Ed Tait’s Labour Day Classic Primer

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/09/2015 (3903 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS (3-6) at SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS (0-9)

Where: Taylor Field at Mosaic Stadium, Regina

When: Sunday, Sept. 6, 3 p.m.

TV: TSN; Radio: CJOB

Vegas odds: Riders are favoured by 4.

Streaks: Saskatchewan: 9L; Winnipeg: 3L.

Season series: The Bombers won the first meeting of 2015, a 30-24 victory in Regina in the season opener on June 27.

All-time series (since 1936): Winnipeg 129-100-4.

FYI: The Riders have won the last 10 Labour Day Classics. Saskatchewan is 17-4 in the last 21 Classics.

FIVE NOTABLE NUMBERS

3-15 — The combined record of the Bombers (3-6) and Riders (0-9) heading into this contest. Only once before have these two clubs met on Labour Day and sported the two worst records in the CFL. In 1998 when they were a combined 2-16 (Winnipeg 0-9; Saskatchewan 2-7).

3.4 — In the last 16 Riders-Bombers contests, Winnipeg has averaged 3.4 turnovers. Saskatchewan has averaged 1.6.

9 — Bob Dyce becomes the ninth coach to take over a team in-season since 2006. In their first games, replacement coaches have gone 26-31 (.456). There have been 30 coaches who took over in-season and had it represent their first game as the head coach. Those coaches are a combined 9-21 in their first games.

71/0 — TD passes thrown by Brian Brohm during his days at Louisville and as Bomber. Brohm started 33 games for the Cardinals, throwing for 71 scores. He has thrown 126 passes during his days in blue and gold, with zero TDs and five picks.

3 — Carries by Riders running back Jerome Messam in last week’s loss to Ottawa. Messam is averaging 7.1 yards per carry.

THREE TO WATCH

WINNIPEG:

12 Brian Brohm, QB: Makes his first start of the season and second as a pro. His numbers are atrocious, but there is a hope that with a full week of preparation he can be far more effective as a starter than he has been coming out of the bullpen.

55 Jamaal Westerman, DE: Tied for the CFL lead in sacks with Ottawa’s Aston Whiteside. Westerman and fellow end Greg Peach will need to keep Rider QB Brett Smith, who does like to run, in the pocket.

35 Chevon Walker, RB: The newest face in the Bomber backfield, the former Redblack and Ticat can be explosive when he gets to the second level. The knock on him in Ottawa was he too often danced into a hole rather than raced through it. He’ll get a chance to prove the doubters wrong.

SASKATCHEWAN:

16 Brett Smith, QB: Was yanked in his last start after throwing a pick in the end zone in the loss to Ottawa. He has completed 61.5 per cent of his passes for 691 yards with five TDs and six picks but, like Brohm, is still searching for that first ‘W.’

7 Weston Dressler, SB: He’s been relatively quiet of late — he posted back-to-back 100-yard efforts in mid-July — but can still burn defences.

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33 Jerome Messam, RB: The Bombers will likely be fed a healthy dose of the 6-3, 245-pound back. He’s a bull out of the backfield and a better receiver than you might think, with 32 catches for 331 yards this year.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait