Hamilton Tiger-Cats Ed Gainey, left, closes in on Calgary Stampeders Jon Cornish during second half CFL football action in Calgary, Friday, June 26, 2015.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
The East-leading Tiger-Cats (8-4) and West-leading Stampeders (10-3) take to Tim Hortons Field in a battle for CFL supremacy on Friday night.
The Ticats are coming fresh off of a bye week, following a 25-18 loss to the Eskimos in Week 13. The Ticats held an 18-11 lead heading into the fourth quarter of the game, but were held off the board in the final frame as the Eskimos managed to put up 14 points. Hamilton lost both starting quarterback Zach Collaros and starting left tackle Jake Olson for the remainder of the season after both were injured in the game’s first half. The Ticats defence proved its’ merit yet again in the game, holding the Eskimos’ passing attack to just 49 yards, while holding the Esks’ offence as a whole to just 224 yards in the game.
The Stampeders enter this week’s game on a two-game winning streak, after holding on for a narrow win over the Blue Bombers in Week 14 action. A rare field goal miss from Bombers kicker Lirim Hajrullahu with 39 seconds remaining was the difference between a Stamps win and overtime in Manitoba. The wide game-tying field goal attempt from 49 yards wound up as a single point, and Calgary held on for their 10th victory of the season. Despite the narrow margin of victory, the Stampeders racked up a total of 422 yards of offence with running back Jon Cornish back in the lineup, marking their highest total of the season.
Today’s home game against the Stampeders will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET. To catch all the action from home, tune into TSN or Hamilton’s first all-sports radio station TSN 1150. Head to Ticats.ca as well for the Ticats TV Live GameDay show to get the most extensive and exclusive coverage possible. To enhance your game-watching experience be sure to sign up for Ticats All Access to play the GameDay Predictor Challenge!
TIGER-CATS HISTORY AGAINST CALGARY
| WINS | LOSSES | TIES | PTS FOR | PTS AGAINST | |
| ALL-TIME | 30 | 58 | 0 | 1938 | 2467 |
| LAST 10 (TOTAL) | 1 | 9 | 0 | 234 | 313 |
| LAST 10 (at home vs. CAL) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 230 | 276 |
| IN 2015: | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 24 |
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Michael Ford: After spending training camp and the first four games of the CFL season on the Ticats roster, Ford took a trip south of the border. Ford spent the entire NFL preseason with the Atlanta Falcons, and now he’s returned to Hamilton to make the start at running back on Friday. With rookie quarterback Jeff Mathews at the helm, it will be integral for Ford to perform well on the ground and in pass protection on Friday night.
Jeff Mathews: All eyes are on Mathews, who takes over at quarterback for the Ticats in the absence of Zach Collaros. Mathews had a tough game against the Eskimos in Week 13, but everyone saw the capabilities of the Ivy League’s all-time leading passer in his preseason debut with the Ticats back in June. Teammates and coaches alike have professed faith in the rookie pivot as he heads into his first career CFL start and he’ll be a player to watch in Friday night’s clash of division leaders.
Bakari Grant: Grant makes his return to the Ticats lineup after a seven-game hiatus with a lower body injury. The veteran receiver was on pace for a 1,000-yard season prior to the nagging injury, but he’s healthy again and ready to contribute to the Black and Gold’s high-power passing attack. Grant provides the Ticats with another big, athletic target opposite of Terrence Toliver and will add even more to one of the league’s deepest receiving corps.
Craig Butler: Butler’s best game of the 2015 season came in Week One against the Stampeders and he’ll get the opportunity to match that performance tonight. In Week One in Calgary, Butler recorded three tackles, an interception and a sack. Going against one of the league’s top signal-callers, the veteran safety will be tasked with directing the secondary as well as putting pressure on Bo Levi Mitchell on blitzes.
KEYS TO THE GAME:
Generate yards on the ground: Jeff Mathews is more than capable of leading a CFL offence, but any extra help he can get in his first career start will go a long way. If the Ticats are able to establish the run game and prove that they can move the ball on the ground, it will keep the Stampeders honest on defence and prevent them from committing to rushing the passer on every down. Giving Mathews more time to operate in the pocket will be key to making him comfortable and allowing him to run a productive offence.
Lock down Stamps receivers: The Stampeders have the number one (Eric Rogers- 1,124 yards) and number three (Marquay McDaniel) receivers in the league this season, as well as Jeff Fuller, who had a monstrous game against the Ticats in Week One. Locking down these receivers will be up to the Ticats secondary, which could feature a new member on Friday night, with veteran defensive back Jalil Carter appearing on the Ticats active roster. Slowing down the big three of the Stamps receiving corps is no small task, but it is a definite key to victory in Friday’s game.
Minimize mistakes: The Ticats entered last week’s fourth quarter with a seven-point lead, but ultimately failed to win thanks to three unfortunate turnovers. The team is well aware that the mistakes were what did them in against the Eskimos and they’ve taken steps to ensure that it does not happen again this week. All season the Ticats have dominated the turnover battle, and getting back to those ways will be integral to a victory over the Stampeders tonight.
TEAM CONNECTIONS:
Both Tim O’Neill and Brandon Stewart got their CFL starts as Stampeders, as did injured defensive lineman Brian Bulcke (25 games). Meanwhile, there are five former Ticats on the opposition’s roster: Marquay McDaniel (37 games), Brandon Boudreaux (33 games), Simon Charbonneau-Campeau (27 games), Shomari Williams (six games) and Christopher Johnson (two games).
QUOTES OF THE WEEK:
Coach Austin on playing against the Stampeders
“If you’re not on the top of your game against Calgary, you won’t beat them.”
Coach Austin on quarterback Jeff Mathews:
“He’s got all the qualities that we believe in in that position. He cares quite a bit, he’s very unselfish, he’s a lot like Zach. He’s smart, he’s accurate and he’s tough.”
Jeff Mathews on the personnel group he gets to play with in Hamilton:
“We talked about Bakari this week and how valuable it is to get him back as a person who just understands what we want and he does everything. We have a guy like Andy Fantuz, who’ll be back in the future, but he’s still instrumental to what we’re doing, and then you’ve got a guy like Task. Those three alone are amazing and then you add Sink and all our other guys to it. It’s amazing the talent that we have here, but also the great people that are around.”
