GAME 12 | THE BANJO BOWL
SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS (6-4) at WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS (5-6)
THE 4-1-1
Kickoff: 3 p.m., CT, Saturday; Investors Group Field, Winnipeg
TV: TSN, ESPN+
Radio: CJOB
Vegas line: The Bombers are favoured by 4 points.
Streaks: Saskatchewan: 3W; Winnipeg: 3L
Home/Road: Saskatchewan is 2-2 on the road; the Bombers are 3-2 at home.
Series: The Bombers lead the all-time series (since 1936) 134-103-4.
Recent history: The Riders knocked off the Bombers 31-23 in last week’s Labour Day Classic in Regina. The two clubs will meet a third time, again in Winnipeg, on Saturday, October 13th.
Banjo Bowl history: Saturday’s matchup between the Bombers and Riders will be the 15th Banjo Bowl since its inception in 2004. The game has already been announced as sold out, making it the 14th consecutive sell-out in the game’s history. The first Banjo Bowl drew 27,160 fans at old Canad Inns Stadium.
The Bombers have won the last three Banjo Bowls and four of their last five. Last year’s win was a 48-28 blowout that featured two touchdown passes from Matt Nichols to Clarence Denmark and two touchdowns by Maurice Leggett – one on a punt return, the other a pick six.
3 STORYLINES
1. STOP THE BLEEDING
Excuse us for a moment as we slip into the cheesy red blazer and dumb-ass hat and play the role of Captain Obvious for a moment – a Bombers victory Saturday not only halts the current losing streak at three, but sends them into their second bye week at 6-6 and very much back in the West Division playoff race.
The alternative – shocker – isn’t nearly so appealing.
At 6-6 the Bombers would still have an opportunity to win the season series with the Riders, who are here again on October 13th, and with the Edmonton Eskimos, who won the season opener but with two more games – both in the Alberta capital – on the horizon. That’s critical for a club still with designs on hosting a playoff game which, despite all the hand-wringing of late, very much remains a possibility.
But that’s eons away from where this club is right now and a ‘W’ would be like a tourniquet on a gushing wound.
On Thursday, Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea insisted he remains confident in this bunch, even if it was to drop four straight – something that hasn’t happened since the summer of 2015.
“I’m in the building with these guys every day,” he said. “That question’s been asked before and my answer is not going to change. I think I’ve been called the ‘eternal optimist’ on the CJOB radio show. But the answer is this: I’m in the room, in the building with these guys every single day. I’m in the meeting rooms with the coaches every single day. I know the effort they’re putting in, I know that they’re all very smart guys. I know that our players are committed to each other and committed to the process.
“So, there’s no other choice but to feel confidence because you’re surrounded by guys that believe in what they’re doing every single day. You know you’re going to get it done at some point or another.”
2. PUTTING THE ‘SPECIAL’ BACK IN SPECIAL TEAMS
The Bombers foot soldiers have been difference makers for all the right reasons for much of the last two-three years. And so, when they have a game like they did last week in Regina where they hardly wrapped themselves in glory – they gave up a punt-return score and also had a Justin Medlock field goal attempt blocked – it grabs your attention, for all the wrong reasons.
Those two mistakes cost Winnipeg a combined 10 points in a game that finished 31-23, and was part of a Riders performance that was a mirror image of what the Bombers have done so effectively well in recent years – get contributions from all three phases.
“It’s any play, any time, something’s going to happen,” said O’Shea. “Special teams is a 40-50-yard street fight and it’s generally a lot of fun. Our guys understand and know we want to be the reason we win games and not be talked about after a loss, that’s for sure.
“They’ll be ready.”
3. PROTECT THE ROCK, POUND THE FOOTBALL, OWN THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE (Enter football cliché of your choice here…)
Last week’s Labour Day Classic loss spoiled a solid effort by the defence and by running back Andrew Harris and resulted in a lot of criticism being heaped upon the starting quarterback and an offence that still leads the Canadian Football League in scoring.
But that ball-control, win-the-turnover battle, rally-when-it-matters offence that became a trademark through much of 2016 and 2017 hasn’t been consistently on display through the 5-6 record this year. And that means quarterback Matt Nichols has spent the last three weeks in the crosshairs.
Asked if that negative attention has affected the offence at all, Harris offered up a take that speaks volumes of the respect Nichols has in the Bombers clubhouse.
“More than anything, guys are rallying around him, showing him love and letting him know we’ve still got his back, no matter what anyone is saying,” said Harris. “It’s near impossible to try and block it out entirely, especially in a city like Winnipeg were people are so passionate about (football). But for us, it’s just staying positive with him and just keeping him up.
“That goes for anyone… guys have bad games, guys have bad plays. I’ve come off after a fumble and guys aren’t saying negative things, they’re saying positive things and that’s a sign of a good team with good teammates. Again, it’s no finger-pointing.
“It’s really important to stay positive through the ups and downs and when things are going really good. Even when we have good rushing games I always tell the guys, ‘We haven’t done s—t yet. Let’s do it again. Can we do this a second time, a third time, a fourth time, a fifth time? Can we better our successes? It’s not letting complacency set in and staying positive when the negatives are lingering.”
THE QBS
- Winnipeg’s Matt Nichols 33-25 in his career as a starter and 25-13 since taking over from Drew Willy in July of 2016. He is 6-3 in his career against the Riders.
- Saskatchewan’s Zach Collaros is 28-29 in his career, including 4-1 vs. the Bombers. The Riders are 4-2 in games in which he’s started this season.
ROSTER SHUFFLE
The Bombers are making five changes to their 46-man roster from last week. Coming onto the roster are OL Jermarcus Hardrick, Qadr Spooner and Cody Speller, RB Timothy Flanders and CB Robert Priester. Moving off are WR Weston Dressler, DB Brendan Morgan, FB John Rush, OL Manase Foketi and LB Maurice Leggett. Dressler was moved to the one-game injured list, with Leggett and Foketi shifted to the six-game injured list.
The depth chart shows Anthony Gaitor lining up in Leggett’s outside linebacker spot, and backed up by Chandler Fenner, while Priester is listed at corner behind Kevin Fogg.
3 BOMBERS TO WATCH
#53 Patrick Neufeld, RT: The nine-year CFL vet, six of those seasons with the Bombers, continues to be an important and versatile piece along the O-line. He moved from left guard to right tackle with the injury to Manase Foketi in last week’s Labour Day Classic, while Michael Couture moving into the guard spot. Neufeld has played tackle before for both the Bombers and Riders.
#45 Jovan Santos-Knox, LB: He made his first CFL start a year ago in the Banjo Bowl and is second on the Bombers in total defensive plays with 60 (50 tackles, one special-teams tackle, four sacks, two knockdowns and three tackles for a loss; Adam Bighill leads at 78).
#15 Matt Nichols, QB: Every mistake and every errant pass has been magnified during the three-game skid. And he knows better than anyone how to silence the critics: by helping the squad post a ‘W.’ FYI: Nichols is 3-0 in the three Banjo Bowls he has played in and averaged 271 yards passing.
X FACTOR
#23 Anthony Gaitor, LB/DB: Gaitor started the first two games of the season at defensive back for the Bombers before pulling up lame and spending the next eight weeks on the injured list. He returned to the lineup last week and has practised this week at both the Dime/SAM linebacker spot and at defensive back. His experience could be a huge asset in a secondary that might be starting two CFL rookies this week in Marcus Sayles and Robert Priester.
CRITICAL NUMBER
46%: The Bombers second down conversion rate over the last three games has dipped to 46 percent, after being at 53 percent through the first eight games of the year. In their last three games and 70 second-down situations, only eight have been for second-and-three or less. That means a whopping 90 percent of their second-down situations have been second-and-four or more.
MISCELLANEOUS
- Riders DE Charleston Hughes leads the league with 13 sacks and has recorded one in all but one game this year. He is currently on a pace that would see him rack up 23 QB kills this season, and would tie him with Gregg Stumon for the fifth-highest total in a season (the record is 26.5, set by James Parker of B.C. in 1984, back when the CFL tracked half sacks). Hughes had one sack last week, stretching his streak to eight consecutive games – two from tying the best streak in the last 25 years. Hamilton’s Joe Montford (1998) and the Bombers Phillip Hunt (2010) both posted sacks in 10 straight games.
- The Riders will be starting their fourth different QB in the Banjo Bowl in the last four years in Zach Collaros. Brett Smith started the game in 2015, with Darian Durant following in 2016 and Kevin Glenn a year ago.
- The Riders have had six Labour Day Classic/Banjo Bowl sweeps since 2004, the last coming in 2014.
- The team that has scored first has won 10 of the 14 Banjo Bowls (71 percent).
- Over the first seven games the Bombers picked off 11 passes, which led to 33 points off those turnovers. In the last four games they have just one interception – last week’s theft by Brandon Alexander – which did not lead to a point.
- The Banjo Bowl will be the 100th game in Bombers CB Chris Randle’s career, with 96 of them starts.
