With a backup quarterback, rebuilt defence and tattered offensive line, the Riders were outscored by a kicker
There are no more undefeated teams in the Canadian Fieldgoal League.
Give the Roughriders credit for allowing only two touchdowns. But in a season where kickers are — fortunately or unfortunately — becoming the league’s most important players with their accuracy rate soaring past 90 per cent, B.C.’s Sean Whyte made all seven of his field-goal attempts and converted both majors in his 23-point outing.
Saskatchewan’s reconstructed defence, with nine players in different spots from last year’s finale, had a league-leading 14 turnovers during the season-opening, four-game winning streak. But the Roughriders had also surrendered a league-high 313 passing yards per game.
Unable to run effectively against Saskatchewan’s front seven, Lions quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. passed for 451 yards, with 14 throws and 243 yards going to receiver Justin McInnis, who has miraculously turned into a superstar since leaving the Roughriders two years ago. B.C. won its fifth straight game, improved to 5-1 and surpassed 4-1 Saskatchewan atop the West standings.
Saskatchewan’s obvious inability to stop the Adams-McInnis connection will surely be noticed by Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros and his impressive new receiver, Ontaria Wilson, who visit Mosaic Stadium on Friday.
And the Roughriders are blessed to not be the Edmonton Elks. The Elks found a new way Sunday to remain winless by squibbing a kickoff out of bounds, surrendering a big play to rookie speedster Kalil Pimpleton and watching reliable kicker Lewis Ward nail a last-play, 38-yard field goal that gave the Ottawa Redblacks a 37-34 victory.
It’s weird to have Edmonton and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats sporting winless records thus far into the CFL season. Undefeated records are even rarer nowadays in pro football, although the NFL’s New England Patriots were 16-0 in 2007 before winning two playoff games and losing the Super Bowl.
Even losing a couple of games is a rarity. Roughriders first-year head coach Corey Mace was the Toronto Argonauts’ defensive coordinator in 2022 when they went 16-2 during the regular season, matching the record posted in 1989 by the Edmonton (then-Eskimos). Neither team won the Grey Cup.
“I told these guys one of the first meetings of training camp I don’t want to go undefeated,” Mace said to reporters after Saturday’s game. “I’ve never actually seen it in this league.
“I’ve been part of a team that was 16-2; that’s the closest I’ve ever been but even that, there’s still two losses and you learn a lot about yourself as a team and how you respond.”
It would help if backup quarterback Shea Patterson doesn’t again have his first pass intercepted, which evidently convinced the Riders to play more conservatively. The reality is that bad things sometimes happen.
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