Saturday’s game was filled with some notable on-field moments including the return of the Mighty Mike Kerrigan, Ted Laurent moving into 10th place in Ticats all-time sacks and a 350+ yard passing game from Jeremiah Masoli. With all the happenings going on both on and off the field, here are this weeks three key takeaways.
Utilizing the sidelines
Creating a different look to match up against the REDBLACKS is difficult. Ottawa’s Head Coach Rick Campbell’s offence mimics so much of what Coach June Jones’ RPO offence does in Hamilton.
Though much of what Hamilton threw at Ottawa was similar to what the REDBLACK’s defence has seen in their own practices, Jeremiah Masoli attacked the Ottawa secondary effectively utilizing the sidelines.
From the moment Hamilton offence stepped on the field in their opening drive, it was made known that the finding players on the sidelines would be key to gaining yards.
During their opening drive, Hamilton was able to march down the field on a 76-yard pass as Jeremiah Masoli found Jalen Saunders for back-to-back 20-yard receptions along the stadium’s eastern sidelines. This would later happen again as a quick out to Brandon Banks along the sidelines would later translate to a touchdown reception for Jalen Saunders.
The sixth man in
Coach June Jones’ addition of a sixth offensive lineman is quickly starting to pay its dividends.
For starters, it provided Jeremiah Masoli with a noticeable amount of protection time. These added seconds allowed him to go through his progressions, read the routes, and ultimately accumulate 352-passing yards on the night.
Along with the added protection, it provides the luxury of an additional receiver. Placed in the fringe lineman/receiver spot for most of the game was Mathieu Girard.
For Girard, this game marked his first start with the black and gold since his previous stint with the team back in 2016. During the 2016 season, Girard started in 17 games for the club before entering a short-lived retirement only to find himself back in the Hammer this season.
Touchdown-less
Mimicking the score of a baseball game more than that of a football game, Ottawa found no end zone success against the Hamilton defence.
Being forced to kick field goals from the turf all night, the black and gold stood their ground against Trevor Harris and the Ottawa offence. Forcing 12 incomplete passes from the Ottawa pocket and holding their backfield to just 65 rushing yards on the night, Hamilton’s defence had contributions from all position groups this game.
