Davis Alexander era off to a good start for Alouettes
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Alexander in general, and the Als' offence in particular, struggled mightily in the first half against Ottawa on May 24 in the teams' first exhibition game. Montreal failed to score a touchdown over the opening 30 minutes and even had trouble generating first downs that afternoon. Based on two weeks' of training camp workouts to that point, there was a modicum of reason to wonder — especially since Alexander and the starters didn't play the following week on the road against the Redblacks.
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Wonder no more.
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While one game does not a season make, the early reviews on Alexander are positive. Despite starting only four games last season — all wins — the 26-year-old fourth-year veteran showed the moment wasn't too big for him on Friday night.
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Alexander and his teammates delivered a beat-down on the Toronto Argonauts, handling the visitors with ease during this complete 28-10 victory at Molson Stadium in their regular-season opener before 21,480 Molson Stadium spectators.
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The Argos might be the defending Grey Cup champions, but on this night they looked like chumps.
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'His mental toughness,' said receiver Tyson Philpot, who scored Montreal's first offensive touchdown on a 26-yard pass from Alexander late in the first quarter. 'He raises the level of competition. He demands excellence from all of us. As a receiving corps we know we have to show up for him.
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'I think that's the start of the D.A. era right now.'
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Simply based on statistics, there was nothing spectacular about Alexander. He completed 19 of 26 passes for 205 yards along with the touchdown to Philpot, who suffered a freak season-ending foot injury last August against Hamilton. Alexander also was intercepted once in the third quarter, while underthrowing Philpot on a long attempt that was as good as a punt.
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In the process, Alexander showed a quarterback need not throw for 300 yards to be effective. He was accurate with his passes and was able to find receivers while moving the pocket. Austin Mack was Montreal's leading receiver, catching five passes for 51 yards. Philpot had four receptions for 48 yards.
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Alexander utilized seven different receivers.
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'I'm not going to say the pre-season doesn't mean anything to me,' Alexander said. 'You know I go out there and compete every single time. Maybe it was knocking a littler bit of rust off? Or just a different type of competitive juice. We've got playmakers everywhere. We had guys making crucial second-down conversions, and our run game was spectacular.
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