Zach Collaros threw for 301 yards and four TDs in the Western Final win over Saskatchewan -- photos by Cameron Bartlett
There were so many occasions earlier in this Winnipeg Blue Bombers season when it looked like the band’s halcyon days of cranking out one hit single after another were kaput.
That’s what the critics were bellowing in an 0-4 start that then became 2-6 and with back-to-back series with both the B.C. Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders looming on the horizon like gathering storm clouds.
Obituaries were already being penned and so many others had their legs cocked back to kick this group to the proverbial curb.
Playoffs?! Pbbbpptt!
First place?! Absolutely, positively no chance.
And so, hell yes, slogging through and overcoming those low times back in July was absolutely a narrative Saturday night inside a celebratory Blue Bombers locker room after the club’s dominant 38-22 Western Final win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders that will send this crew to Vancouver for a fifth straight Grey Cup appearance.
“We had total belief and faith in what this team is capable of doing,” said running back Brady Oliveira. “We came to work every single day, turned those tough times — 0-4, 2-6 — and people counted us out. But we believe in one another, and we knew about the people we have on this team. We have a great coaching staff. that prepares every single week. You saw it tonight. Buck (Pierce, offensive coordinator) called an incredible game. Awesome game.
“It feels good. They counted us out and now here we are going back to another one.”
Added veteran right guard Pat Neufeld:
“It’s not done yet. We’ve got another week together. Another week with this awesome group of guys, awesome coaching staff. Playing on the road is great because you’ve got no one but your teammates, no one but this organization.
“I don’t think anyone wants us at the Grey Cup, but we’re going anyways.”
A fact that doesn’t get talked about enough as the Blue Bombers overcame their stumble out of the starting blocks to crank out 10 wins in their last 11 games is the amount of change on the roster. Yes, this lineup still features mainstays like Oliveira and Neufeld, Zach Collaros, Kenny Lawler, Willie Jefferson and so on.
But with offseason defections/retirements and injuries to starters Dalton Schoen, Adam Bighill, Drew Wolitarsky, Cam Lawson and Jamal Parker — along with TD machine Chris Streveler — this bunch has 10 different starters from the crew that suited up against Montreal in last year’s championship game.
In total, the number of players who suited up against the Alouettes and again on Saturday was 23, meaning there were 22 new faces — including starters Pokey Wilson, Keric Wheatfall, Kevens Clercius, Eric Lofton, Tony Jones, Miles Fox, Terrell Bonds, Tyrell Ford and TyJuan Garbutt all making significant contributions.
“It’s a new season, new year. Every year is different,” said defensive back Deatrick Nichols. “You can’t compare last year or the year before that to this year. This season is unique. We had our ups and downs, and we fought through it all.
“We’re happy. We’re thankful. We put the work in to get there and now we’ve got to finish.”
ICYMI, here is our game recap from Saturday night:
And what follows is the rest of this week’s UPON FURTHER REVIEW…
THREE NUMBERS WHICH STOOD OUT… after a second glance at the stats package, which can be found here:
1 The Blue Bombers cranked out 194 rushing yards on Saturday, averaging 7.2 yards per carry in the win over the Roughriders. Oliveira led with 119 on 20 carries, Terry Wilson had 51 on four carries — including a sensational 48-yard run in a short-yardage situation — with Demski adding 14 and Collaros 10 more.
Terry Wilson’s 48-yard run led to a TD
Those totals jump off the page because the Riders vaunted defence ranked first against the run all season, surrendering a measly 80.3 yards along the ground per game and just 4.8 yards per rush.
2 We should be accustomed to Lawler’s jaw dropping totals — four catches, 177 yards and three TDs — in the playoffs, because he’s done this before. Lawler led the club in receiving yards in last year’s Grey Cup with 77 and in the 2023 Western Final with 83 yards on six catches.
A funny exchange post-game as Lawler sat beside Collaros at the media press conference. First, this from Lawler:
“I don’t go into any game thinking tonight is the night. I’ve got the best locker room. I’ve got the best quarterback. I’m just doing what I love to do. I’ve been saying God put me on this earth to play football, and I’m going to do that to the best of my ability.
“Today was just a regular night… doing what I love to do. I’ve been saying God put me on this earth to play football, and I’m going to do that to the best of my ability.”
At this point Collaros looked over at his teammate and said: “Did it really feel regular for you?”
“Regular,” added Lawler with a grin.
“I could just see it,” Collaros said, “your eyes were big.”
A bonus note on Lawler: over his last five games he has 33 catches for 598 yards and five touchdowns.
“I look at the play sheet every week and I write on there, ‘Get Kenny going,’” said Collaros. “However we have to do it, get him the ball.”
3 The defence got a ton of love in our game recap but the big numbers on offence, including 482 yards of net offence and five touchdowns, doesn’t come without the help of the big eaters up front along the offensive line. Collaros, for the record, was not sacked a single time.
“That’s what we talked about all week,” Neufeld said. “We knew we wanted to put it on our backs with the kind of defence they had and how they got after teams. We knew we had to go out there and play a really great game, a really physical game and I thought we did that.
“It’s awesome when you can go out and execute like that. I think that was the best game we played all year. It was just a commitment from everyone on offence to go out and be as good as they could be.”
HONEST TAKES… from Oliveira and Collaros when asked about the absolute low of last year’s Grey Cup loss and how much that might be on his mind in the coming days:
“We all know how the last two turned out — especially last year. I took it tough. I took it really, really personally. I think all the guys felt that loss. It was pretty tough. We can only control what we can control and like I said all season that’s preparing extremely hard throughout the week so that when you go out there you can play confident, you can play loose, you can play fast and leave no doubt that you know you gave it your all throughout the work week so that on game day when the lights are turned on you just go and do what you do and that’s what’s exactly what we did tonight and leading up to this Grey Cup that’s exactly what we’re going to do.
“We’re going to prepare extremely hard, go out there and when the play is called, execute.”
Added Collaros on getting back to the championship game for a fifth straight season:
“We’re proud. It takes a lot to get to the Grey Cup. Obviously, we need to finish the deal and win the game… we’ve come up short the last two seasons, that’s no secret.
“I’m really proud of the group. We brought a lot of core guys back, had more younger guys than we’re used to this season and those guys have really bought in and have done a great job doing things the way that we do things here. It’s just a testament to the locker room. It’s been a great ride but all that matters is winning the final one.
“It’s just such a journey, so much fun. I told the guys before the game to just take a look around and enjoy this. Because not everybody gets to do this.”
AND FINALLY… thanks again for reading this far and if you want to relive what was another memorable Western Final, here’s the video evidence:
