Jamie Nye: I’m not getting any kicks from talking about the Riders’ kicker

Are you as sick as I am of talking, hearing and debating about the kicker?

The Roughriders are 9-2, and while I’d much rather not have to do this, here we are talking about the kicker once again.

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On the Green Zone’s postgame shows, we bring on dozens of callers to share their views after each Roughrider game. In the 12 seasons I’ve been taking calls after every great Rider victory or heart-wrenching loss – along with my co-hosts Darrell Davis and Belton Johnson – I don’t recall conversations about a kicker dominating our phone lines as much as the talk about Brett Lauther has for the past 11 weeks.

Whether you want to trade him, cut him, keep him or bench him, I’m just glad we’ve clearly grown as a fan base because no one has suggested dumping manure on his driveway (or his neighbours’ driveway). Not yet, anyway.

Lauther, of course, hasn’t missed a field goal of significance this season, nor has he made one of much significance in 2025. The closest thing we saw was a 59-yard field goal at the end of the half against Hamilton, though he also missed three other attempts that afternoon.

The reason we haven’t seen Lauther pressed into late-game heroics is that the Roughriders’ wins this season have either been blowouts or seen the opponents cutting into leads and coming up short.

Lauther hasn’t cost them a game, as the team’s two losses came by margins of 14 and 17 points. Those aren’t deficits where you can pin anything on a struggling kicker.

So not once this year has Corey Mace had to call on Lauther to trot on to the field in a make-it-or-break-it situation.

But would he?

In the Labour Day Classic on Sunday, there was a moment at the end of the game where fans questioned whether or not Corey Mace actually trusts Lauther to make a decisive kick.

Staring at second and seven with the ball on Winnipeg’s 45-yard line, the Roughriders decided to throw the ball with 1:32 left in the game. Only four seconds ran off the clock. You have to keep in mind that the Bombers were without timeouts, so another handoff to A.J. Ouellette instead of a throw would run another 20 to 25 seconds off the clock.

After the incompletion, TSN cut to the sideline as Brett Lauther worked his way up the field to hear if it was his turn to ice the game.

Nope!

Instead, the Mace trusted his 39-year old quarterback to pull of a trick pooch punt play. Trevor Harris admitted after the game that he hadn’t tried a punt since college.

The result was Zach Collaros getting the opportunity to tie the game, which he very nearly did, and the Riders have Tevaughn Campbell to thank for the game ending in a win.

Last year, I think Mace and company would have been more than comfortable running the ball on second down and having Lauther kick a field goal with roughly a minute left in the game to go up by 10 and leave Collaros and the Bombers with little hope.

As a result, what might seem to be an innocuous series of plays on Sunday actually highlighted a major problem that the Riders have.

As the games get bigger, they will also get tighter and the need to kick a clutch field goal becomes much more likely. And if you’re not going to let Lauther kick himself out of it by giving him the chance to seal a win, when are you going to?

It’s not the first time over the last few weeks we’ve seen Mace choose to keep Lauther on the sideline. He admitted that during the game against the Tiger-Cats he went for two after a touchdown because the point after wasn’t a sure thing due to the wind. I’m sorry, but I’ve seen Lauther kick extra points in worse wind that that. The issue was Mace just witnessed Lauther miss from 28, and he’s only made 66 per cent of his field goals all year.

If he was at 80 per cent or better, Mace wouldn’t be worried about Lauther kicking from 32 yards straight down the middle with a wind.

Did I want to spend my time writing a column about the Riders’ kicker during a historic 9-2 season and after one of the most entertaining Labour Day Classics in history? Not for one moment.

But for what feels like the ninth week in a row, it’s what 90 per cent of the fans want to talk about. So maybe this is a column to implore Corey Mace to end the speculation and debate, make a decision and make it clear.

He should either say “Brett Lauther is my kicker!” or “Campbell Fair is now our guy!”

Although with the decision on Sunday night to pick a guy who hasn’t punted before over your veteran kicker, I think we know what decision has to be made, despite how crappy it would be for one of the greatest kickers in Roughriders history who just felt one of the greatest joys in life by bringing a child into the world.

However you’d just have to add it to the thousands upon thousands of examples of “great game, lousy business.”