Ticats aim to limit Ottawa special teams and defensive success

The Ticats enter another critical CFL weekend, coming off a big Labour Day win, and subsequent bye, and prepared to face the surging (13 of their possible last 16 points) Ottawa Redblacks Saturday afternoon at Tim Hortons Field.

And while the Ticats’ improved defence will certainly have to be on its toes against the deep Ottawa receiving corps and the explosive potential of quarterback Dru Brown, the Redblacks have made most of their hay where their sun shines: on defence and special teams.

Those two units have helped provide Ottawa with the best average field position in the CFL, which in turn expands the offensive playbook.

Led by placekicker Lewis Ward, vying for the highest field goal percentage of all time, and punter Richie Leone, and staffed by technically-sound blockers and tacklers, the Redblacks’ special teams can be the key dynamic of a game. They have lost elite returner DeVonte Dedmon to the six-game injury list but can still mount injurious runbacks and have a handful of players capable of carrying the ball. Ottawa has 12 big-play returns, most in the league, and also rank No. 1 both in returns and coverage on kickoffs and No. 3 in both punting returns and coverage. No wonder they always seem to have decent field position.

“They have some good cover guys, they cover well as a team,” says fourth-year Ticat fullback Felix Garand-Gauthier, who leads Hamilton in special teams tackles with nine, the most of his career. “And they’re good blockers too. They’ve got good returners, so we’re going to have to do our job.

“I think we have to trust that our guys are going to be there. Not try to make every play ourselves. Just try to make your play. Just let the guys fill up their lanes and play off them and make plays together.”

On defence, Ottawa ranks just fifth in the CFL, permitting 25.8 points per game, and  has allowed the most offensive plays, 700 of them: but they’re ranked second overall in fewest yards surrendered per play; are third in preventing second-down conversions; and their 27 sacks stand third in the league. Nothing like a timely sack or pick to put out a fire or start one yourself.

“It’s similar to maybe Winnipeg or Montreal where they’re very sound in their coverage,” Scott Milanovich says. “You need to stay out of second and long where their pass rush can really get after you and that entails, obviously, doing a good job on first down. And then when you do get in passing situations, and they know it, everyone has to be on their depths; the quarterbacks have got to be on time, they have to be accurate with the ball.

“You just have to execute, they’re going to force you to execute. They’re not going to cut loose down the field, they haven’t shown that all year long. They’re going to make you play ball. I think that’s what’s making them play well right now.”

As mentioned earlier this week, the Ticats can help make the Redblacks’ defence hesitant by establishing running back Greg Bell, both on the rush and on the short passes out of the backfield and into the flats.

Milanovich said Garand-Gauthier, who’s having an excellent season on special teams, is an example of the kind of concentration, focus, attention to detail and effort it takes for special teams to have success on coverage and on returns.

“He’s doing a great job,” Milanovich said. “Great effort. When you watch him run down the field it’s full speed all the time. He has the experience now as he’s got more mature in the league  to where he understands the angles, how people are going to try to block him. He’s using that to his advantage. It’s great to see. He’s a great guy and a great teammate, a pro in terms of always knowing what to do—you can remember the Edmonton game where he ended up playing receiver basically for a half. He always knows what to do, and that makes him very valuable.”

And in a matchup between two divisional rivals whose last seven games have been decided in the final three minutes, with five won by a margin of three points or fewer, everything on special teams could be what makes the eventual difference,