Murray Wood: Who's hot and who's not
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The Saskatchewan Roughriders have been searching for a dominating performance in 2025 — and appeared to find one in Montreal.
In a game that the Riders led from the opening drive all throughout, Saskatchewan defeated the Montreal Alouettes 34-6 at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.
It was the first win for the Riders in Montreal since 2021. The 7-1 start is the best the Riders have had since 2013, when the club went 8-1 and eventually finished 11-7 and won the Grey Cup.
The performance was one the Riders had been looking for after allowing big leads to evaporate in the fourth quarter against the B.C. Lions and Edmonton Elks in back-to-back weeks.
Saskatchewan’s defence was in control throughout the game, only surrendering 169 yards of offence to the McLeod Bethel-Thompson-led Alouettes.
The defence forced three turnovers as well — one interception and two turnover of downs.
Saskatchewan also added two more sacks to their league-leading sack total with Shane Ray and Mike Rose getting to Bethel-Thompson.
Montreal’s rushing attack also suffered the same fate as others this season as the Als didn’t get much on the ground. The Riders had the best rushing defence in the league coming into the game and didn’t disappoint. Montreal only mustered 59 yards on 17 carries — an average of just 3.5 yards per carry.
Bethel-Thompson didn’t get into a rhythm and only completed 15 of his 26 passes for 126 yards and an interception. The veteran quarterback was replaced by Caleb Evans for a spell in the game, who only completed one of three passes for six yards.
Saskatchewan Roughriders slotback Tommy Nield (83) celebrates his touchdown with teammate Joe Robustelli (82) against the Montreal Alouettes on Aug. 2, 2025. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes)
Saskatchewan’s offence was explosive throughout the game, with quarterback Trevor Harris throwing for 289 yards and two touchdowns.
KeeSean Johnson and Dohnte Meyers have proven to be a dynamic duo this season for Saskatchewan. Meyers hauled in five catches for 136 yards while Johnson had four catches for 62 yards and a touchdown.
Tommy Nield, who started the game due to Sam Emilus being placed on the six-game injured list with a knee injury, also hauled in a touchdown pass. He had two catches for 39 yards in the game.
Short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens was instrumental on the team’s opening drive. He converted on all three of his third-down rushing attempts on the drive, which ended in him recording the first touchdown of the game.
Riders running back AJ Ouellette, who was the third-leading rusher in the CFL coming into the game, had 74 yards on 15 carries.
Mario Anderson Jr., who was re-signed to the team last week after being released, also added five carries for 48 yards.
Despite the offensive line of the Riders once again dealing with changes, as left guard Zack Fry and left tackle Payton Collins returned to the lineup, the team only surrendered one sack in the game.
If there was one criticism of the game, it could be the one kick Brett Lauther missed. Lauther hit the uprights from 43 yards out but the veteran kicker was good on his four other field goal attempts, which included a 48-yarder. He was also good on all three of his convert attempts.
Montreal kicker Jose Maltos Diaz connected on both of his field goal attempts in the game, which were from 54 and 56 yards out.
Saskatchewan is now 4-0 as the road this team season and are the only CFL team to remain undefeated on the road at this point this season.
The Riders will head out on a bye week — the second of the season for Saskatchewan. The next time the Riders will play a game will be on Aug. 16 when they host the 6-2 Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
