10 Thoughts: Roughriders assert dominance in win over Alouettes
In Week 9 of the CFL season, the Green and White improved to 7-1 with a 34-6 victory over the Montreal Alouettes, in what was Saskatchewan's most convincing win of the year.
Here are the top 10 takeaways from the victory:
10 Thoughts
1. Saturday's game was billed as a potential Grey Cup preview by some but it's hard to really consider it that with Alouettes starting quarterback Davis Alexander sidelined with an injury. The Alouettes have a top defence and while McLeod Bethel-Thompson has plenty of experience in the league, Alexander is the more explosive quarterback. Missing top receivers Tyson Philpot and Austin Mack didn't help either.
2. The Roughriders solidified their Grey Cup-contender status with their current lineup led by quarterback Trevor Harris, who continued his strong start to the season. Harris completed 19 of 27 passes for 289 yards with two touchdown passes and was effective on his short, medium and deep passes. Hard to ask for much more especially when he's protecting the football like he has been.
3. Harris completed 70.4 per cent of his passes on Saturday, which marked the 11th game in a row with at least 70 per cent completion rate. That extends his CFL record and maybe that was the reason he stayed in the game when it was out of reach in the fourth quarter as he completed two short passes to get over that 70 per cent mark.
4. Short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens showed his value on the opening drive of the game. Not only did he secure first downs on two third-down gambles, but he plunged into the end zone for the game's first touchdown. On one 'sneak,' Stevens picked up seven yards and you have to wonder if he went wide every time how many yards/touchdowns he could get. Can't get greedy, I guess.
5. Montreal has always been a tough place to play for Saskatchewan. Not this year though. The last time the Roughriders won in Montreal, Harris was the quarterback for the Alouettes. That was in 2021 and Harris replaced an ineffective Matthew Shiltz at quarterback but couldn't lead the Alouettes to a comeback win.
6. While it wasn't necessarily an eight-sack performance like last week against the Edmonton Elks, Saskatchewan's defence made life tough for Alouettes quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who was intercepted and sacked twice. In fact, Bethel-Thompson was so ineffective, the Alouettes tried Caleb Evans at quarterback. That short-lived experiment didn't work so MBT came back and finished the game and should have been intercepted twice more by Riders' safety Nelson Lokombo.
7. Montreal was probably trying to capture some magic they found in 2024. Last year, the Roughriders led 16-3 in Montreal at halftime and an ineffective Evans was replaced by little-known Alexander at half. Alexander went on to lead the Alouettes to a 20-16 comeback win, which was the first step in him becoming the club's franchise quarterback.
8. There have been many questions about if the Roughriders can close out games. Well, they had no problems with that on Saturday as they not only allowed just three second half points but also scored themselves in the fourth quarter, which is the first time in two games they've scored in the final 15 minutes. Leading by 15 at half, the Roughriders kept their foot down on Montreal's top-ranked defence, which lost a few players to injury during the game.
9. The Roughriders didn't have to punt a whole lot but when they did punter Joe Couch had an impressive game. The Aussie averaged 55.5 yards per punt on four punts, which was his highest total of the year.
10. The Roughriders now enter their second by week of the season with an enticing matchup coming up on the other side. On Aug. 16, the East Division-leading Hamilton Tiger-Cats (6-2) will visit Mosaic Stadium to take on the West Division leading Roughriders as Harris and Bo Levi Mitchell go head-to-head. Now that's a potential Grey Cup preview.
tshire@postmedia.com
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Roughriders improve to 7-1 with convincing 34-6 win over Alouettes
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