Zach Collaros in action in Thursday's 36-23 win over the Edmonton Elks; photos by Cameron Bartlett
Forgotten fact: way back in the day in his early years with Toronto and Hamilton — circa 2013-14 — Zach Collaros was an emerging star in the Canadian Football League and the scouting reports had him pegged as a dangerous dual threat.
The statistical evidence was there, too, as over that two-year span he rushed for almost 600 yards and seven touchdowns, threatening the edge with his speed and buying time outside of the pocket.
And so when the 36-year-old vet took off on a 13-yard touchdown run with just over five minutes left in Thursday’s 36-23 win over the Edmonton Elks in what would be the nail-in-the-coffin score, it was like he was channelling his younger, fleet-of-foot self.
“I felt young,” began Collaros with a smile in his post-game media scrum late Thursday night. “I’ve done it many times; it’s just been a long time. I don’t know if I made somebody miss or not. I got through the first layer of the defence… I stepped up and my eyes were on Nic (Demski). I didn’t really think he got a clean release and by the time I got to the second level I thought, ‘I think I can score here.’
“I was worried about what might be coming from my right side. If somebody hits me up top, I’m fine. I just didn’t want to get my knee chopped down.”
Collaros then went on to chide himself for what he called ball security on the decisive run and then jokingly beef that running back Quinton Colley strip-sacked him in the ensuing touchdown celebration, knocking the pigskin out of his hand as he tried to rifle it into the stands.
Dalton Schoen had the miscue drop into his hands and he wisely handed it to his veteran quarterback before he launched it into the Princess Auto Stadium faithful. Reminded afterward by 3Down Nation’s John Hodge that throwing the ball into the stands could cost him in a fine of $500 — the balls are microchipped after all — he added:
“Oh, they do. Damn,” said Collaros. “They never used to. That was our thing in the past — we threw a lot of footballs in the crowd. In Hamilton, I used to try to throw it out of the stadium. The bell there — that little steam whistle — I used to try to always hit that.”
All of this is beside the point — even though we’ve spent the last few paragraphs recreating that scene — and here’s why: for about three hours Thursday night Collaros turned back the clock a bit — not necessarily to 2013-14, but to 2021-23 when he was filling the skies with TD passes before last year’s dip in his touchdown totals.
Against the Elks he was 25-of-30 for 334 yards with three touchdowns against no interceptions in eviscerating Edmonton’s defence. The TD run? That’s a bonus.
“He looked 21, back in his Cincy (University of Cincinnati) days,” said Demski, who finished with two TDs. “He made a great play out there. Everybody knows him for his throwing ability, but he can get jiggy out there, too. He made a great play for us.”
“That was what we expect out of him,” said Dalton Schoen with a shrug. “He was 25 out of 30 and so when you give him a chance to make plays, he can do it because he sees the game really well and is the smartest football mind I’ve ever been around. When we give him opportunities, we expect that from him.”
Added Willie Jefferson with a grin: “I don’t know where the scramble came from on the touchdown — that’s a flashback to 2014-15 Zach.”
Collaros’s numbers Thursday allowed him to move past Ken Ploen into fourth spot on the franchise’s all-time passing yardage list at 16,511, now behind only Dieter Brock (29,623), Khari Jones (20,175) and Kevin Glenn (18,116).
Yet, as we said in our game recap on Thursday, the stat that matters most to him is this: the Blue Bombers are now 59-18 in games he has started since his arrival in 2019.
That’s the bottom line and make takeaway from Thursday: when #8 is great, this team is championship material.
ICYMI, here’s our Game Recap story from Thursday’s victory:
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 Who had this on their Blue Bombers-Elks statistical bingo card/betting prop? Collaros finished the game with the one carry for 13 yards and actually outrushed his counterpart Tre Ford, who ran only once for six yards.
Ford did complete 18 of 29 passes for 252 yards and a TD — a 66-yard strike to Kaion Julien-Grant courtesy a bust in Winnipeg’s defence — and also had a sure score dropped by Julien-Grant near the end of the first half.
But by and large Winnipeg’s defence managed to corral the ad-libbing skilset of the Elks starting pivot.
“We tried to get high on the outside and make that border for him to stay in (the pocket) and then we had some good linebacker pressure,” said Jefferson. “Kyrie (Wilson) came in and made a great play. Tony (Jones) came in and made a great play. Defensive line, when we went four man, when we went three man, we were pushing the pocket and trying to get into his face, trying to get some pressure and make him move around but keep him in the pocket.”
The Blue Bombers had three sacks — one each from Wilson and Jones and the third from Jefferson, his first of the season and 75th in his hall of fame career. Asked about hitting the No. 75 in career sacks, Jefferson added:
“On the way to 100.”
2 After the game Collaros spoke of being more efficient on first down, particularly in the third quarter. For the record Winnipeg averaged 6.5 yards on first downs — by comparison Edmonton was 7.3 on first down plays — and in the third ran just nine offensive plays totalling 21 yards.
Given the numbers by game’s end — 421 yards net offence — that becomes an even more impressive total given the third-quarter struggles.
3 Tied 23-23 going into the final quarter, the Blue Bombers put together three scoring drives with two field goals and the Collaros run for a score while controlling the ball for a whopping 10 minutes and 27 seconds of the final 15. Classic Winnipeg bully ball/ball control when it mattered most.
Matthew Peterson led all rushers with 65 yards on 12 carries, with 57 of that total coming in the final quarter.
“It’s all due to the five guys in front of me, or six if Tui (Elli) is in there or Mike (Chris-Ike),” said Peterson. “Those guys are why we’re able to pound the rock and finish it. Kudos to them.”
Asked how much fun he’s having stepping in for an injured Brady Oliveira, Peterson’s face broke into a wide smile.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “It’s a BLAST. It’s still surreal. Every day I come to work and it is very much surreal to be around these guys and being around the calibre of people here. This group of guys don’t just want to win, they want to go big. It’s go big or go home and not just win, but dominate.
“It’s an every day thing here. Every day.”
TEAM TED: The Blue Bombers coaching staff were sporting blue and gold ‘Team Ted’ t-shirts during the game — just as the B.C. Lions wore last week — in support of Hamilton Tiger-Cats GM Ted Goveia, who had been here in Winnipeg since 2014 before getting the Ticat gig.
Goveia was recently diagnosed with cancer. O’Shea, it should be noted, also worked with Ted in Toronto, where the pair were part of the Argonauts Grey Cup squad in 2012.
“We worked together for over 15 years,” said O’Shea. “I love the guy.”
Team Ted
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers show support for Ted Goveia ahead of today’s game. pic.twitter.com/cIfGWHA0mc
— CFL (@CFL) June 26, 2025
AND FINALLY… thanks for reading this far and for those who have made it to the bottom and want more, we end with the video evidence of Thursday’s big ‘W’:
