Ticats Looking For Change of Direction in Nation’s Capital

The Ticats will be changing their direction in reality—because the CFL schedule dictates it—and also, they hope, metaphorically because they definitely need a win.

Hamilton, at 0-3 in the early going after road losses in Calgary and Saskatchewan surrounding a frustrating home loss to the Riders, head to Ottawa for yet another Sunday night tilt. It’ll be their first encounter against an Eastern side and that’s already assuming large importance because they’re the only team in the conference that has not yet won a game. To apply some terminology from head coach Scott Milanovich who said that falling behind so much so early in Regina last Sunday “you’ve gotta stay ahead of the sticks”, the Ticats need to stay ahead of those sticks in the East standings before they fall too far behind.

Like the Cats, the Redblacks are coming off a decisive loss (47-21) in which they –again exactly like Hamilton—fell behind 17-0 in the first quarter, effectively taking the running game out of the equation. James Butler hasn’t had much yardage since leading the league with 119 overland yards in game 1, and after running for 95 yards in Ottawa’s 23-19 upset of Winnipeg in their first game, Ryquell Armstead had 26 yards in only six carries in the Montreal loss.  The Redblacks gave up a turnover to set up an early touchdown, as Hamilton surrendered a fumbled kickoff resulting in a similar scoreboard fate. Turnovers often decide games and the Ticats had five in Regina on Sunday, the Redblacks had four in Montreal two nights earlier.

Also like the Cats, the Redblacks had some confusion and miscommunication in the secondary, which allowed big and timely opposition plays. The Ottawa situation seemed more dire however and it’s something Bo Levi Mitchell and his receivers could, and need to, exploit Sunday. But they’ll have to make sure they create strong protection against a defensive line –led by former Ticat Lorenzo Mauldin IV, and linemates Bryce Carter and Michael Wakefield—that is capable of exerting uncomfortable pressure.

Hamilton made the playoffs last year essentially on their 5-4 road record and by beating Ottawa all three times the teams played—including their first win after yet another 0-3 start, although that one was at Tim Hortons Field.

They’ll be facing a quarterback who can extend plays in Dru Brown, but playing behind Zach Collaros in Winnipeg he had only three CFL starts before the Redblacks obtained him in the off-season. So the Ticats need to pressure him, as the Alouettes did last weekend.

Hamilton has to tighten their own defensive backfield play and communication and may be making some alterations there, as practice Wednesday included one new player in the backfield–veteran CFLer Jonathan Moxey, alongside five other starters from Sunday’s game.

Ottawa, with former Ticat offensive coordinator Tommy Condell calling the shots, has a potentially very dangerous receiving corps with Justin Hardy hauling in 254 yards of receptions in two games, supplemented by new (again) Redblack Dominique Rhymes, and former Ticats Jaelon Acklin and Bralon Addison. Plus they have a two-team threat in DeVonte Dedmon who can stretch the field on offence and became the first CFLer to record a return touchdown this year when he took an Alouettes kickoff to the house.  Hamilton needs to be fully aware of him and the Ottawa blocking schemes: the Redblacks also had a return touchdown in each of their pre-season games.

In yesterday’s Ticats Today, we caught up with John Salavantis, the longtime coach with the Ticats, who had three separate tenures with the team and has been an incisive on-air analyst since the Ticats Audio Network was founded. And his comments are worth repeating. Coach Sal complimented Milanovich for taking responsibility for the team’s disappointing start in Regina but added that in his opinion, that wasn’t the entire story.

Salavantis says leadership and accountability have to emerge from those in uniform –it’s not just up to the coaches—and acknowledges that there are new people at many position groups, and each of those groups needs a clear leader but that it’s difficult for potential leaders, especially newer ones,  to take the floor when they might not be playing well at the time.
“Somewhere between now and the time, we go to the Nation’s Capitol on Sunday, there has to be some changes,” Salavantis says. “The changes don’t have to be personnel. No, the changes have to come from within the players.”