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July 20, 2019

Game Recap | OTT 1 WPG 31

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It was a masterful, record-breaking individual performance on a night in which the Winnipeg Blue Bombers combined to paint an absolute work of art.

The Bombers improved to 5-0 with a thorough 31-1 beatdown of the Ottawa REDBLACKS in front of 25,350 fans on a perfect Friday night at IG Field – a start not achieved in these parts since the 1960 squad opened with 10 straight victories.

On top of that rather meaty accomplishment, quarterback Matt Nichols jumped over a hall of famer into the club’s record books by completing 19 consecutive passes in the victory to eclipse the Bomber record of 16 set in 1981 by Dieter Brock.

“It’s guys making tough catches, good blocking up front when I’m not throwing all the time under duress… so things like that, any individual thing, is a full offensive stat to me,” said Nichols of the record.

“I didn’t know why the camera was in my face when the crowd was going nuts – Darren Cameron, our P.R. guy, told me afterwards what it was – but I pride myself in being very efficient. That’s something that is great, but again, it’s the receivers making great catches and the O-line keeping me clean in the pocket.”

Worth noting here is the Canadian Football League record for consecutive completions is 23, set by Hamilton’s Jeremiah Masoli in a game against Edmonton in 2016. Only three players in league history – including Jason Maas (22) and Ricky Ray (20) and both of the Eskimos at the time – have completed more than the 19 by Nichols, which he will carry into next week’s game in Hamilton.

Nichols finished 25 of 29 for 295 yards and two touchdown passes – the first to Andrew Harris covering 15 yards and the second to Kenny Lawler for 54 – on a night in which he started 0-for-3 before going on his run.

The maestro work of Nichols shouldn’t overshadow what was another dominant effort by the Bombers defence, who helped spark the victory with a 71-yard Pick-6 by Winston Rose to open the scoring and then threw up roadblock after roadblock in front of the Ottawa offence.

The REDBLACKS managed just 175 yards net offence, including 102 yards through the air. Ottawa starter Jonathon Jennings was just six of 15 for 45 yards before being yanked.

Willie Jefferson, who was mic’d up by TSN for the telecast, said afterward he had a few things to say – especially after the first meeting by the two clubs back on July 5th, a 29-14 Bomber victory, ended with some jawing on the field.

“Oh yeah, I had a lot of stuff to say,” said the Bombers defensive end. “It’s been two-three weeks since we saw them and when we left (Ottawa) there was a lot of talking, so when they came out here the plan wasn’t to stop talking.”

It was during the win in Ottawa when Jefferson was captured by TV cameras yelling ‘Come on down to Winnipeg’ – t-shirts now for sale in the Bomber Store, by the way. Asked Friday if teams want to come to Winnipeg now, Jefferson added:

“The way we want to make it seem is they have to come through Winnipeg. We know the West is a tough conference and we want to be that team that when it’s time to play us, when it’s time to come to Winnipeg that you’ve got to prepare for a good game, for a tough game and you’ve got to bring your ‘A’ game, because that’s what we’re going to bring.”


THE BIG STAT

19: Consecutive passes completed by Matt Nichols before he exited the game in the fourth quarter. That’s a new club record.

MILESTONE WATCH:

Andrew Harris finished with 63 rushing yards on 14 carries Friday and in the process moved past Tracy Ham into 11th place on the CFL’s all-time rushing list. Harris is now at 8,063 rushing yards in his career and is closing in on Dave Thelen, who is 10th all-time at 8,463 yards.

NOTABLE:

The Bombers inactive player was again LB Adam Bighill. With Jesse Briggs injured last week, the Bombers lined up Thomas Miles at the weak-side linebacker spot. It was his first start as a Bomber and the 9th in his CFL career… SB Nic Demski exited the game in the first quarter with an injury and did not return. Daniel Petermann replaced him and finished with five catches for 46 yards.

NUMBERS GAME

66: The Bombers have surrendered just 66 points defensively in five games, an average of 13.2 points per game.
14%: Ottawa’s second-down conversion rate was just 14 percent (3 of 21); Winnipeg’s was 48% (12 of 25).
36:40: Time of possession for the Bombers, to Ottawa’s 23:20.

NEXT:

The Bombers are in the midst of a five-game run against East Division opponents and now hit the road for back-to-back road games in Hamilton on July 25 and Toronto on August 1.