Aug 15, 2015; Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeat the BC Lions 52-22 at Tim Hortons Field. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski
The Tiger-Cats (and the rest of the CFL) have reached the mid-point of the season, each team having played nine of their 18 regular season games. Here’s a look back at how the team has fared up until now, and the outlook on the remainder of the 2015 season.
Overall Record (6-3-0)
Through nine games, the Ticats hold a 6-3 record, their best start to a season since the 2000 campaign. The fast start to the season is a welcome sight after heading into their tenth game of the season with a losing record the last three seasons. At 6-3 the Ticats hold the East Division lead midway through the season, while also owning the best road record (3-2) and best record against the West (5-1) in the CFL.
Game 1: Ticats 23 at Stampeders 24 (L)
The Ticats lost a heartbreaker in Calgary to begin the season, watching as Rene Paredes connected on a 50-yard field goal with the clock expiring to win by a single point. Johnny Sears Jr. kicked off his first game in Black and Gold with an impressive two-interception performance, one of which was a pick six that opened the game’s scoring.
Game 2: Ticats 52 at Bombers 26 (W)
In their fourth straight victory at the Bombers new facility, Investors Group Field, the Ticats were dominant from start to finish. Offence, defence and special teams all clicked, as Emanuel Davis and Brandon Stewart each recorded pick sixes, while Brandon Banks found the end zone on a punt return touchdown. Three Ticats players– Terrence Toliver, Jeff Mathews and Emanuel Davis– scored their first career touchdowns in the game, while Mike Day recorded his first career interception.
Game 3: Ticats 13 at Alouettes 17 (L)
In what was a defensive struggle, the Ticats never seemed to be able to generate much of anything against their East Division rivals. Collaros and the offence were in the midst of a last-minute drive that had promise when the ball was knocked loose and recovered by the Alouettes. Two rookies made their marks in the game, as Ray Holley scored his first career CFL touchdown and Terrence Toliver recorded his first 100-yard receiving game.
Game 4: Ticats 31 at Riders 21 (W)
In the pivotal final game of their season-opening road trip the Ticats put in a full team effort in a win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. CJ Gable exploded in his first game of the 2015 season, totalling 154 yards from scrimmage in his only full contest of the campaign, while the Hamilton defence put a damper on the high-octane rushing attack from the green and white. Rico Murray returned to the lineup in Saskatchewan as well, making a key interception in his first game of the season.
Game 5: Ticats 34 vs. Argonauts 18 (W)
Returning home for the first time in 2015, the Ticats showed out against their East division rivals in a game that never seemed close. CJ Gable went down early with an arm injury, but Anthony Woodson carried the torch for the Ticats backs, playing well in his Ticats home debut. Brandon Stewart was the beneficiary of a well-executed trick play on special teams, recovering an onside punt for the first score of the game. Bakari Grant brought down two touchdown receptions in the home opener, scoring the first offensive TD at Tim Hortons Field for two consecutive seasons.
Game 6: Ticats 38 vs. Bombers 8 (W)
For the second straight game against the Bombers, the Ticats lit up the scoreboard with start-to-finish execution. Emanuel Davis took two more interceptions to the house in the game, while the defensive line recorded a total of seven sacks. The special teams unit played a big role in the game as well, setting up the offence with exceptional field position twice, once on a kickoff recovery by Jay Langa and again with a blocked punt by Arnaud Gascon-Nadon.
Game 7: Ticats 52 vs. Lions 22 (W)
Brandon Banks made a big impact against the Ticats cross-country feline counterparts, scoring a receiving and punt return touchdown in the contest. The Ticats piled on the points against the visitors from the West. Luke Tasker made his first two touchdown receptions on the season and Tiquan Underwood caught his first career CFL touchdown to round out the scoring for the offence, while Erik Harris and Eric Norwood each scored defensive touchdowns in the big win.
Game 8: Ticats 49 at Eskimos 20 (W)
The Cats and Esks squared off in what was expected to be a defensive stalemate but turned into an offensive shootout quickly. Zach Collaros and Terrell Sinkfield Jr. were on the money in the first half, connecting for two touchdown passes early. Collaros recorded four touchdown passes for the second straight game and the Ticats scored 35 of their 49 points off of takeaways against the league’s top defence.
Game 9: Ticats 23 vs. Alouettes 26 (L)
On Angelo Mosca Night, the Ticats were narrowly edged out by the visiting Alouettes. After the Ticats marched down the field and scored a touchdown to knot the score at 23 with 7:50 remaining, the Als ran down the clock and kicked the eventual game-winning field goal with 1:35 remaining in the game. The Alouettes stifling defence was on their A-game in the contest, getting to Collaros for six sacks and holding the Ticats potent offence to just 254 total yards of offence.
League and Team Leaders:
League Leaders:
The Ticats are owners of a number of league-leading values, including the following stats:
- Total points – 315 (35 per game)
- Offensive points – 242 (26.9 per game)
- 2nd-down conversions – 58.9%
- Red zone offence – 75%
- Passing yards – 2,722 (302.4 per game)
- Average yards per pass – 9.4
- Takeaways – 32
- Turnovers – 14
- Turnover ratio – +18
- Points off of turnovers – 121
Team Leaders:
Highlights
Explosive in all three phases
The Ticats lead the league in both offensive and defensive scoring, putting up points on both sides of the ball consistently. With six interception touchdowns this season, the team has tied a team record and is one short of the league record (7- Toronto Argonauts, 2006) for pick sixes in a single season. Brandon Banks sits just one punt return touchdown short of the CFL regular season record (5). Three of the team’s nine games have featured scores in all three phases of the game.
Collaros leading league’s pivots
Zach Collaros has been exceptional in 2015, making significant strides in his second season in the Ticats offence, while leading the league in a number of passing categories. Collaros is the CFL-leader in passing yards (2,632), second-down conversions (65) and 30+ yard passes (19), while sitting second in passing touchdowns (18) and third in completion percentage (70.4%). The second-year Ticats starter had an optimistic outlook on the season, thanks to having a better grasp of the offensive concepts, and he’s made good on those promises with his performance this season.
Dominant defence
Through nine games this season, the Tiger-Cats defence has proven to be a formidable force. They are the only unit with five players that have recorded at least three sacks (Hickman, Norwood, Lawrence, Laurent, Reed), and they’ve scored at an astronomical rate. The Ticats defence ranks in the upper tier in all major categories, including points allowed per game (20.2), opponent rushing (5) and passing (11) touchdowns, opponent net offence (350.4), opponent rushing yards (81.2) and opponent completion percentage (62.3%). The offence, defence and special teams units have all been clicking for the Black and Gold, but it’s been the defence that has stood out most prominently through nine games.
What lies ahead
The Ticats remaining schedule begins with back-to-back games against the rival Toronto Argos, with the Labour Day Classic at Tim Hortons Field on September 7 and the subsequent rematch just four days later in Toronto.
Following the Argos game, the Ticats will host the Eskimos before heading into their second bye week in Week 14. The bye week is sandwiched by two tough opponents, as the Ticats will host the Stampeders on October 2, the week following the bye.
On October 9, the Riders travel to Tim Hortons Field before the Ticats hit the road again for back-to-back games. The first of the two is a day game in Montreal on October 18, followed up with a trip to BC to play the Lions on the 23rd of October.
After the two-game road trip, the Ticats kick off a home-and-home against the REDBLACKS in their final two games of the season.
The most critical part of the final stretch will be the next four games, with back-to-back rivalry games against the Argos with a short break between the two, followed by games against the West Division’s two leading teams.
