Murray Wood: A special Grey Cup edition of who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week, Wood is pre...
Will it be elation or heartbreak for Rider Nation?
That’s the question that remains to be answered as the Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the Montreal Alouettes in the 112th Grey Cup on Sunday. Kickoff for the game is set for 5 p.m. The Green Zone pregame show begins at 3 p.m.
Read more:
- It’s our team’: Premier Scott Moe backs Riders on eve of 112th Grey Cup in Winnipeg
- ‘Special opportunity’: Regina’s Mitch Picton to suit up for Riders in Grey Cup
- ‘A sea of green:’ Riders fans rejoice in flooding Bomber territory ahead of Grey Cup
It’s been 12 years since the Riders were last in the Grey Cup when they claimed victory at home against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at old Mosaic Stadium.
But that 2013 championship season doesn’t have a lot of company on the wall at Mosaic Stadium, only joined by three other years (67, 89 and 07).
General manager Jeremy O’Day was able to bring two of those championships to the city. In 2007, he did it as a player and then he was the assistant general manager on the 2013 team.
“Seeing the impact it has on your fans. (You’re) standing there with the cup and seeing fans walk up from the last Grey Cup with pictures of their kids and getting a new picture with it and just the reaction when people see the cup,” O’Day said.
“It’s long overdue for the people of Saskatchewan. They deserve more championships.”
Quarterback Trevor Harris has seen the love from the fans in his three seasons here. That was never more apparent to him than seeing everyone come out in the cold to watch the team win the West Final and then send them off to the Grey Cup earlier this week.
“You can feel the hunger of what they want to accomplish and how great they want to be and how great our fan base is,” Harris said. “We couldn’t be more grateful for our fans.”
While the 39-year-old quarterback wouldn’t comment on what his future will hold past this season, he has envisioned himself raising the Grey Cup this season.
“I’m not there yet to talk about what’s after. Let’s just go get it done for these guys and one another tomorrow. We will talk about it tomorrow after the game,” Harris said.
The veteran pivot has had one of his best seasons in his career this season, throwing for 4,549 yards, 24 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions as he helped the Riders get to a 12-6 record.
Saskatchewan will be without wide receivers KeeSean Johnson (knee) and Joe Robustelli in the contest as Ajou Ajou will start with Mitch Picton listed as the backup.
On the other sideline is Als quarterback Davis Alexander, who brings a perfect 13-0 record as a starter into the game. There have been questions around his health as he re-aggravated a hamstring injury in the East Final.
“I would say (it’s) somewhere between 85-90 per cent. I haven’t fully put it out there yet but we were able to check off all the day one, day two, and day three boxes,” Alexander said. “I keep saying it but it has gone better than expected.”
But Riders’ defensive tackle Mike Rose said he’s not falling for the hamstring storyline heading into the game.
“If he’s hurt, alright, but we’re treating him like he’s 100 per cent and that’s how it’s going to be,” Rose said. “We’re treating it like he’s 100 per cent. He has to show us that hamstring isn’t working before we treat him like it’s not.”
The battle in the trenches will be one to keep an eye on in the game as it features two of the league’s best units throughout the regular season.
The Riders and Als were tied at 26 sacks allowed apiece — the second fewest amount in the CFL. Meanwhile, the Als were tied for the CFL lead with 45 sacks and the Riders weren’t far behind with 43.
The Riders’ offensive line, which includes this year’s Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Jermarcus Hardrick, will look to pave the way for running back AJ Ouellette. He had 1,222 yards and eight touchdowns during the season.
Defensive back Tevaughn Campbell, who was tied for the league lead with six interceptions, views Regina as a second home. Campbell played football with the University of Regina Rams prior to getting drafted to the league.
He admits he’s thought about how cool it would be to bring the Grey Cup to Regina.
“I was telling someone about where I could bring the trophy when we go back to Regina — I’d bring it to this school, the Rams’ facility, all around the city. Just the fans out there that yearn for that cup to be in Saskatchewan,” Campbell said.
“I think it means the world.”
He said those thoughts come from a place of confidence in this team’s ability to get it done.
“I’m not going to sit here and tell you, ‘Oh, If we win it’ or, ‘We might get to bring the trophy.’ I’m going to sit here and know we are going to win the trophy, know we are going to win the game. We are going to go 1-0 this week and have that opportunity to take it back home and show it to the fans.”
Hardrick also knows what type of celebration would await them if they pull it off.
“It would be amazing if Albert Street or Broad Street or any of those could get crowded with green and white on, no shirts on,” Hardrick said. “It gives me chills just thinking about it.”
But whether this group can put their names by Ron Lancaster, George Reed, Darian Durant and Rodger Aldag will be decided in 60 minutes on Sunday.
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