Murray Wood: Who's hot and who's not
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The Saskatchewan Roughriders are excited to get another shot at the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
The host Riders lost the Labour Day Classic 20-18 to their CFL West Division rivals on Sunday. The rematch — the annual Banjo Bowl — takes place Saturday at IG Field.
Kickoff for the game is set for 3 p.m. The Green Zone pre-game show begins at 1 p.m.
“(Labour Day) was a good game on both sides of the ball; their guys play with good energy and we play with good energy,” defensive end Pete Robertson said.
“We couldn’t pull it off and it was a great game on both ends, but we’re ready to get back to it and the Banjo Bowl over there in their home and hopefully we can bring it home to us.”
“I think it’s important for us to just go into this week understanding our assignments (and) understanding what we need to do to win,” added defensive tackle Miles Brown. “I think we did a great job this last week displaying how good we are in comparison to their O-line and we will continue to do that.”
Robertson believes the Roughriders can build off the good showing they had against Winnipeg to help build some momentum late into the season.
“They’re the team to beat. They are the defending champs and they are real good at battling adversity and playing together as a team,” Robertson said. “It’s just another great opportunity we have to go over there into their home and to actually dominate and win and play good in all four phases.”
One of the keys for the Riders will be containing quarterback Zach Collaros. The Bombers’ pivot threw for 214 yards and two touchdowns in the Labour Day Classic, with a lot of his big plays coming while escaping the pocket and throwing on the run.
“When we rush, we still need to have the thought in our mind about what we’ve got to do and what type of quarterback we’re going against,” Robertson said.
The defensive end compared Collaros to another star quarterback the team faced earlier in the season.
“He’s no different from (B.C. Lions QB Nathan) Rourke — both are great players and can make plays with their feet,” Robertson said.
The Riders have been the league’s class when it comes to sacking quarterbacks, with a league-leading 35 sacks so far this season.
Their run defence is near the top of the list as well, giving up an average of only 83.3 yards per game — behind only the 76.5 yards per game allowed by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
“(It’s just) being consistent and coming to play every day. There’s really not a big science to it. We just come to play and try to do our job the best we can,” Robertson said.
The Riders’ defensive line has been going through some changes over recent weeks.
Saskatchewan will be without defensive tackle Anthony Lanier II for a third game as he deals with a concussion. He has seven sacks so far in 2022.
The Riders also announced they had released defensive tackle Garrett Marino on Tuesday.
Brown, Demarcus Christmas and Charbel Dabire are expected to see their roles grow due to those moves.
“We all loved Garrett and we’re going to forever love Garrett at the end of the day. Those guys need to push forward and do what they need to do,” Robertson said.
“Guys get released all the time. Me being a pro for a while, you get close to guys and they’ve got to leave so that’s just how this world works, this profession especially. One day you’re here, then the next you’re not.”
“I think it’s really unfortunate. Garrett isn’t just a player on this team but he’s a friend and a brother to me. He’s going to be missed and we really love him around here and we really love him on the D-line,” Brown added.
