If you’re a would-be starting CFL quarterback and you haven’t been injured enough to miss a start this season you should count your blessings or thank the big boys up front with an all-you-can-eat meal. Food is the way to any lineman’s heart.
Through 11 weeks of the CFL schedule over half of the No. 1 pivots have been hurt and in most cases for a significant amount of time. Troy Smith, Zach Collaros, Darian Durant—he suffered a painful-looking elbow injury last week—and Travis Lulay have all seen the six-game injured list. Meanwhile Eskimos passer Mike Reilly has missed two straight starts with a right thumb issue on his throwing hand. And the rash of injuries has tested the quarterback depth around the league.
Out in Montreal Jonathan Crompton has gone 2-0 in his two starts for the Als. Dan LeFevour was showing his dual-threat abilities in Hamilton before suffering a season-ending ACL injury. Edmonton’s Matt Nichols has flashed the ability to lead an offence despite dropping two games to CFL-leading Calgary.
The Lions must be patting themselves on the back for sending a first-round pick to Ottawa this past off-season for Kevin Glenn, a proven veteran and consummate professional. But it’s Riders quarterback Tino Sunseri who we will learn the most about down the stretch of the season. And that’s where we start for our biggest storylines to watch in Week 12.
Sunseri looking to shine in lead role
On Sunday Sunseri will make his first career professional start at quarterback. Saskatchewan’s second-year pivot has experienced a couple extended spurts of playing time taking over in place of an injured Durant, but it will be all Sunseri now.
Back in Week 9, No. 12 entered the game to begin the third quarter with the Riders down 13–9. He went on to complete eight of 13 passes for 86 yards and tossed the eventual game-winning touchdown to offensive lineman Dan Clark—a memorable catch by the burly man.
But it was one other throw Sunseri made in the 20–16 comeback victory over BC that stuck out. On second and six with under four minutes to play and Saskatchewan on their own 20-yard line, Sunseri took the shotgun snap, surveyed the defence, stepped up and threw a dart to Rob Bagg running a corner route towards the right sideline for a 29-yard gain. The football was delivered on time, and placed perfectly between two defenders—a precision pass at a crucial time in the game.
There will be many similar moments down the stretch of the season where Sunseri will be called upon to make an important throw and we’ll get a better sense of whether he can consistently perform with the game on the line.
Saskatchewan’s offence has been predicated on their strong run game all season, so it’s unlikely Sunseri will get asked to chuck the ball around at a high rate—Durant didn’t have a 300-yard passing effort in any of his 10 starts and only went over 200 four times. Riders’ offensive coordinator George Cortez will likely lean on the CFL’s best rush attack to help give the 25-year-old pivot favourable situations when dropping back to pass. Sunseri’s first test comes against a Hamilton defence allowing the second-most passing yards per game in the league.
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Cornish earning his Corn Flakes
Don’t look now but Jon Cornish is making up ground quickly in the CFL rushing race. The reigning league MOP has played in just four games this season—he missed six with a concussion—but sits just 210 yards behind top spot. Cornish’s back-to-back 100-yard rushing performances have put him within striking distance of claiming his second straight rushing title.
Calgary’s dynamic Canadian runner sure looks to be in fine form despite being sidelined for a significant chunk of the season. In the Stampeders’ 41–34 win over Edmonton in Week 11, Cornish delivered at crunch time. He ripped off a 26-yard run to put Calgary in the red zone. Then, Cornish finished the drive on the next snap with a 10-yard scoring scamper to put his team up for good with just over a minute and a half to go in the contest.
The threat of Cornish in the backfield has opened up more of the playbook for Calgary. And the fact that he’s averaging a ridiculous 6.5 yards per carry doesn’t hurt either. It was late in September last year when Cornish began his string of five consecutive 100-yard rushing efforts, a stretch that helped him lock up the rushing title. So it looks like he’s turned it up a little earlier in 2014 to make up for lost time. Next on the list for Cornish is a home date with the Argos.
Winnipeg, BC have crossover on the mind
Winnipeg makes their second trip of the season to BC in Week 12 and there are playoff implications on the line. If the Bombers win they will take the season series and hold the all-important tiebreaker over the Lions should the two teams be tied for say a possible crossover post-season berth in the East.
In the first meeting of the season Winnipeg completely shut down the Lions offence, holding BC to six points while piling up six sacks, two interceptions and one fumble recovery. It just so happens BC is coming off a terrible offensive performance against Ottawa and with the loss of Lulay must again shift back to Glenn at quarterback.
The Lions have received pretty inconsistent play from the pivot position all season. But one thing is for certain: when running backs Andrew Harris and Stefan Logan get going, the Leos start moving. BC needs to get Harris and Logan involved early to kickstart the offence against Winnipeg.