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.
This time around against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats? Hoo boy. It was a miss on all three factors, and those misses proved painful in the TiCats 26-19 win that dropped Saskatchewan to 6-3 on the season.
1 – Need patience on offence. Cannot press against this defence, they have massive cornerbacks who don’t give up big plays. The big plays have to come organically and a balanced offence is a challenge for the TiCats to deal with.
How did the Riders do? Not only did Saskatchewan not press, they didn’t really get going outside of a few moments in the game.
Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris isn’t one to regularly air it out in the first place, preferring a calm, controlled path down the field and taking what his receivers and the defence gives him. And from all indications, Hamilton was ready for it this time around.
The Riders offence struggled to get going — outside of their lone touchdown drive to close out the second quarter — in no small part due to the TiCats covering up anything short to medium range all night. Throw in a few route mistakes and an effective Hamilton run defence, and all the patience in the world wasn’t going to save Saskatchewan this time.
2 – Have to win first down defensively. They know Saskatchewan is good defending the run, have to watch the quick plays, the screens, the draws, keep an eye on getting out to the sides of the field.
How did the Riders do? Not too shabby, until Tre Ford got into the game.
The Saskatchewan defence was full marks in the first half, holding Hamilton to only 127 yards and eight first downs.
But when Tre Ford took over at pivot for the TiCats midway through the third quarter, everything changed and Hamilton was suddenly able to move the ball at will. They’d finish with 13 first downs in the second half, including one drive where Ford used a combination of scrambles and medium range passes before finding Keric Wheatfall for his highlight-reel, eventual game-winning touchdown.
In the end, Hamilton won the first down battle 21-17, and that was just one part of many that didn’t go the Riders way on Saturday.
3 – Overcome them in the fourth quarter. Hamilton has struggled all season in the fourth quarter, including when they first faced the Riders. So finish physically and when you’re in the deep water, you have to drown them.
How did the Riders do? Nope.
When the two teams previously met back in Week 6, the Riders went off for 20 points in the final 15 minutes, capping a 27-0 run through the second half.
The shoe was most decidedly on the other foot this time around.
While Ford was doing his thing and scoring 16 fourth-quarter points to secure the victory, Saskatchewan couldn’t get anything going at all, with the TiCats defence pitching a shutout against Harris and crew in crunch time.
In the end, a couple of Alex Hale field goals were all the Riders could muster in the second half, and Hamilton ended up outscoring Saskatchewan 16-6 in the process.
The Roughriders will look to get back on track next Sunday when they they travel to face the B.C. Lions. Kickoff is 5 p.m. from B.C. Place.
