The Banjo Bowl: What you need to know

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This article was published 07/09/2014 (4032 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PAUL WIECEK’S BANJO BOWL PRIMER

WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS (6-4) at SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS (7-2)

WHERE: Investors Group Field.

WHEN: Today, 3 p.m.

TV: TSN, ESPN main network.

VEGAS ODDS: The Riders are favoured by three.

STREAKS: Saskatchewan: 6W; Winnipeg: 1L.

SEASON SERIES: The Riders won the first two meetings this year: 35-30 last Sunday in Regina and 23-17 on Aug. 7 in Winnipeg. The Riders have won 12 of the last 14 meetings between the two teams, but the Bombers beat Saskatchewan in last year’s Banjo Bowl — Winnipeg’s only home win in a 3-15 inaugural season at IGF.

ALL-TIME SERIES (SINCE 1936): Winnipeg 128-99-4.

KEY ROSTER CHANGES: The Riders will have placekicker Chris Milo doing double duty as the team’s punter this week, replacing injured Josh Bartel. There was some question earlier in the week whether injured receiver Chris Getzlaf would play, but head coach Corey Chamblin said Saturday Getzlaf likely will go…The Bombers will send Romby Bryant out to replace Nick Moore at the import slotback position. Moore sustained a high-ankle sprain in Regina last weekend.

SIX NOTABLE NUMBERS

10 — Last week’s Riders win was their 10th in a row at the annual Labour Day Classic.

346 — Rushing yards given up by the Bombers defence in two previous games against Saskatchewan this season.

611 — Rushing yards given up by the Bombers defence in their last four games.

1-3 — The Bombers’ record in their last three games and their record against West Division opponents this season.

3-2 — The Bombers’ record at Investors Group Field this season

5-5 — Bombers/Riders Banjo Bowl record.

THREE TO WATCH

Romby Bryant, SB, Bombers: Bryant gets back on the roster this week for the first time since Aug. 12 when he memorably took two objectionable-conduct penalties and fumbled to set up the go-ahead drive for the Toronto Argonauts. Bryant replaces Nick Moore, who sustained a high-ankle sprain last week in Regina.

Drew Willy, QB, Bombers: Willy has been held to 200 or less yards passing in each of his last three games and will be without one of his favourite targets in Moore today. He’ll be looking to stretch the field in a way he hasn’t done in a month.

John Chick, DE, Riders: Chick — who had three sacks and five tackles against the Bombers on Aug. 7 — was held off the stat sheet entirely last Sunday in Regina as a chastened Bombers offensive line made shutting down Chick Priority 1.

THEY SAID IT

“I’ve got something to prove every game. It’s not just this game because of what happened last game that I have something to prove. And more importantly we have something to prove. We need a win.”

—Bombers SB Romby Bryant

“We can blame whoever — blame the D-Line. Or just blame me — blame Bryant Turner. But the bottom line is we just didn’t execute against the run. And the last couple days at practice, we’ve really done a great job of executing against the run. We got a lot better.”

—Bombers DT Bryant Turner

“No, I will not lose any sleep over this… I’m sure I’ve been criticized for that. And that’s OK.”

—Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea, continuing to insist he has no concerns about his team’s beleaguered run defence

“When you look at the games we’ve won, we hit big plays. It’s definitely something we need to get going again.”

—Bombers QB Drew Willy on his team’s failure to generate an offensive play of 30 yards or more last game for the first time all season