Article author:
The Canadian Press
Jeff DeDekker
The Riders, 5-4 in fourth place in the CFL West Division, begin Friday's four-game stretch against visiting B.C. To do. This includes the home and home series against the Lions, 7-1, and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 9-1.
Craig Dickenson agreed with suggestions from reporters that this four-game stretch of his might be the toughest during his tenure as Head of the Riders.
"It's going to be a tough game, but it's good to have two games at home for him," said Dickenson, who has a 27-14 record as head coach. . “We also feel like we are getting better as a team, so I feel like we can play better football than we ever have. Those teams playing in Winnipeg and British Columbia are wearing down a little bit.
"But this is one area of the game at a time. If we can win this, we are happy and hopefully ready for the next win.
The Lions defeated the Riders, 32-17, in Regina on July 29, taking the win by 17 points. Quarterback Nathan Rourke spearheaded the comeback, finishing the game with 27 of 33 passes for 336 yards and two touchdowns.
In his first year as a starter, Rourke is putting together ridiculous numbers. He has recorded his 2,906 passing yards so far, and has recorded his mark in eight games, more than any quarterback since 1994 (Winnipeg's Matt Dunnigan, 3,032 yards). ).
Rourke has him pacing with 6,538 yards, which ranks second in his CFL history behind Doug's 6,619 total yards in his Fruity set with the Lions in 1991. will be
Rourke is also on pace to break league records for both his season completions and his touchdowns passed. He is projected to finish with his 509 completions, and in 2015 Ottawa he surpassed his 481, the current record set by Henry Burris with the Redblacks.
Flutie's record of 48 touchdowns his passing, set in 1994, will be surpassed by Rourke's projected 52 this season. .
"Nobody expected that from [Rourke]," said Dickenson. "So what he's playing is he's MVP caliber he's football and he's still in sophomore year. I'm surprised too. The short answer is no, but I'm impressed . Putting together a series of 7 or 8 games he has is not easy.It doesn't matter who you are.
"He's very good at many things, but one thing I have to impress is his resilience. He makes mistakes early on, but that It's like water falling off a duck's back, forget it and move on to the next play, he's a winner and you can see that the team played hard for him and really believed in him That belief is a very strong one, and that's what they're doing now." will benefit. Pete Robertson and A.C. Leonard have returned from injury, and Garrett Marino has been suspended for four games.
Robertson was leading the league in sacks in seven of five games when he injured his leg in Saskatchewan's 28–13 win over Ottawa on July 8. I was. Leonard has 3 of his 5 games, sacks his 7.
Robertson is desperate to get back on the pitch and his defensive line proves to be good.
"I'll let everyone else decide on that," Robertson said when asked if the riders had the best defensive line when the unit was healthy. rice field. "We feel like we're playing with the lights on. We all play together and love playing next to each other."
The Riders, who have allowed a league-high 32 sacks this season, have a hamstring injury that will keep Na'Ty Rodgers and Teran Vaughan out on Tuesday.
Riders his quarterback Cody Fajardo hopes this newest group will improve pass protection.
"Once again, a changeup on the offensive line. Hopefully we'll have some continuity now so they can start playing together and mesh well.
BC Lions (7-1) at Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-4)
Friday at Mosaic Stadium
Triple the fun: The Lions have this season We have three receivers on pace to reach over 1,350 receiving yards—Dominic Rimes, Keown Hatcher, and Lucky Whitehead—no CFL team has three receivers over 1,300 in the same season.
Super Mario: Saskatchewan's Mario Alford is closing in on the kick-return hat-trick club Alford, who won the 2023 draft pick from Montreal on July 3 returned the kickoff and missed field for a touchdown for the Riders. A punt return for a touchdown gave Alford the lead over Dominic Dorsey (Toronto, 2007), Bashir Livingston (Toronto, 2004) and Marcus Thigpen (Toronto, 2004). Hamilton, 2010) and Henry Williams (Edmonton, 1990)
DYNAMIC DUO: Saskatchewan linebackers Larry Dean and Darnell Sankey combined over 100 times in the same season. Dean now leads the CFL with 58 tackles, while Sankey is second with 54.
This report by Canadian Press was first published on August 18, 2022.
A division of Postmedia Network Inc. Subscribe to receive daily top stories from the National Post Please update.
Thank you for registering.
Welcome sending his email. If you don't see it, please check your spam folder.
The next issue of NP Posted will arrive in your inbox shortly.
