Mathews relishes time as backup, prepared for showtime

As the temperature drops and another Canadian winter sets in, all eyes in Hamilton are on the 24-year old California kid with the beaming smile.
The conversations around Ticats practice this week have revolved around rookie quarterback Jeff Mathews as he prepares for his first career CFL start on Friday. With starting quarterback Zach Collaros set to miss the remainder of the season, Mathews becomes the primary signal-caller in Hamilton’s offence.
Yet for all the attention he’s received over the course of the last two weeks, Mathews is no worse for wear and his high spirits haven’t skipped a beat.
“You just have to be yourself throughout the whole thing,” explained Mathews, when asked how he’s handling the added pressure. “You have to understand that the most important thing is preparing for the game and getting into a position to put our team in a position to win.”
Mathews, who entered Ticats training camp as one of three quarterbacks competing for the backup role, won the job with a very strong camp and an impressive preseason performance.
The 24-year old turned heads in his first preseason CFL action, throwing for 188 yards and two touchdowns on 9-of-15 passing against the Ottawa REDBLACKS. Yet despite the impressive debut, Mathews is one of the few backup QBs in the CFL without a start this season.

Mathews’ 2015 season has been spent primarily as the short-yardage quarterback, utilizing his 6’4″, 225-pound frame to barge his way into the end zone on goal-line plays. He’s cashed in for five touchdowns on 16 rushing attempts thus far.
“It’s a lot different,” said Mathews, when asked about the mentality of a backup QB, “your mind is different, you’re preparing to play but at the same time you’re doing scout team reps during the week to help the defence out.”
Prior to his time with the Ticats, Mathews had never fulfilled the role of a backup quarterback; he was the starter in high school and college, while his time in the NFL in 2014 didn’t see him reach the number two position for any team.
“I’ve never been a number two, and to be honest with you, you have to relish that opportunity,” said Mathews. “It was great to learn a lot in that position and now it’s time to put that to the test, I’m excited for it.”
The starting role is one which Mathews is much more acclimated to filling, and as the main signal-caller for the Ticats he’ll be at the helm of what has been the top passing offence in the CFL. The personnel surrounding the quarterback have been hitting their stride as of late, and they’re due for reinforcements.
The standout receiving unit will get one of their top early-season performers back for Friday’s game, as veteran receiver Bakari Grant returns to the lineup. Meanwhile, Andy Fantuz is working his way back from injury to solidify the unit even further.
“I’m blessed, Zach’s (Collaros) done a great job of telling me how good those guys are, and they really are,” Mathews explained. “It’s not only the caliber of players we have…it’s amazing the talent we have here, but also the great people that are around.”

Mathews’ instant success in the CFL was a surprise to many, but the smooth transition to the Canadian game was accelerated thanks to the past relationship between Mathews and both head coach Kent Austin and offensive coordinator Tommy Condell. Both coached Mathews at Cornell University, and the tandem has carried over a lot of that offensive system to the Ticats’ current scheme.
The scheme carry-over allowed Mathews to simply identify the added player on each play in the 12-man Canadian game and react accordingly. Now fully immersed in the 12-man variation of football, he says that it’s become second nature identifying coverages and that he feels much more comfortable.
“I’ve been up here for so long and learned a lot from Zach and what he went through with his transition,” started Mathews. “That was all a process I had to go through and I feel comfortable with it at this point.”
Mathews gives credit to Collaros for both easing his transition to Canadian football and taking pressure off in his move to the starting role.
“When I was in college, we didn’t have an older quarterback, so I was picking it up as I went,” said Mathews. “To have someone as a role model in front of me that’s done so well and can translate that into helping me out is something very special.”

Despite all the changes around him, and all the alterations he’s had to make to his game, Mathews is the same person and player that he was at Cornell says Coach Austin.

“He’s the same guy we’ve always known from day one at Cornell,” explained Austin, “he’s not going to change. He’s a mature young man and he understands the opportunity he has.”

Austin praised his quarterback for his high level of preparation in the weeks leading up to his first start, but says that the diligence from Mathews came as no surprise to him or Condell. 

“He’s got all the qualities that we believe in, in that position,” said Austin. “He cares quite a bit, he’s very unselfish, he’s a lot like Zach; he’s smart, accurate and he’s tough.”

The rookie pivot’s first start of his career will come against the CFL-leading Calgary Stampeders (10-3), who narrowly defeated the Ticats in their first meeting of 2015. In the first game of the CFL’s 2015 schedule, the Stamps edged out the Cats with a last second field goal.

“If you’re not on the top of your game against Calgary, you won’t beat them,” said Coach Austin.

The task is somewhat daunting, but Mathews plans to treat the game the exact same way he’s treated the added media attention and the extra first-team reps in practice this week.

“I think that’s [staying within yourself] a key in everything. I think sometimes you come in and try to do too much– and everyone’s been guilty of that, everyone wants to be successful–but it’s a matter of finding what you need to do to help the team win and that comes back to your job.”