The way the Saskatchewan Roughriders surged in the second half to come back and beat the Toronto Argonauts 28-24 last Saturday was promising to Darian Durant.
“I would look at it as a character win,” the legendary quarterback said on the SportsCage. “There were some questions about this Roughriders secondary. They had given up a ton of yards over the previous few weeks.
“For Toronto and (quarterback Chad) Kelly to come out hot, I was a little concerned. But just the resilience of the Riders. They gave up a ton of big plays, but, offensively, they didn’t let it get to them. They came back. They answered every score.”
Kelly got his shots in against the Riders, throwing for 416 yards and three touchdowns. However, Riders defensive backs James Burgess Jr. and Nelson Lokombo picked off Kelly – upping his league-leading total to 17 interceptions.
The Riders held Kelly to 139 yards in the second half, and Lokombo’s massive INT came in the fourth quarter. Limiting Kelly, plus the Argos running the ball just four times all game for 15 yards, caused the Riders defence to shut out the visitors in the second half.
That helped turn the tide from a 22-12 halftime deficit.
“You know with Chad Kelly, he’s going to put it up for grabs,” Durant said. “The Roughriders got their hands on a few of those balls and were able to come down with a couple interceptions as well. With the way this defence is designed, they play a lot of off coverage. If you’re not a guy who takes care of the ball, you’re going to put it in harm’s way.
“Chad Kelly’s been doing that all season. The Roughriders knew that. With Toronto not committing to the run whatsoever, they allowed the secondary to just sit back and just take whatever they gave them. I don’t understand why they didn’t run the ball. They had plenty of opportunities. They had a lead. … I think it was a bad decision, and I know they regret that on that flight back home.”
Saskatchewan’s offence, meanwhile, was well-rounded.
They had a revamped five-receiver set with starters KeeSean Johnson, Shemar Bridges, Dhel Duncan-Busby, D’Sean Mimbs, and Daniel Wiebe. Durant was particularly impressed with Wiebe, who had six receptions for 56 yards – 36 of which came after catches.
“It’s going to be hard to take him out of the lineup if he can keep making plays,” Durant said.
Unlike the Argos, the Riders had an effective run game. Quarterback Trevor Harris had one carry, whereas backup Tommy Stevens had 10 touches for 25 yards.
“It all counts, and it all hurts the defence just in different ways,” Durant said.
Thomas Bertrand-Hudon got three attempts, but it was Quali Conley who led the way with 78 yards on 10 carries. Overall, the Riders picked up 124 yards on the ground, bumping their record to 5-0 when they earn at least 100 yards rushing in a game.
“I think that’s the key to success in the CFL,” Durant said. “From my understanding and my 12 years in the league, I’m talking like 70 to 80 percent of the time you win when you can run the ball (that much). You control the line of scrimmage. You control down and distance situations. It’s so much easier to throw.
“It just makes the game so much easier for a quarterback. Trevor was just able to pick apart this defence, get whatever he wanted across the middle because they had step up and respect the run game. Any time a team is running the ball and they’re having success with it, it’s a high, high percentage that you’ll win the game. You saw a perfect example of that this weekend.”
The Riders now head toward a home-and-home series against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, which starts Sunday in Regina over Labour Day weekend and concludes with the Banjo Bowl next Saturday.
Getting back in the win column before taking on the Bombers was “huge,” Durant said, especially since Winnipeg is coming off a win over league-leading Montreal to improve its record to 6-5. That leaves the Bombers just two points back of the Riders for second in the West Division.
“I just couldn’t imagine the temperature in Saskatchewan if the Riders had let this game (against Toronto) slip away this past weekend going into this back to back with Winnipeg.”
