CFL West

The Saskatchewan Roughriders upset the defending West Division Champion Calgary Stampeders last weekend in the West Final and now will be facing the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 101st Grey Cup, being played Nov. 24 in Regina on Saskatchewan's home turf in Mosaic Stadium.

The last time these two teams faced each other in the Grey Cup was 1989 when the Riders beat the Ti-Cats 43-40 on a last-second field goal to win their second CFL championship. Quarterback Kent Austin won the game MVP for Saskatchewan in what is widely considered to be one of the greatest games in Grey Cup history.

The last time Saskatchewan won the Grey Cup was in 2007 when Austin, having then become the team's head coach, guided them to a 23-19 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

This time around, Austin is the head coach of the Tiger-Cats, so the man who was directly involved in two of Saskatchewan's three Grey Cup wins will be on the other side of the field. One might think that puts them at a disadvantage, but the fact is that the Roughriders will win this contest. 

The Riders simply have too many weapons this year and, as a result, they will not be denied.

Quarterback Darian Durant finished the regular season third in total passing yards, with 4,154, while also tossing a league-leading 31 touchdowns. 

Durant has a bunch of dangerous targets in Chris Getzlaf, Weston Dressler and Taj Smith. All three were over 1,000 yards in receiving, making them the most dangerous receiving unit in the CFL this year.

The running attack is just as dangerous with Kory Sheets leading the way. Sheets picked up 1,598 yards on the ground during the regular season; last weekend against the Stampeders he exploded for 177 yards on the ground plus a late-game touchdown.

The defense is equally strong. The Roughriders gave up a league-low 398 points against. Dwight Anderson tied for third in the league in interceptions with five and Alex Hall was second in the league in sacks with 16.

On the Hamilton side, Henry Burris led the CFL in yards passing with 4,925, but his top target, Bakari Grant, caught just 947 yards' worth of that total. Running back C.J. Gable had a better yards-per-carry average than Sheets (6.0 to 5.6), but far fewer carries and only 782 yards of rushing on the year.

Hamilton's defense gave up 70 more points than Saskatchewan's over the course of the season.

In category after category, the Riders are a better team on paper than the Ti-Cats. During the regular season, Saskatchewan handily beat Hamilton in consecutive weeks, shutting them out 37-0 in Week 4, then putting them away by a score of 32-20 in Week 5. 

Add in the fact that the Riders will be playing in front of a loud and proud home audience, and it seems inevitable that they'll be hoisting the Grey Cup on Sunday evening.

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The Saskatchewan Roughriders took advantage of turnovers as well as injuries to easily beat the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL West Division Final, winning 35-13.

The win puts the Riders in the Grey Cup, which will be played next Sunday on their home field, Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

After place-kicker Rene Paredes put the Stampeders up 3-0 early in the first quarter, the Roughriders answered with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown. 

The Riders would not relinquish that early lead, extending their advantage to 22-6 at half-time and never looking back from there.

The Stamps had a number of opportunities to make a game of it, but had an uncharacteristic rash of turnovers that sabotaged many of their chances. 

Calgary turned the ball over a total of seven times, twice on interceptions thrown by starting quarterback Kevin Glenn, one fumble by kick returner Larry Taylor, one turnover on downs and three lost fumbles by the receiving corps.

The Rider defense was also able to contain the CFL's top rusher for the first half, holding Jon Cornish to just four yards on the ground. Although Cornish finished with 67 yards rushing, he was never a factor.

Meanwhile, the Roughriders ground attack exploited two critical injuries in Calgary's defensive line. With Demonté Bolden and Micah Johnson on the shelf with knee injuries, running back Kory Sheets was able to gain yardage almost at will, finishing with 177 yards rushing and a touchdown. 

Riders QB Darian Durant also found himself with plenty of time to pass with the weakened Calgary D-line unable to put pressure on him. He was sacked just once, completing 80 percent of his passes for 280 yards and three TDs. 

Saskatchewan now heads home to prepare for next weekend's Grey Cup game against the East representative, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who beat the Toronto Argonauts in the East Final earlier in the day by a score of 36-24.

The last time these two teams faced each other in a Grey Cup was in 1989 when the Roughriders beat the Ti-Cats 43-40. In that game, Saskatchewan quarterback Kent Austin won the game MVP; ironically, Austin is now Hamilton's head coach.

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The West Division representative in the 101st Grey Cup will be determined on Sunday when the Calgary Stampeders host the Saskatchewan Roughriders at McMahon Stadium. 

Saskatchewan is coming off a big win against the BC Lions last weekend, beating the Lions 29-25, and the Roughriders badly want to advance to the Grey Cup, which is being played on their home turf in Mosaic Stadium. 

Calgary finished the regular season with the best record in the CFL at 14-4. That first-place finish earned the Stamps the bye through the first round of the playoffs.

They're now hopeful they can return to the Grey Cup after losing to the Toronto Argonauts in last year's final by a decisive 35-22 score.

The Stamps are going to have their hands full on Sunday, however. They lost three key players to injury in their final regular-season game: Defensive linemen Demonté Bolden and Micah Johnson both suffered knee injuries, and top receiver Marquay McDaniel sustained a high ankle sprain.

The good news is that the bye week has given them a chance to try some new players on the D-line and allowed some other players who were injured earlier in the season to finally be ready to go again.

Junior Turner, Etienne Legare, Freddie Bishop and Earl Okine have all taken reps on the defensive line in the last week. Receivers Brad Sinopoli and Joe West are now recovered from injuries and should both be good to go in place of McDaniel.

Running back Jon Cornish was yet another casualty of the final week of the schedule, suffering a shoulder injury, but the extra week off should see him feeling much better and ready to lead the ground attack.

Said starting quarterback Kevin Glenn, via CFL.ca, "Getting guys acclimated with the positions they may play in this game was big. Having those practices and letting those guys work in those positions, it helped having that bye."

On the Saskatchewan side of things, the Riders should be ready to go and eager to beat the Stamps in their own house. 

Slotback Chris Getzlaf will be back after an injury that kept him out of last week's contest, giving quarterback Darian Durant a full complement of targets in the passing game. 

With the Calgary D-line dealing with a potential weakness in the middle, Durant might also be able to exploit them for extra yards on the ground. Durant ran for 97 yards on just six carries last weekend against BC, so if he sees a hole between the always dangerous pass rush of Charleston Hughes and Cordarro Law, he's liable to call his own number and take off.

There is typically a massive crowd of watermelon-clad Roughriders fans at games in Calgary, so home-field advantage is probably not going to be much of a factor. That means the game is anyone's to win. The action gets underway at 6:30 p.m. MST.

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The Edmonton Eskimos announced Monday that head coach Kavis Reed will not be returning next season after guiding the team to a disappointing 4-14 record and last place in the CFL West Division.

The former Eskimos defensive back just completed his third season as head coach of the franchise. He started off his coaching career with a bang, going 11-7 and being nominated for the CFL Coach of the Year award in 2011.

Things were less rosy in 2012 when the team went 7-11 and took an early exit from the postseason before finally bottoming out this year and missing the playoffs entirely.

Edmonton has a long and storied history, having won 13 Grey Cups in 24 appearances in the championship game. But its last Grey Cup win was in the 93rd Grey Cup in 2005. Almost a decade without a trip to the big dance is frustrating to the team, and missing the playoffs is not considered acceptable to this franchise.

Reed becomes the first coaching casualty since the end of the regular season in the CFL. Tim Burke of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers could be the next on the chopping block after guiding his team to the worst record in the league at 3-15.

No names have been mentioned yet as possible replacements for Reed, and it is possible that Edmonton might wait until at least the end of the postseason before making any kind of announcement.

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Coming off dominant wins, both the Calgary Stampeders and the Saskatchewan Roughriders are riding hot streaks and hoping to carry that momentum into the playoffs as the CFL regular season winds down.

The top two teams in the West Division will now face each other in Week 18 of the regular season schedule with postseason positioning on the line, not to mention the opportunity to send a message to their potential playoff rivals.

In their previous two meetings this year, the Stamps and Riders have a dead-even split, with both teams earning a 15-point victory.

This time around, Calgary (13-3) is trying to seal up the best record in the CFL while Saskatchewan (11-5) is trying to catch Calgary for that honour. A win by Calgary in either of their last two games will lock up that spot, while the Riders need to win both of their games and have the Stamps lose both of theirs.

Last weekend, the Stampeders beat the Edmonton Eskimos 27-13 extending their four-game winning streak. The Roughriders pounded the BC Lions last weekend, winning 35-14; they are enjoying a three-game winning streak.

One of these streaks ends on Saturday.

One of the more interesting matchups will be in the running game where Calgary's Jon Cornish leads the CFL in rushing yards with 1,690 while Saskatchewan's Kory Sheets is second with 1,556 yards.

Sheets has already declared himself the superior running back, saying Cornish is only leading because he has played two more games this year. On the other hand, Cornish is also leading Sheets in yards per carry (7.2 versus Sheets' 5.6), so he might be overstating his position.

Performance of the quarterbacks will also be a key to victory. 

Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant is currently second in the league in passing yards (3,952) with a solid QB rating at 97.2. When in doubt, he looks to his top two receivers, Chris Getzlaf and Weston Dressler. Getzlaf has 60 catches for 996 yards and Dressler has 64 catches for 960 yards.

Stampeders QB Kevin Glenn has been very effective this year in the starting role, throwing for 2,545 yards and earning an impressive 102.2 passer's rating while only playing in 12 games. His top target has been Marquay McDaniel, who has nabbed 70 catches for 959 yards.

So the defensive strategy for both teams will be similar: force mistakes from the quarterback and shut down the running game. Both teams have had defensive success this year, with the Riders surrendering the fewest points in the CFL (339) and the Stamps right behind them (362) with the second-fewest points against.

Calgary's pass rush should pose problems for Durant. Charleston Hughes is tied for the league lead in sacks with 15 and Cordarro Law is third with 12.

Saskatchewan's secondary has been very effective, with Dwight Anderson second in the league with five interceptions and three more Riders tied for ninth in the CFL with three interceptions apiece.

The home team has won both contests between these teams so far this year and it could very well be the case that the trend continues in this game; Calgary is 7-1 at home this year, with their only home loss coming on Sept. 21 when the Toronto Argonauts beat them 33-27.

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The Edmonton Eskimos desperately needed a win on Saturday to hang on to their slim hopes of earning a playoff spot. Instead, they were beaten in virtually every aspect of the game by the Montreal Alouettes, losing 47-24 in front of 28,455 fans—their smallest crowd of the season.

In point of fact, the final score makes the Eskimos look pretty good. Edmonton scored three touchdowns in the final 10 minutes of play to cut a 40-3 deficit in half and make the final score look less embarrassing after Montreal had called off the dogs.

After 14 games, Edmonton is last in the CFL West Division at 3-11, with the second-worst record in the league, ahead of only the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who sit at an even more dismal 2-12.

Starting quarterback Mike Reilly, returning from a concussion suffered last week, was just 13 for 21 in a little over three quarters of play for only 180 yards while also tossing two interceptions in the losing cause. The Eskimos were also not helped by the rushing game, which picked up just 45 yards on the ground.

The defense surrendered 450 yards to Montreal, including four passing touchdowns thrown by starting QB Josh Neiswander, and rushing touchdowns by Tyrell Sutton and Troy Smith.

Even when things went right, they still went wrong.

SJ Green caught and fumbled a pass near the Eskimos end zone in the first quarter that took a favourable bounce right back into his hands, allowing him to score his second touchdown of the game. In the second quarter, with the Alouettes knocking on the door again, Chris Thompson intercepted a Neiswander pass, but receiver Brandon London knocked it free for the fumble which was recovered by Montreal's Eric Deslauriers to keep the march going, leading to another touchdown.

With the game essentially out of reach in the second half, the Eskimos sent backup QB Jonathan Crompton out to finish off the game and although he threw two interceptions in the third quarter, he picked up 21 points on three touchdown passes in the fourth to make things interesting—but it was far too little, far too late.

Anything the Eskimos do for the remainder of the season is also likely to be too little, too late. They have no chance now of catching anyone in their own division for a playoff spot; their only hope is to run the table in their final four games and hope that Montreal doesn't manage one more win in that time.

A tall order considering that the Alouettes are on a two-game winning streak and face the lowly Blue Bombers next week.

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For the second year in a row, Calgary Stampeders running back Jon Cornish is having an outstanding season.

In 2012, Cornish broke Normie Kwong's 56-year-old record for rushing by a Canadian when he racked up 1,457 yards on the ground. 

After a 114-yard performance Saturday night against the Hamilton Tiger Cats, Cornish is averaging 6.6 yards per carry and is actually ahead of his 2012 pace with five games yet to play.

Cornish has only been held under 50 yards in a game on two occasions this season. The first was in Week 2 when the Saskatchewan Roughriders were able to limit Cornish to just 42 yards on the ground and not even a single catch in a game the Riders won by a 36-21 score.

The only other game in which he was under 50 yards was the Week 9 game against the Toronto Argonauts that saw Cornish remain on the sidelines due to injury.

Saturday was the fifth time this season he has rushed for 100 or more yards, and he has been as high as 175 yards—plus four touchdowns—against the Roughriders in Week 7.

All things being equal, he should be able to improve on last year's number.

In the Stampeders' final five games, they have a mixed bag of competition. Next week, they face the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who have been disastrously bad all season long, managing just two wins and giving up a league-high 421 points. When the Stamps faced the Bombers in Week 5, Calgary easily beat Winnipeg, 37-24. Cornish picked up 88 rushing yards and added 87 receiving yards for good measure.

They also take on the Edmonton Eskimos in Week 17. The Eskies are in last place in the West Division with only three wins, and Cornish is averaging 101.5 yards rushing per game against them this season.

The other three games could prove to be challenges. The Stampeders face the BC Lions twice. The Lions have been on a roll, winning their last three in a row. Calgary and BC have split their first two meetings of the season, but Cornish rushed for 172 yards in their first meeting and 73 in their second.

If he can post similar numbers against the Lions in the home stretch, he'll maintain his pace.

The other tough matchup will be in Week 18 when Calgary hosts Saskatchewan. Although the Riders have now dropped three games in a row—including one to the Blue Bombers—they remain a tough team with the stingiest defense in the CFL, having given up just 282 points in 12 games.

Cornish has had both his best rushing game and his worst rushing game of the season against the Roughriders. He needs to battle hard against Saskatchewan and earn another big game on the ground to outdo last year's performance, but he has proved that it is well within his abilities to do just that.

The only real question at this point is whether or not Cornish is the greatest Canadian player in the CFL's history. It may be a year or two too soon to tell, but it is looking good so far.

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The Battle of Alberta begins anew on Monday when the Edmonton Eskimos make their annual trip to Calgary to face the Stampeders in the Labour Day Classic.

In most years, this is one of the most hotly contested games of the season for both teams. The Calgary-Edmonton rivalry seems to run deep and wide throughout all sports, be it football, hockey, lacrosse or baseball—when the cities have pro baseball teams, that is.

So watching the Stamps and Eskimos square off is usually a treat.

This year, however, it is liable to be a snoozer. The Stampeders are currently a solid 6-2 and in second place in the Western Division while the Eskies are a dismal 1-7, tied for the worst record in the CFL with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and languishing in a six-game losing streak.

The only thing that might make this game more interesting is the ongoing issues with injuries that Calgary continues to deal with.

Nik Lewis fractured his tibia during Calgary's Week 8 loss to the BC Lions, leaving the Stamps without their top receiver. Quarterback Kevin Glenn was forced out of last week's win against the Toronto Argonauts after taking a shot to the head and superstar running back Jon Cornish missed the entire game due to a leg injury.

However, both Glenn and Cornish are apparently good to go for Monday, which means Calgary's key weapons are in play.

Glenn has been solid all year long as Calgary's pivot. In six games he has thrown six touchdown passes against just two interceptions, producing a strong 99.4 passer's rating. And if he has to check out, backup Bo Levi Mitchell has done an outstanding job in relief, tossing five TDs in only 54 pass attempts with no interceptions.

Cornish, meanwhile, remains in second place in CFL rushing this year in spite of missing last week's game. He has racked up 916 all-purpose yards in seven games this year and is well on the way to a second-straight Outstanding Canadian award.

Even without Lewis, Calgary's receiving corps is deep and dangerous. Marquay McDaniel has 419 yards receiving so far, with his first 100-yard game coming last week in Lewis' absence. Maurice Price and Jabari Arthur are both over 200 yards in receiving and four more players are over 100 yards.

Defensively, Calgary has given up the second-fewest points so far this year (200). Charleston Hughes and Cordarro Law have five sacks each and are providing excellent pass pressure.

The Eskimos, on the other hand, have struggled mightily all year.

Quarterback Mike Reilly has shown steady progress and is currently third in the CFL in passing yards with 2,031. But there haven't been too many other standouts in the year; the Eskies have the second fewest points for (188) and are fifth in points against (235), which doesn't add up to a lot of good news.

On the bright side, Edmonton's last three losses have all been by a field goal or less, so they have shown signs of improvement, but unless several players on their roster can step up in a big way on Monday, the Eskimos will be dropping their eighth game of the year.

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The Calgary Stampeders resume their 2013 season this weekend with a matchup against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

After a decisive 37-24 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers two weekends ago featuring an outstanding performance by third-string quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, the quarterback situation remains murky for the Stamps.

Although Calgary head coach John Hufnagel has already announced that Drew Tate is healthy and will be the starter against the Roughriders, the fact that Mitchell's very first CFL start earned him the league's Offensive Player of the Week award means that Calgary has three athletes who can fill that role on any given night.

Kevin Glenn has done an admirable job over the last two years in backing up Tate, including last season when he wound up as Calgary's starter for most of the season after Tate went down with an injury in Week Two. Glenn stepped up and guided the Stamps all the way to the playoffs, then took over again for the Grey Cup when Tate was re-injured in the Western final.

There are a couple realities that Calgary will have to deal with in the coming weeks and months.

The first one is that Tate is proving to be fragile. While he has been a major asset when he's on the field, he has never played in more than 15 games in a season. He has to have a reliable backup waiting in the wings to step in the next time he goes down. 

Right now, that backup is Glenn, but Mitchell could just as easily be that guy if he is capable of continuing to put up the numbers he already has this season.

The second reality is that next year's CFL expansion draft will mean giving up some assets. With the depth of talent that the Stampeders have at quarterback, it is a virtual certainty that the Ottawa Redblacks will snap up one of them.

Given that Glenn is 34 years old, it seems unlikely that Ottawa would take him. Building a new franchise around a player in his mid-30s doesn't make much sense, which means he's probably safe to leave exposed for the draft. That means the Stamps must decide whether to protect Tate or Mitchell.

Tate's health is a question mark, although he is right in the prime of his professional life. Mitchell, on the other hand, is younger and has a ton of upside with a few more years to continue to develop.

It seems to me that the right play will be to protect Mitchell and leave Tate available to be taken by the Redblacks.

It also seems to me that Calgary would do well to give Mitchell more time under centre to gain experience if they want to designate him as the quarterback of the future. That means spreading the workload around a little more as this season wears on.

In the meantime, it looks like the lion's share of the snaps will be taken by Tate while Hufnagel crosses his fingers that nothing else happens to his star QB.

August 7 Update: It seems that Drew Tate's arm injury will sideline him for at least one more week. According to CFL.ca, Tate's forearm strain has flared up again this week, putting him on the bench once again. Kevin Glenn gets the nod as the starter while Bo Levi Mitchell will serve as the backup.

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Although the Calgary Stampeders picked up a huge win last weekend against the Montreal Alouettes, coming from way behind to earn the 38-27 victory, it came with a price.

Backup quarterback Kevin Glenn, starting in place of injured No. 1 QB Drew Tate, suffered an arm injury in the second half, forcing the Stamps to go to third-string pivot Bo Levi Mitchell.

Mitchell acquitted himself well late in the game, completing seven of 13 passes for 49 yards and two touchdowns while also adding 29 rushing yards on three carries.

Calgary head coach and general manager John Hufnagel has confirmed that Kevin Glenn's injury will keep him out of the starting role this coming weekend when the Stampeders travel to Winnipeg to face the Blue Bombers. Calgary Sun reporter Scott Mitchell reported via Twitter on Wednesday:

Hufnagel said QB will be a gameday decision. It's either Bo Levi or Tate. KG will be 3rd string #calstampeders #cfl

— Scott Mitchell (@SUNMitchell) July 24, 2013

Whether or not Tate takes his spot under centre will depend entirely on the condition of his arm, and it seems likely that, given the fragility he has shown in the past couple of years, they won't put him in that situation until he is 100 percent healthy.

That means it might be time for Mitchell to see his first CFL start.

Although most of his game reps to date have been in short yardage situations—he has more rushes (41) than pass attempts (34) since his arrival with the Stamps in 2012—his passing so far has been decent, completing 55.9 percent of his attempts for a solid passer's rating of 90. 

Add in the fact that the Blue Bombers could be vulnerable—they've started the season with a 1-3 record and they'll be starting backup quarterback Justin Goltz because No. 1 QB Buck Pierce is also hurt—and this might be the perfect situation to see what Mitchell can do. 

On the other hand, the Bombers have already picked up 19 sacks in just four games, and all that pressure could break the untested young pivot.

When you add all of the factors up, however, it seems like this is the time to give Mitchell his shot, if he's ever going to get one. The Blue Bombers are a soft opponent, notwithstanding their pass rush, which gives Mitchell his best chance to have a positive impact. 

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