Six takeaways and performances of note from the Ticats’ first win of 2015.
Brandon Banks does it again
Brandon Banks scored yet another touchdown on a punt return, scoring on a 67-yard return for the second straight week. Banks averaged 25 yards per return on four opportunities against the Bombers, racking up a total of 100 yards on returns.
Over his last ten CFL games, the speedy specialist has returned 25 punts for a total of 560 yards and four touchdowns; that’s an incredible average of 22.4 yards per punt return, and a touchdown every 6 returns.
Collaros fantastic, gets everyone involved
If there was any question about Zach Collaros after Week One, there certainly is not after Week Two. Collaros was dominant on Thursday night, connecting with seven different receivers on 26-of-33 passing for 354 passing yards and two touchdowns.
Collaros involved everyone in the attack, connecting with all seven active receivers and running backs while reaching six of them on multiple occasions. Four receivers recorded over 50 yards receiving on the night.
Two games into the season, Collaros has completed 74.6% of his passes for an average of 317.5 yards per game heading into the bye week. It’s safe to say that the additional comfortability with the offence has benefited the second-year starter’s production.
A night of firsts
A number of Tiger-Cats players set personal milestones on Thursday night, recording career-firsts in multiple important categories.
Mike Daly kicked off the party of firsts with his first career CFL interception, reeling in an errant pass over the middle in the first quarter. Terrence Toliver kept it going, catching his first career touchdown reception in the Bombers end-zone shortly after.
Veteran defensive back Emanuel Davis and rookie quarterback Jeff Mathews also notched their own first career touchdowns, with Davis doing so on a pick six and Mathews finding the end-zone on a quarterback sneak.
Mathews capped off the game under centre for Hamilton, registering his first CFL pass completion in the process as well.
Disruption as important as production in pass rush
The Ticats defence was unrelenting on Thursday night, putting consistent pressure on the Blue Bombers quarterbacks all game long. Simoni Lawrence and Adrian Tracy were the main catalysts on the attack, both narrowly missing out on multiple sacks.
Taylor Reed and Hassan Hazime were the only players to record sacks, but the pressure was a team effort in which everyone was involved, forcing quarterbacks into hurried throws, and ultimately into throwing three interceptions.
The pressure won’t physically show up on the box score with its’ own numbers, but it was an undeniable contributor to the Ticats big final score.
Points from all facets of the team
The Ticats’ points production came from everywhere in Week Two, with the offence and defence each contributing two touchdowns, while special teams also got in on the action.
Zach Collaros connected on two touchdown passes for the offence, Brandon Stewart and Emanuel Davis each found the end-zone on pick-six scores, while Banks returned another punt for a special teams touchdown.
The Ticats have now produced 31 points on defence and special teams through two games, an outstanding total considering that the Stampeders (8 points) were the only other team with more than two non-offensive points in Week One.
Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers
It appears that the Ticats’ +4 turnover differential in Week One was no fluke.
The Ticats created three more turnovers on Thursday night, boosting their total to eight through two games, with a +6 turnover differential.
Emanuel Davis, Brandon Stewart and Mike Daly all recorded interceptions on the night, while Bakari Grant’s fumble while trying to extend a play was the lone turnover by the team.
The added attention to creating turnovers in the off-season and preseason seems to have been successful for the Ticats; if they are able to continue to create turnovers at this rate, it bodes very well for them in 2015.
