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News October 1, 2021

Game Preview | WPG at BC

@EdTaitWFC

WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS (6-1) at B.C. LIONS (4-3)

THE 4-1-1

Kickoff: Friday, 9 p.m. CT
TV: TSN, ESPNews
Radio: 680 CJOB; Sirius XM (Canada Talks, channel 167).
BetRegal.ca odds: Blue Bombers by 1.5 points.
Streaks: Winnipeg: 4W. B.C.: 1L
Home/Road: The Bombers are 2-1 on the road this season with a loss in Toronto and wins in Regina in the Labour Day Classic and in Edmonton prior to the bye week. B.C. is 1-2 at home and coming off a 31-24 loss to Saskatchewan at B.C. Place last Friday.
Head to head: This is the first meeting between the two clubs this season. They’ll meet again on Saturday, October 23rd when the Lions visit IG Field. Winnipeg is 7-3 in its last 10 games with the Lions.

The QBs

  • The Bombers will start veteran Zach Collaros. He is 41-33 in his career starts and 10-1 as a Bomber, including playoffs. Collaros is 5-2 in career starts vs. B.C.
  • The Lions answer with veteran Michael Reilly. He is 63-55 in his career and 9-6 in 15 career starts against Winnipeg.

 

The Coaches

Winnipeg: Mike O’Shea: 62-53; vs. B.C.: 9-5
B.C.: Rick Campbell: 48-65-2; vs. Wpg.: 5-7

Blue Roster Shuffle

The Bombers have made four roster changes for this week. Coming on to the roster are DT Steven Richardson, LB Kyrie Wilson, WR/KR Janarion Grant and DB Sergio Schiaffino-Perez. Off are WR/KR Charles Nelson, DT Ricky Walker, LB Les Maruo and LB Kevin Brown, with Brown moving to the one game injured list.

Schiaffino-Perez will become the third different Global player to suit up for the Bombers in a regular-season game since the implementation of the program in 2019, after Thiadric Hansen and Maruo.

“I’ve been working a lot since 2019 to get this opportunity,” said Schiaffino-Perez. “And now that it’s come I told Coach, ‘I’m ready, coach. I’m ready.’ I’m going to try to make some plays and make this team win.

“In 2019 was like a learning year. And since I came to 2021 training camp I was with the 1s and 2s (first and second defensive units) getting more reps and the way I saw the game I can make plays. My confidence went up and I’m ready to play. My whole family, the whole city back in Mexico (Monterrey) is going to watch the game. My family has supported me my whole life so they’re pretty excited about this. I’m the first Mexican DB in history to play an official CFL game so they’re going to be excited.”

3 Bombers to Watch

#42 Ali Mourtada, K: His debut was, well, less than ideal as he went 0-3 in field-goal attempts but did connect on his converts. He spent the bye week fine-tuning things, but his kicking will be even more under the microscope than it was in first game. A scary stat: over the last two games the Bombers are just 1-for-7 in field-goal attempts.

#1 Darvin Adams, WR: Adams has touchdowns in his last two games and five in nine games since Zach Collaros became QB1. He also now has 311 career receptions as a Blue Bomber, moving him into 10th spot on the team’s all-time list.

#32 Deatrick Nichols, DB: Nichols is tied for the league lead in interceptions with three, stealing passes in two of his last three games. Expect Michael Reilly to throw the ball all over the park but, like so many other QBs so far this season, he’ll likely try to test the boundary side of the Bombers secondary that features Nichols and CB DeAundre Alford – both of whom have been outstanding so far this season.

X Factor

#98 Steven Richardson

He had already become a dominant presence along the Bombers defensive front in 2019, his first season with the club, while splitting time at defensive tackle in a rotation with Drake Nevis and Jake Thomas.

Richardson appeared in just one game this year before injuring his foot and his absence, especially vs. the run, was noticeable. His return could be massive for an already dominant D-line.

“We’ve missed him,” said Bombers defensive back Nick Taylor. “I can’t wait to see him back out there. He closes a lot of gaps and covers for a lot of other people. He makes the game easier for Biggie (Adam Bighill), he makes the game easier for Willie (Jefferson), he makes the game easier for (Jackson) Jeffcoat and for the secondary because sometimes the running back gets to us and we’re hoping now the running back won’t get to us because Stove will take care of that.”

Notable

  • The Bombers have allowed only six points total in fourth quarters this year.
  • Winnipeg leads the CFL in the turnover ratio at +15. The Lions are second at +12.
  • The Lions average a league-best 7.9 yards on first down, but are last in the CFL in rushing, at 66.6 yards per game.
  • Bombers QB Sean McGuire has six TDs, all coming in the last three games.

Quotable

“We know we’ve got something. We don’t need to prove that, man. We know B.C. is having a good year with their receivers, but we are, too. We don’t have anything to prove, we’ve been proving it on week in/week out basis.” – Bombers receiver Kenny Lawler when asked if their crew needs to prove something given all the ‘love’ the Lions corps has been getting recently.

TAKE NOTE

Michael Reilly’s current completion percentage of 74.4 is the third-highest of all-time (Ricky Ray’s league record, set in 2013, is 77.2. He has just one interception in his last 263 pass attempts. There is also mucho respect for the man in the Bombers clubhouse.

“You just can’t let go of your guy back there,” said safety Brandon Alexander of facing Reilly & Co. “He’s going to find a way to stay up… I mean, I’ve seen plays where we’ve got two-three D-linemen literally almost have him wrapped and he’s still trying to throw the ball down the field.

“He’s still a competitor. He doesn’t give up. You can hit him all day and he’s going to get right back up and still throw the same ball. I’ve seen plays where he’s looking at the blitzer’s face and he still throws it and gets hit. For us, especially in the back end, we can’t let go of receivers and let them loose. We’re going to have to cover for a little bit more time. It’s going to be a tough challenge, but we’re ready and prepared for it.”

Milestone Watch

  • Andrew Harris recently moved into 6th spot on the CFL’s all-time yards from scrimmage list (rushing and receiving) at 14,573. Allen Pitts, is next on the list at 14,886. One more on Harris: he moved past Dick Shatto into 11th place on the CFL’s all-time combined yardage list (rushing, receiving and returning yards) at 15,849. He is inching closer to No. 10 on that list — Milt Stegall at 16,105.
  • Darvin Adams has quietly moved into the Bombers Top 10 for career receptions. He has 311 catches and is 10 back of Perry Tuttle. The Top 10 features Milt Stegall (854), James Murphy (573), Joe Poplawksi (549), Terrence Edwards (469), Clarence Denmark (417), Rick House (385), Charles Roberts (362), Ernie Pitts (337) and Tuttle (321). Currently in 11th spot on that list, FYI, is Harris at 307.
  • Adam Bighill now has 714 career defensive tackles and needs nine more to pass Kevin Eiben into 9th spot on the CFL’s all-time list.

FYI:

  • The Bombers are the only team in the CFL that has a winning record when trailing after the first half, going 2-1 in those games. The two victories came against Calgary and Saskatchewan in the Labour Day Classic, and the loss was the club’s only setback this season, a 30-23 defeat in Toronto in which they trailed 22-14 at halftime.
  • Willie Jefferson has QB sack in each of his last three games and in four of the last five. He and Jackson Jeffcoat have combined for 10 Sacks and seven forced fumbles in 2021.
  • Over his last two games, Zach Collaros has completed 80.4 percent of his passes.
  • The start for Collaros on Friday ends a run of 10 straight against the Lions by Matt Nichols, who was behind centre for every game against B.C. over a stretch from October of 2015 through 2019, with the club going 7-3.