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August 18, 2017

Upon Further Review | EDM 26, WPG 33

Winnipeg Blue Bombers players celebrate QB Matt Nichols' TD during third quarter CFL action between the Bombers and the Edmonton Eskimos in Winnipeg on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. (CFL PHOTO - Jason Halstead)

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Andrew Harris had just finished a round of interviews, first with CJOB and then with a media mob gathered outside the Winnipeg Blue Bombers dressing room.

He had a small gash on the bridge of his nose, and most likely a few other bumps, scrapes and bruises after what will be remembered as one of the most dominant single-game performances by a running back in franchise history, as he eclipsed the 100-yard mark both along the ground and through the air.

And over in a corner of the Bombers’ locker room, Sukh Chungh offered up his take on the club’s workhorse tailback…

“Andrew is a beast, man. A beast,” began Chungh. “He comes to work every day and I’ll say he and Matt (Nichols) are the best leaders I’ve ever been around.”

“Andrew sits in every blitz meeting with us, every run meeting with us. Except for Stanley (Bryant), he’s seen more football than all of us. He helps us out and we help him. It’s what has made him one of the best in this league – he puts so much into the attention to detail. I saw it as soon as he came to this program and the guys rally around that kind of stuff.

“Props to him: best running back, best leader, I’ve ever been around.”

Just to recap: Harris finished Thursday’s 33-26 win over the Edmonton Eskimos with 11 carries for 105 yards – 9.5 yards per carry – and another 120 yards on eight catches. And 84 of that 120 were YAC yards.

“It seemed like every time I was standing back there, I was watching Andrew run down the middle of the field breaking tackles,” said Nichols. “He’s a difference maker for us and a guy that’s been one of the best, if not the best, in the league for the last number of years.

“I can’t say enough good things about him.”

And yet after the game, one of the first things out of Harris’ mouth was a lament about a second-quarter fumble after a 12-yard run had pushed the Bombers to Edmonton’s 21-yard line.

“I’ve got to be better in those situations,” said Harris. “Sometimes you have two hands on it and you’re trying to fight for yardage and they get a good punch or rip on it.

“I’ve got to tip my hat to (offensive coordinator Paul) LaPolice for giving me the ball right after that (a 15-yard run on the Bombers next possession) and for the rest of the team having faith in me and not getting down.

“Sometimes when you turn the ball over, the team turns with it. This team is together, we’re all for one and we found a way to rally after that.”

More on Harris and other goodies from the big Bombers win over the Eskimos Thursday night in our weekly collection of notes and quotes we call Upon Further Review…


ANDREW HARRIS DIDN’T MAKE HISTORY… with his 100-100 performance, but he did enter some rarefied CFL air with his double-triple.

The Winnipeg product became the first back in seven years to eclipse the century mark in both rushing and receiving in a game, and the first Bomber in 15 seasons.

A look at tailbacks who have done the double-triple in the same game dating back to 1995 (stats courtesy of the CFL):

Avon Cobourne, MTL
July 29, 2010; Montreal 41 Toronto 10
Rush: 115, Rec: 116

Avon Cobourne, MTL
August 15, 2008; Montreal 32 Toronto 14
Rush: 107, Rec: 103

Kenton Keith, SSK
August 19, 2006; Saskatchewan 46 Hamilton 15
Rush: 148, Rec: 101

Saladin McCullough, CGY
July 11, 2003; Calgary 17 Hamilton 11
Rush: 105, Rec: 101

Charles Roberts, WPG
August 23, 2002; Winnipeg 51 Calgary 48 (OT)
Rush: 104, Rec: 106

Robert Drummond, TOR
July 11, 1996; Toronto 35 Winnipeg 14
Rush: 100, Rec: 104

Eric Blount, EDM
October 13, 1995; Edmonton 34 Memphis 17
Rush: 140, Rec: 107

Cory Philpot, BC
September 16, 1995; B.C. 49 Hamilton 14
Rush: 134, Rec: 107

Not surprisingly, the teams with the busy back are a perfect 8-0 in these situations. Check that… 9-0 after what Harris and the Bombers’ big eaters up front did to control the line of scrimmage.

MORE ON THAT, FROM A VERY LARGE MAN… “They’ve got a good front,” began Bombers guard Travis Bond while speaking of the Eskimos D-line. “But when a game is going like that, you just want to keep it going. We weren’t really worried about who we were playing… we just took that out of the equation and worried about us.”

It was former Bombers O-line coach Bob Wylie – and no doubt current coach Marty Costello concurs – who said that moving a man against his will is one of the best feelings in the world.

And the Bombers did that often against the Esks, as the club racked up 538 yards net offence – including 170 along the ground and a 7.1-yards-per-carry average.

“When you’re blocking another man, and bending him against his will… that’s something that all men wish they could do,” said Bond. “But you’ve got to be a man to do it.”

AMAZINGLY, SOMEWHAT LOST… in all the good work by Harris were the numbers Nichols posted while running the attack. Playing against his buddy Mike Reilly – an early-season candidate for the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player Award – Nichols completed 32 of 40 passes for 390 yards with one TD to Darvin Adams, and zero interceptions.

The 390 yards matched a career-high for Nichols set in last year’s West Semi-Final and marked the fourth time this year – and third in the last four games – in which he has thrown for over 300 yards.

He hasn’t thrown an interception in the last four games, all of them Bomber wins.

“We did what we were supposed to do,” said Nichols of the offensive production. “We started quick, finished for four quarters. I felt like the only thing that slowed us down was us tonight. We had a couple of drives early in the game where we had things rolling a bit but we hurt ourselves with some penalties… aside from that, I felt like we played a good, clean game.

“There’s multiple things we do with this offence that I think make it tough on defences.”

CHRIS RANDLE HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE TYPE… to quietly go about his business without bothering to thump his chest a whole lot. So we’ll do it for him in this space: the veteran cornerback should be in the all-star discussion through the first chunk of the season.

Randle has a defensive touchdown this year on a fumble recovery, picked off his first pass Thursday night – which led to a Darvin Adams TD – is third on the club with 29 tackles and has a sack. Those are superb numbers for a guy who can often be ignored for long stretches while enemy QBs have been picking on the other side of the secondary.

“To get one in this type of game, in this type of situation… it feels good,” said Randle of his interception. “We understand the West is a tough division right now and the competition is high. So to get this win at home, in front of our crowd and in that fashion… to manage that game and control that game, it’s a good win.”

THAT’S AN INTERESTING POINT… the fact that the win came at home is worth building on here. It might be seen as hyperbole outside of Manitoba, but we won’t be the first to suggest that was the biggest home win in these parts since the 2011 East Final.

Let’s look at this another way: The Bombers may still only be 14-26 at Investors Group Field since it opened, but the team is 7-3 in its last 10 home games dating back to last August 3rd.

“It’s huge. It’s not only huge for us, but for the fans,” said linebacker Moe Leggett. “It gives them more of a reason to cheer when we play at home. This is actually the loudest stadium in the CFL and we’ve got to continue doing that.”

And for all the moaning and groaning about attendance numbers here and across the CFL, Thursday’s crowd of 30,554 has pushed the year’s average at IGF to 27,934 with the Banjo Bowl the next home date.

Just to put that into perspective, here are the average attendances here in Winnipeg in the years they advanced to the Grey Cup dating back to 1990:

1990: 27,152
1992: 26, 194
1993: 25,100
2001: 27,033
2007: 27,701
2011: 29,558

THERE ARE SOME FANTASTIC IMAGES… from the Bombers doing their ‘Hardrick Hop’ into the north end-zone fanatics after touchdowns, and the celebration extended beyond just the O-line.

Asked what he thought of the celebration, Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea offered this:

“I really don’t see it, to tell you the truth. We’re already on to the next, moving on to the convert or the kickoff.

“But you know what? These guys deserve to have fun and I think the fans enjoy it. It’s not like they’re taking penalties doing it. They’re getting a quick celebration in and they’re celebrating with their teammates, which is ultimately important, and with their fans. They have to have fun, they really do.”

AND, FINALLY… an interesting exchange between Bombers receiver Darvin Adams and the media in the post-game. Asked what the club had its sights on after knocking off the Eskimos – first place in the West, a playoff spot – Adams offered a simple, two-word answer:

“Grey Cup.”