Bombers focused on Ticats

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This article was published 13/09/2023 (767 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Unlike most fans, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are trying their best to avoid a Banjo Bowl hangover.

It’s something the club experienced in 2022 when they crushed the Saskatchewan Roughriders 54-20 in the annual Labour Day rematch, only to head to Hamilton the following week and get hit with a 48-31 beatdown courtesy of the Tiger-Cats.

The Bombers (10-3), who shellacked the Riders 51-6 at a sold out IG Field last weekend, have the same schedule as they’ll meet the Ticats (5-7) Saturday afternoon (3 p.m. CT) at Tim Hortons Field.

Hamilton was 3-9 last year when they knocked off a 12-1 Bombers side.

“It’s already over. It was fun that night. Strevy (former Bombers quarterback Chris Streveler) was in town, we reminisced and all that stuff, it was good,” said Bombers receiver Drew Wolitarsky after Wednesday’s practice at IG Field.

“But we remember what happened last year. We know very clearly what happens when you celebrate too hard and you let that victory linger. You go into Hamilton and get beat. That’s what happened last year but it’s not gonna happen this year and we’re very conscious of that. Part of being a great team is fixing mistakes you made in the past and that’s something we’re really talking about right now.”

Head coach Mike O’Shea didn’t have to remind his troops about their most recent trip to Steeltown. The veterans in the locker room handled it.

“They’ve got better memories than I would ever have, that’s for sure. We just talk about the level of focus and the expectation on a fairly regular basis. We don’t often mention something that happened a year ago. I’m OK if the players do, though,” said O’Shea.

“We got a lot of guys that are able to deliver a message at some point.”

As much as they’d like to shift all their attention to Hamilton, a near-perfect performance against their Prairie rivals can’t be ignored. The Bombers tied a franchise record for points in a half with 42 (the last time they did that was back in 2003) thanks to finding paydirt on six consecutive drives. According to the CFL’s stats department, it was the first time a team scored a touchdown on their opening six possessions since the league started keeping track of that data in 2007.

“That’s pretty cool. I don’t think Osh talked about it so it wasn’t that important. I don’t think any other guy brought it up, but I saw it on social media a couple times,” said right tackle Jermarcus Hardrick.

“Just gotta kind of put it in the past. Just like when we lose, we can’t put too much into it. We just take the good from it, the bad from it, learn, and move on. No one ever talks about the points, or how big we won, or anything. We talk about being 1-0 and moving on.”

Prior to the season, the CFL entered a partnership with Pro Football Focus (PFF) — an analytics company that reviews game film and breaks down every play. They assign a numerical representation up-to-100 to each player based on their performance. No surprise, but Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros — who passed for 319 yards and tied his career high with five touchdowns — was given the CFL’s highest grade of the season at 94.0. Running back Brady Oliveira was closed behind at 88.3 thanks to 211 total yards and a receiving touchdown.

Collaros was asked what he has in store for an encore. The reigning, two-time Most Outstanding Player was coy with his response.

“You get back to business,” he said.

“We went out there last year and it didn’t go our way. It was not a good experience for us. We’re focused on the task at hand and they’re a really good football team. We have to execute at a high level.”

The Ticats, led by rookie quarterback Taylor Powell’s three touchdown passes and zero interceptions, beat the Ottawa Redblacks (3-9) 27-24 last Friday. Winnipeg took down Hamilton 41-32 at home in Week 1 when Bo Levi Mitchell was making his Ticats debut. With Mitchell and No. 2 pivot Matthew Shiltz sidelined with injuries, Powell has been starting since Week 7.

“(Week 1) was such a long time ago. You try to take what you can from it, but that’s a new team. Everyone’s a lot better,” said Hardrick.

“And a lot of times guys play a lot harder than what you see on film. When you see someone on film, you think you’re going to get that four or five times harder. We’re going to get everyone’s best shot.”

No Captain! My Captain!

While the Winnipeg Jets have a new captain in Adam Lowry, the Bombers, on the other hand, don’t have any at all. It’s common in football for teams to have a group of leaders that are given the captain label, but for as long as Mike O’Shea has been in charge, that hasn’t been a thing.

“You’d be leaving somebody out if you did that,” said O’Shea. “You’d never want to stifle anybody to make them think they couldn’t speak up or couldn’t lead in whatever way they want to lead because someone else has some sort of title.”

Wolitarsky agrees with O’Shea’s approach.

“I don’t think that’s really important. You need guys to come in and do the work, and show the young guys how we work and how to win. That’s more important,” said the receiver.

“It’s a unit of people in different rooms all buying in with each other and saying ‘This is the core to keep this thing going’ and I think that’s what we have here. A captain? What does that even mean?”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31