Struggling Elks in tough against Blue and Gold

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This article was published 19/07/2023 (844 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Edmonton Elks are off to their worst start in franchise history.

They’re winless through six weeks, a mess at quarterback, and have a head coach/general manager that has shown no signs of turning things around.

Unfortunately for them, things are likely going to get worse as they play the 4-2 Winnipeg Blue Bombers at IG Field on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

The Bombers have only lost once at home to a West Division foe in the past five years (Week 3 against the B.C. Lions) and haven’t dropped back-to-back meaningful games since quarterback Zach Collaros was acquired in a trade from the Toronto Argonauts on Oct. 9, 2019.

Winnipeg is coming off a 31-28 overtime loss to the Ottawa Redblacks. The Bombers haven’t been as dominant this year, but it’s still an incredibly tall task standing in front of the Elks.

“They’re an awful good team right now. You don’t see very many things that they do wrong,” said Elks head coach/GM Chris Jones.

“I mean, are they three or four years older? Yes, they are a little bit older than what they have been, but you have to make a lot of football plays against them in all three phases in order to win the game. They force you to come in and beat them. You have to play all four quarters. If we only played a half, we’d be in good shape right now. All year long, we’ve played a half and forgotten there’s two halves in a game, so we’ve got to come out ready to play four quarters.”

The Elks will arrive at IG Field with nearly 30 players who are in their first or second year in the league. Quarterback Taylor Cornelius isn’t one of those as he’s in his third campaign with the club. The 27-year-old from Amarillo, Texas, was expected to take a step forward this season, but that hasn’t been the case as he’s completed 60 per cent of his passes for a total of 843 yards, three touchdowns, and five interceptions. Elks rookie QB Jarret Doege came off the bench in last week’s 37-29 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and threw for 201 yards on 14-of-21 attempts. Despite Doege’s strong showing, Jones is sticking with Cornelius.

“He’s throwing the ball extremely well. It’s just a matter of taking what we know he can do into the football game. That’s what we gotta get him to do,” said Jones of Cornelius.

Edmonton is averaging a league-worst 15.2 points per game and has been outscored 157-91 in 2023.

There is a sliver of hope, however. Cornelius is one of the better scrambling quarterbacks in the league, and the Bombers struggled to stop Ottawa’s rookie pivot Dustin Crum on Saturday as he gained 103 yards on nine rushing attempts.

Cornelius was asked if seeing what Crum did gives him some extra confidence heading into Thursday night. The two play the game in a similar way.

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“Yeah, a little bit. Just to see how they were able to play in the second half and what he was able to do with the legs as well as throwing the ball, too. The way that game finished was a good one for sure and I think it was a good one for the league,” said Cornelius.

As for their putrid start, Cornelius said they’re not letting it get to them.

“It’s tough, obviously. We’d love to be in a different situation, but we’re just taking it week by week,” said Cornelius. “Guys are still excited to come in and compete every day.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.