LIVESTREAM PPV: CFL – BC Lions @Saskatchewan Roughriders, Sat. July 20, 6p (7p EDT, 1a CEDT)
REGINA — A first-year starter takes on a wily veteran in Regina on Saturday night, as the Saskatchewan Roughriders welcome the BC Lions to close out Week 6 action.
Mike Reilly will be making his 102nd career CFL start Saturday at Mosaic Stadium, while Cody Fajardo is making his third. Despite the difference in experience between the two pivots, both are searching for their second win of the season.
When Zach Collaros went down on Saskatchewan’s very first place from scrimmage of the year, the hopes of Rider fans were thrust onto the shoulders of Fajardo. The 27-year-old performed well through his first two starts – nearly 800 passing yards and six touchdowns. Most importantly, he picked up the victory in Week 3 against Toronto and narrowly lost a shootout with the Ottawa REDBLACKS the week prior.
“Whenever you go on a bye week after a loss, it kind of clouds your mind,” Fajardo told Riderville.com on Tuesday. “I think the guys feel rejuvenated and re-energized to come back out here and play football. It puts a lot of things in perspective when you can leave, get away from it, and come back.”
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Reilly’s career as the Lions starter has been rough thus far – literally. He has been sacked more than any other CFL quarterback this year, while his five touchdown passes through five games would be his lowest output in a season since his injury-shortened 2015 campaign.
Protecting Reilly will be of the utmost importance for BC this week, and Head Coach DeVone Claybrooks knows it.
“We’ve got to tackle better and we’ve got to protect the quarterback,” Claybrooks told BCLions.com. “Those are two glaring deficiencies that we have to get better at, and we understand that. We’re addressing those needs.”
The Lions have given up the most sacks in the league thus far (17) and running back John White only has one 100-yard rushing game. Saskatchewan boasts a fearful front-seven that includes the likes Charleston Hughes, Micah Johnson and Solomon Elimimian. It should come as no surprise that Saskatchewan has 12 sacks through four games.
Saturday’s matchup will be a special one for Hughes and Johnson, as they are facing their former coach. Claybrooks was the defensive coordinator in Calgary when the duo were terrorizing opposing offences in recent years (Hughes even shared the field with Claybrooks in 2009). They will be eager to make an impression in front of Claybrooks.
“We’re just excited to get after it again,” Johnson said. “The bye’s a good opportunity to get your legs back. I think everybody’s feeling good – there was a lot of energy on the field all week. We’re ready to go.”
The game will be Duron Carter’s first time playing at the new Mosaic Stadium as a visitor. He spent a season-and-a-half in Regina, with most of his playing time in 2018 coming on the defensive side of the ball. He is still looking for his first touchdown catch of the season, and it could very well come in his former stomping grounds.
“I’m more excited to hit the field with my current Lions teammates because I feel like we didn’t have a great showing last week and left a lot on the field,” Carter said. “For our team to get back out there and show what we have, that feels good.”
Lions wideout Bryan Burnham will make his return to the lineup after spending last week on the injured list.
The odds are stacked against the Lions in Week 6, as they have yet to have a bye in 2019. Meanwhile, the Riders are coming off a bye, and it will be the third time this season BC will face a team after their week off.
Receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux is slated to make his Riders debut Saturday. An off-season signing, the 31-year-old spent eight seasons with the Lions (over two stints). Half of those eight seasons were 1,000-yard efforts for Arceneaux, and he was on pace for another one in 2018, before his season was ended in August with a torn ACL.
“I really don’t give two cares about my former team, I think it’s just getting back on the field and playing,” Arceneaux told Riderville.com. “It just so happens it’s BC. Those guys know how to talk reckless – the trash talking. It’s going to be at a whole other level.”
BY THE NUMBERS
6 – The number of double-digit sack seasons for Charleston Hughes, five of which came with DeVone Claybrooks as his coach.
1,000 – William Powell is on pace to because the Roughriders first 1,000-yard rusher since Kory Sheets in 2013.
99 – Career sacks for Odell Willis. He tries to become the 12th player to reach 100 career sacks.
101 – Consecutive games with at least one reception for Emmanuel Arceneaux.
– With files from Lions.com/Riderville.com
AFI, Yare Media and the CFL
American Football International is collaborating with Yare Media and the Canadian Football League to present 2019 CFL games live. This is more than a livestream. This is a stream of the top flight TSN network television broadcast.
LIVE STREAM PPV: CFL – BC Lions @Saskatchewan Roughriders, Sat. July 20, 6p (7p EDT, 1a CEDT)
