Murray Wood The end of the great Canadian game as we know it
The last Roughrider home game was the last CFL game in Saskatchewan played on a CFL-sized field. Murray Wood thinks it's...
The magical ride for the Saskatchewan Roughriders ended after four straight CFL victories.
Head coach Chris Jones can remove the green “Diversity is Strength” shirt he’s been wearing over his all-black outfit during the winning streak, which started when they dumped Duron Carter and brought back Rob Bagg. Jones’ wardrobe and Bagg’s return had very little to do with Saskatchewan’s turnaround, but the departure of Carter – an immature and unpredictable talent – certainly helped instill a new, focused attitude among the players. But it also left Saskatchewan with one of the CFL’s weakest receiving corps on an offence that routinely gets out-scored by its defence.
During Saturday’s 30-25 home-field loss to the Ottawa Redblacks, the Roughriders got two touchdowns on kick returns and, for a change, one touchdown from its offence and zero touchdowns from its defence. Quarterback Zach Collaros and offensive coordinator Stephen McAdoo bore the brunt of the criticism, but Saskatchewan’s defence surrendered almost 500 yards against Trevor Harris, the Redblacks quarterback who was coming off two poor performances. Blame the offence, blame the defence. The streak is over.
