Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Tre Ford has given the Saskatchewan Roughriders fits all throughout his CFL career, and that was once again the case on Saturday night.
Ford threw for 151 yards and ran for another 38 to lead Hamilton to 16 unanswered fourth-quarter points and a 26-19 victory over the Green and White.
Saskatchewan knew there was a chance they were going to see Ford at some point in the game, and a plan was in place to deal with the different feel he brings to the game. In the end the answer just wasn’t there.
“I think you'll see some of the calls were a little bit more aggressive defensively in those situations,” Riders coach Corey Mace said. “We do our homework and our due diligence as coaches in the event that you see a quarterback change. So we'll have to go back and just see how those things and those thoughts worked. But overall, I think three phases of football and coaches included, obviously myself, we've got to be better to be better.”
Linebacker Josh Woods finished the game with a team-high seven tackles and would have liked to have seen better mental adjustments on defence once the far more mobile Ford took over from starter Harrison Frost.
“Trey used his legs, we couldn't play the same way we were playing in the first half, and I think we didn't make the adjustments to help ourselves win,” Woods said. “The first half, I think we executed well. Second half with Trey, just a different element.
"They were low in the box, still taking shots, and he was evading, getting out of the pocket. I mean, this film is going to suck, watching that second half. All we can do is focus on next week.”
While Ford was doing his thing, Hamilton’s defence was also doing theirs. The Ticats completely shut down Saskatchewan in the fourth quarter, with the Riders only managing to complete a single pass in their four drives over the final 15 minutes.
In other words, it was a convergence of failure on both sides of the ball that led to the loss.
“Ultimately, I think it wasn't a secret as the game progressed,” Mace said when asked if Hamilton’s changes were particularly onerous. “It just comes down to execution and understanding the details of what we got to do within our job. We missed that today.”
Mace also pointed out that guaranteeing a win against any team in the CFL is a fool’s errand, even against a club that’s three games under .500 heading into things.
“I think they're a better team than what people think just because of the record and the situation,” he said. “They've got a lot of really good players and they're really well coached.
“So for us, shoot, we've got to get to the tape. Can't be salty. We've got work to do next week.”
The Roughriders are now off until next Sunday when they travel west to face the B.C. Lions. Kickoff is 5 p.m. from B.C. Place.
