Hickman, Ticat D-line hold key to cup

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This article was published 28/11/2014 (4063 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — The Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ defensive line can’t win the Grey Cup on Sunday but they can lose it.

Very simply, if tackles Ted Laurent and Bryan Hall along with ends Justin Hickman and Eric Norwood can’t take care of their business, the Calgary Stampeders will romp.

The Stamps will first and foremost try and jam Jon Cornish down the Tiger-Cats’ throats. If they can do this, they’ll stick to the run game all day and be crowned champions of Canadian football.

If Hamilton’s front seven can contain the run game, they’ll force Stamps quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell to work for his completions and not give the easy pickings afforded by man-to-man coverage such as we saw last week in his tour de force West final performance.

The Tiger-Cats can’t pick their poison against the Stamps. They need to find the antidote for both the run and the pass.

“If we get beat up front, it’s going to be a long day for us. If you don’t control the line of scrimmage, you’re going to struggle,” said Tiger-Cats coach Kent Austin. “They’re a good football team. They’re well coached, they’re well prepared, they have experience. We all know about their run game. They’re very good in the passing game, too. They make a lot of plays. Bo Levi (Mitchell) is a good QB.”

The Tiger-Cats front four is an interesting mix of personalities. The tackles, the big boys that get dirty every play, are more flamboyant.

The ends, in particular Hickman, are cerebral and have bought in to a team concept. So many defensive ends in today’s game are only about sacks and the glory that comes along with the big play. Not in Hamilton.

“Justin’s been an outstanding addition. He doesn’t say a lot. He’s very professional about his approach. He’s very focused. He understands that the position requires skill sets in both the run and passing game. There’s also a role to play. Some times you have to give yourself up based on the scheme that’s in front of him. He will accept that role. He doesn’t have a large ego, he just wants to play the game,” said Austin.

“I think every player and every coach has an ego. That’s a given. The question is, ‘does that ego get in the way of what we’re trying to accomplish?’ Because at the end of the day, it’s a team sport. What you want is the players to trust their coaches and teammates and accept the role they’re given in an unselfish way and to handle that role to the best of their ability with preparation and effort. If that means you get five sacks because it’s schemed that way, or you get zero sacks. It shouldn’t matter. What you should be happy with is the W. Hickman buys into that.”

Hickman played his college football at UCLA and has had stops in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts and Washington Redskins. In all his time in football, he’s never played in a championship game.

“I’m smart and savvy out there. I think I was blessed by God with physical athletic ability and talents,” said Hickman. “Also my attention to detail, the things off the field. Film, IQ. My dad taught me about the five P’s. Proper Preparation Prevents Piss-Poor Performance. Each week I’m doing the things necessary off the field. Watching film, picking up keys, trying to be able to play a faster run game.”

Hang around pro football for a bit and you’ll get the chance to listen to a defensive end talk about himself in the third person and extol the virtues of his game, his fashion sense and whatever else comes to mind.

Hickman, however, prefers to sit in the weeds both on the field and off. Sacks aren’t how he judges his performance.

“Guess I was born that way. I am a team guy; I don’t do things for me. I realize that me guys don’t last long in this business,” said Hickman. “My parents instilled being a team player in me when I was young. I’ve got my job, and if there’s a play to be made in my gap, and I don’t get it, I’ll get it next time. I don’t win every play but you’re going to get my best, 100 per cent of the time.”

Tiger-Cats defensive line coach Dennis McPhee suits his group perfectly. Big, bald and burly. He calls himself a John Wayne guy and says he likes working with the men up front.

When asked if his group can win this game for the Tiger-Cats, McPhee says no, “all levels of our defence have to contribute, it’s not just about the line.”

“I think Calgary’s first MO would be to try and run the rock. And so it’s important to have a great group of guys to get in their gaps and get upfield,” said McPhee. “Calgary is very well coached, and I don’t mean that because they have a great record. John Hufnagel and Dave Dickenson do a lot of formation stuff to get people in and out, there’s a bit of deception there. They get you into a situation where you can add late to the box and or leave late and then maybe get caught. We have to be vigilant and understand what is deceptive and what is not.”

Every defence in the CFL knows the Stampeders are going to try and run the ball but no one has been able to stop them this season.

“They execute. People understand what others are trying to do, and you try to counterbalance things, but it’s about execution in the end,” said McPhee “The big thing for any team is to try and understand what happens before it happens based on formation and motion. They’re 15-3 for a reason and we’re preparing very hard for them.”

Late Sunday night, if the Stampeders win this game football fans all over Canada will know exactly who struck the blows. Cornish and Mitchell will have romped.

But if it’s the Ticats dancing with the Grey Cup late into the night, it’s very likely the four workmanlike men who front their defence will have won the battle of the day and, in the end, the season’s war.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @garylawless