Riders Get Smoked at Home

Another announcement came around 7 pm and I went into social media and found an app someone had posted on the Riderfans page that measured the level of smoke in Regina. There are three smoke sensors in Mosaic Stadium, one is in the north end zone, one is at midfield around the visitors’ bench, and the other is in the south end zone near Pil Country.

When I popped the app, the level of smoke was at 12 but I noticed the flags on the goal posts were completely limp, much like the Riders offense would be the next day. While the Rider field announcers, one of whom did the weather for CTV Regina said the numbers were improving, I could see the numbers, shared them with those around me including three retired teachers who sit behind me from Pilot Butte, and could not see where they were drawing their conclusions from.

It was Back 40 Night, a salute to both kinds of music, country and western, and the Riders ran through their on-field fan participation games to keep the fans engaged. Meanwhile, the food vendors and the booze vendors did great business.

The Riders brought in Ajou Ajou, their Canadian receiver who is in the camp of the Indianapolis Colts and is a star in this province. He lead cheers on the field and when he came off and came up the stairs, I stood up wearing my obsidian jersey with his number on it.

He smiled and came over and did several selfies with me, and that opened the gate in my section. Kids, seniors, adults, all came to the stairs to get autographs and selfies, including the three retired teachers who were sporting ear to ear grins.

When it came to 9 am, the air quality had gotten worse and moved to a 13 with no wind. An announcement was made the two teams, the CFLPA and the CFL were discussing the situation but at this time people started to leave.

I would say a third of the Rider ticket base is from out of town, and with Country Thunder underway in Craven and the Moose Jaw Air Show starting on Saturday, many people especially with kids, started thinking about the smoke and the optics of a game maybe starting at 10 pm and ending at 1 am and decided it wasn’t worth it.

At 10 pm there was an announcement a final decision would be made at 10:45 pm and if conditions had improved by then, there would be a warmup and kick off at 11:15 pm. Which meant the game would end around 2:15 am. At 10:50 pm the on-field announcers came out and announced the game was cancelled until 2 pm Saturday and the boos took the weather girl aback, maybe she thought they were directed at her, but I think the fans were booing how long this took to decide and the lack of communication with fans about what was going on.

The Riders said they would send out an email to fans about how things would work like whether the tickets would be honored on Saturday. By the time I got out, I had been there for five hours in smoky conditions and while the atmosphere at Mosaic was like the world’s biggest backyard party, there was a feeling of a moment lost.

The Riders said they would deposit $50 Rider store gift cards in season ticket holder accounts and arrange for refunds for out-of-town fans who could not afford the time to come back. Hotel rooms were at a premium with Country Thunder, but the Stampeders had some rooms in the Hotel Saskatchewan and arranged for the rest of their team to use the dorms at the University of Regina where players slept four to a room with one bathroom.

As I walked out, I thought of the players who had been at the stadium for seven hours or more and with them coming back in 15 hours, the winner on Saturday would be the team that could meet the challenges adversity threw at them both.

The team that rose to the challenge was the Stampeders. They took over the mantle of first place with a 24-10 win, following their win the previous week against Winnipeg and served notice they are for real.

Bob Slowik is the defensive coordinator who has them playing a defense that with three down linemen managed to shut down two good running attacks from the Bombers and the Riders. Their linebacking corps is fast and furious and their defensive secondary in the first half managed to hold the Riders down.

On offense the Stampeders have a good running attack and with quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. can manage to keep the Bombers and Riders defense off balance. The most impressive thing is their offensive line which dominated the Riders.

The Riders in the second half managed to get a lengthy drive going with short sideline passes and the emergence of Joe Robustelli as perhaps a star in the making. The Riders got a touchdown and made it 17-10 but then Antoine Brooks Jr. either made a mental error or screwed up and Calgary scored an 80-yard touchdown to make it 24-10 and the Riders could not run on the Stampeders and several blown third down gambles led to the Riders first loss of 2025.

Rider quarterback Trevor Harris got sacked three times and on one sack his head bounced on the turf. He had been off the week prior to the bye week due to a concussion and after the hit, Harris was not processing the game as fast as he usually does which led to more sacks and errant throws.

I suspect the Riders believed their own hype and didn’t respect Calgary enough, although one would think if they had seen of the film of them beating Winnipeg, they would have understood these are not the 2024 Stampeders who finished out of the playoffs.

The Stampeders moved into a first-place tie with the Riders at 4-1 but are ranked first due to the win. The Bombers are ranked third at 3-1 and the Lions are 3-3 thanks to a 32-14 win over the Elk. With the strength of the western conference, there is a strong possibility of a western crossover to the east the top four teams continue their pace.

The Stampeders are the best team in the country now, but it is a thin line between good and bad with injuries playing a potential role in the final finishes. The Argos should be better but are missing quarterback Chad Kelly and linebacker Wynton McManis. Depth and luck will determine who goes to the playoffs and who will stay home.

The Stampeders play Friday night against the Bombers at Princess Incestuous Field as the Bombers come off a bye following their first loss against the Stampeders in Calgary. I rewatched the first Calgary Winnipeg game and thought it was exactly what happened at Mosaic Stadium as the Stampeders shut down the running game and got some timely interceptions.

The Bombers have had two weeks to review what happened, but somehow, I don’t think it will make much of a difference. The Bombers will attempt to restart their running attack and will make enough noise to potentially distract Vernon Adams, but it has to be admitted he is now operating in a zone and will continue to do so until someone breaks up that rhythm, he is in.

While the Bombers probably thought their competition would be the Riders and Lions, teams the Bombers have own the last few years, the rise of the Stampeders has thrown a wrench into the works and suddenly you get the feeling in the west things are up in the air.

The Stampeders have Montreal after the Bomber game and if they can beat the Bombers, they will be up two games on them in the standings and failing a total collapse, will finish ahead of the Bombers. If the Bombers win, there will be a three-way tie for first and Bombers will probably feel better about their chances considering they play the Riders three times, twice in Winnipeg.

TSN and casual punters love to point to the Bombers past record, but each season is a new game, and the Bombers have a veteran but aging roster that may be susceptible to an aggressive team like Calgary. Calgary has the intangible of momentum, and one suspects if they lose, it would be due to a rash of injuries or a tropical flood of biblical proportions.

Each team needs this game and Calgary has the advantage of a two-game winning streak but as they lose their underdog status, there will be more teams studying the Calgary defense and looking for the keys to shutting it off. I suspect it will be a tight game and Calgary should win 26-23.

The Lions win over the Elk was probably the best team effort by the Lions this season and Nathan Rourke seems to be playing through his oblique injury and more importantly not hurting the team. Also not hurting the Lions was the play of running back James Butler who adds a balance to the predominate passing attack.

The Lions may have the flexibility to go for a passing shootout with other teams or even better, run them into the ground. The Lions probably looked at how Calgary torched the Riders in the first half and are probably drooling at the chance to unleash James Butler and avenge an earlier loss to the Riders.

However, the Riders will likely be getting back cornerback Tevaughn Campbell and receiver Samuel Emilus which will force some adjustments to the roster to meet the Canadian ratio, but also allow them to dress an extra defensive lineman to make it tough to run for the Lions. This game is not the battle of the back ups as the first match between these two teams, but both quarterbacks have injury concerns with Rourke dealing with his obliques which affect his passing and Harris dealing with the effects of the probable concussion he suffered on Saturday.

Unlike Edmonton, the Riders can move the ball and bringing speed and skill like Emilus will open the offense for the running game, assuming the Riders have the patience to consistently run and I think BC can be run on.

The sky is falling faculty of Rider Nation is convinced we are in end times because of the Calgary loss and the Riders will lose out for the rest of the season. I wouldn’t rule it out, but I can’t see it happening.

I can see this being a must win for the Riders and they have more depth than BC and should be able to come out with a 27-23 win.

Things kick off Thursday with Toronto at Montreal and both teams are coming off a bye week. The Argos are still without quarterback Chad Kelly with a broken ankle, and I suspect he will not come out onto the field until the Labor Day game.

That will be too long for the Argos who will face Montreal starter Davis Alexander who has a record of 7-0 but is coming off two weeks when Montreal had McLeod Bethel Thompson sort of leading the Als although they lost two games and are now second behind Hamilton.

The Argos may be able to mount a run to nab third place when Kelly returns, but that may be too late for the Argos. The Als are looking to stay even or even get ahead of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, which goes to show you there are still reasons to get excited about going to a game.

Toronto is desperate to keep pace with Hamilton and Montreal and they should make it close, but Montreal walks away with a win and helps Toronto dig its own grave a little bit deeper by beating the Argos 30-23.

Hamilton wraps up its home and home with Ottawa who gave the Cats a close game but fell short. I suspect the same this week as Hamilton looks to keep pace with Montreal and Hamilton cannot lose focus as they seem to have lifted themselves out of their funk only to find they will be getting whacked on the other side of the couch.

Hamilton may want to think their offense is finally where they want it to be, but I doubt that. Get enough pressure on Mitchell and his passes will get more inaccurate.

That will happen soon, but in the meantime look for the ‘Cats to win 28-25 as even a damaged Mitchell is better than whoever is in the backfield. Look for a few fights to break out on the floor as the playoff race in both divisions heats up because where there is smoke, it doesn’t’ take much fore a fire in the standings to break out.

by Greg Urbanoski

Riders Get Smoked at Home

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