Bailey McLean/CFL.ca
For the second week in a row, the fourth game on the schedule might be the best one.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Saskatchewan Roughriders meet again on Sunday (7:00 p.m. ET, TSN, CBS Sports Network, CFL+), this time at Mosaic Stadium, giving us another helping of what turned out to be a hugely entertaining Week 2 finale. It kind of feels impossible to make a pick in this one, doesn’t it?
The Riders came away with a 33-30 win that thrilled everyone that will be filing their way into Mosaic Stadium on Sunday and breaking the hearts of those that slowly trickled out of Tim Hortons Field. C.J. Avery‘s late interception allowed the Riders to get Brett Lauther in position for a 43-yard field goal that lifted them to 2-0, while the Ticats fell to 0-2.
There are a lot more than five things I’m excited about for this game but for brevity’s sake, we’ll keep it there.
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Which unheralded receiver will step up this time?
Last week it was Kiondré Smith* (six catches, 119 yards, one touchdown) and Shemar Bridges (six catches, 72 yards and a touchdown) that led the way for the Ticats. As a wave of injuries washed over the Riders’ receiving corps — none of them seeming to impact this week’s roster — we saw Jerreth Sterns (six catches, 112 yards) and rookie Ajou Ajou (five catches for 41 yards in the second half) step in and make valuable contributions for the offence.
Kian Schaffer-Baker led the way for the Riders with seven catches for 109 yards with two touchdowns, but that’s nothing new for the former Guelph Gryphon. Will we see some more under-the-radar names emerge this week, as we hope for more massive outings from Trevor Harris and Bo Levi Mitchell (more on that below)?
*If you watched the Ticats closely last year — he had 56 catches for 701 yards in 2023 — Smith’s huge day isn’t that surprising. If he continues to have games like he did last week, he’ll move into a front-and-centre-player role for the Ticats.
Is this AJ Ouellette‘s big game?
We all saw what AJ Ouellette did last year, racking up 1,009 rushing yards and eight touchdowns with the Argos, along with 163 receiving yards and a pair of TDs through the air. Two games in, the tailback has been quiet by his standards with 29 carries for 64 yards and a touchdown, with five catches for 46 yards. At times last year in Toronto, Ouellette felt like he had a Brady Oliveira-type importance to the Argos’ offence. We’re sure he’s more than happy to be 2-0 as he settles into his new football home, but it’d be nice to see Ouellette make an impact in the way that we’ve grown accustomed to seeing when he was in Double Blue. Doing it in his debut game at Mosaic would be the perfect stage for him.
Give us another QB duel, please
Last week Bo Levi Mitchell (27-38 passing, 380 yards, three touchdowns, one interception) gave us his most productive outing since the 2019 season. It was easily his best game as a Tiger-Cat and even defeat, fans should be feeling good about what they’re seeing from their star player early in this campaign.
Trevor Harris won the QB duel last week, edging Mitchell out with 390 passing yards on 32-45 passing with two TDs. It was Harris’ most productive game since he threw for 413 yards and three touchdowns in a loss to Winnipeg in Week 2 of the 2023 season.
It’s hard to expect such a high level of offence from two quarterbacks again, but this is the dynamic I’m rooting for the most this week. If each QB is pushing for 400-plus yards of net offence for their respective teams, we’re in for another game-of-the-year candidate, just three weeks into the season.
Putting the 0 (zero) in OL: the Ticats’ clean sheet
Trench play may not be the stuff that highlight reel packs are built around, but it does often dictate wins and losses. The Ticats’ offensive line is missing star tackle Joel Figueroa, who has started the season on the six-game injured list. That didn’t stop the Ticats from protecting Mitchell, who was sacked zero times in last week’s battle with the Riders.
Meanwhile, the Riders gave up four sacks en route to the win, but will be making adjustments to their o-line going into Sunday’s game. Philip Blake, a prized free agent signing two years ago, was injured last week and has been moved to the six-game injured list. This year’s prized OL free agent signing, Jermarcus Hardrick, missed the first two days of practice this week with an ankle injury but will suit up on Sunday. The Riders managed the win while losing the QB protection battle last week; it would be very tough to do that for a second week in a row against the same opponent.
Time for Tim?
Saving perhaps the biggest Ticats dynamic for last, let’s look at Tim White. The league’s leading receiver last year got his 1,269 yards and eight touchdowns from a combination of Mitchell, Taylor Powell and Matthew Shiltz, as injuries consumed the Ticats’ QB room. With Mitchell serving it up and going over the 300-yard passing mark in both of his games this year, White hasn’t feasted the way that many assumed he would. Most notably, Mitchell’s late fourth quarter pass to him bounced off of his hands and landed in the arms of Avery, a gift/curse from the football gods depending on your perspective, that put the game at the foot of Lauther and left the Ticats stunned.
Simply put, White is too good to not turn things around and start helping his team win. A CFL All-Star two years running, White is due for one of his signature monstrous games. He went over 100 receiving yards six times last year, including a 143-yard showing against Montreal in Week 3 and an astonishing 180-yard, two-touchdown game against Ottawa in Week 14.
