Riders did just that, and it paid off with a big win.
Saskatchewan now heads into their bye week before hosting the Edmonton Elks in a first-place showdown on Thursday, July 23 at Mosaic Stadium.
