CFL.ca
CFL.ca Staff
TORONTO — The bye weeks are over and done with, meaning fans will have a full slate of football on their hands for the first time since Week 5.
On Friday night, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats cruised to a 37-18 win over the Bombers at Investors Group Field.
On Saturday, the first half of a double header will see cross-division rivals clash, as Anthony Calvillo and the Alouettes travel to Saskatchewan to take on Darian Durant and the Roughriders.
Later that night, the Stampeders head to BC to take on the Lions for their second matchup of the season.
Finally, the Argonauts will kick off a three-game home stand on Sunday night, welcoming the Edmonton Eskimos to Rogers Centre.
Equipped with the most up-to-date storylines, roster moves, stats, milestones and trends, the Week 8 CFL.ca Game Notes will provide you with everything you need for the upcoming week of football.
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Friday, 8:00 pm ET: Tiger-Cats at Blue Bombers (HAM 37, WPG 18)
Saturday, 4:00 pm ET: Alouettes at Roughriders (SOLD OUT)
Saturday, 9:00 pm ET: Stampeders at Lions
Sunday, 7:00 pm ET: Eskimos at Argonauts
By the Numbers:
Fewest Interceptions Record: The CFL record for fewest interceptions in a season was set in 2012 with just 137 in 72 games. That works out to one in every 35 pass attempts and well above the long-term rate since 1954 of one in every 21 passes. Across the league in 2013 there have been only 31 interceptions in 1,507 pass attempts for a 2.06% mark or 1 in every 49 passes.
This season, the Riders and Argonauts have yet to throw even one pick and Toronto’s 7-game streak without an interception (Nov 1, 2012- Aug 8, 2013) is the longest in the league since 1995 (when we have detailed records available of this kind).
Toronto has not thrown an interception in their last 254 attempts while Saskatchewan carries a 6-game streak with no picks (their last 189 attempts). It is Saskatchewan’s longest streak of games with no interceptions since 1995.
Max Hall at QB: Hall will be Winnipeg’s 6th different starting QB in their last 11 games, dating back to Oct 13, 2012. Since the start of 2012 it would be Winnipeg’s eighth week-to-week change at QB. In the previous 7 times, the Bombers have a remarkable 5-2 record when swapping out QB starters from the previous week.
Kory Sheets: After 6 games Sheets has 845 rushing yards which is the highest total any CFL player has ever accumulated at that point of any season.
Fewest Turnovers Record: The CFL record for fewest turnovers in a season was set by BC in 2012 with just 23. This season, the Riders have only three turnovers and are on pace for just 9 in total. Across the CFL there have been only 93 turnovers in 24 games or 3.9 per game – that is the lowest turnovers per game rate in CFL history.
Rush Attempts per Game: Most of the CFL’s records for rushing were set in a different era when the ground attack was the primary offensive choice. Though Saskatchewan does not threaten the record of 46 carries per game set by Edmonton in 1958, their average of 26.2 rushes per game is a throwback and the most in the CFL in the last 12 years (Saskatchewan 2002: 27.4/game). Kory Sheets however has 132 or 22.0 per game and is on pace for a CFL record 396 (set by Mike Pringle at 347 in 1998).
Geroy Simon: With nine catches for 194 yards so far this season, Geroy Simon is now just two receptions away from 1,000 in his regular season career.
He’s also eight short of tying Terry Vaughn for second on the all-time receptions list at 1,006, and is 20 away from surpassing Ben Cahoon as the all-time receptions leader.
Roster Moves:
As announced earlier this week, Max Hall will get the start for the Bombers on Friday Night Football against the Tiger-Cats.
Hamilton, on the other hand, will welcome Andy Fantuz back into the lineup. Fantuz has missed the last five games with a torn hamstring.
In Montreal, an injury to Noel Devine means that Tyron Carrier will take over kick return duties. Carrier also hasn’t played since sustaining an injury in Week 1.
Despite raising eyebrows after hitting the turf and favouring his already tender knee last week against Montreal, Argos QB Ricky Ray will play on Sunday night against the Eskimos.
The Eskimos will be without linebacker JC Sherritt and DB Aaron Grymes this week and beyond, as both were announced to be out indefinitely earlier this week.
Sherritt suffered a broken thumb, while Grymes sustained internal injuries during practice. The Eskimos did receive some good news, however, as Joe Burnett is expected to make his return to the 42.
Milestone Alert:
Rene Paredes: Last week Paredes made both of his field goal attempts to extend his new record for consecutive successful attempts to 36.
Paredes’ last miss was 13 games ago on Sep 23, 2012 from 45 yards out at Regina. During his streak of his longest has been from 46 yards. 29 have come from inside 40 yards, and 7 from 40 and longer with an average of 30.1 yards per attempt.
Jon Cornish – 112.7 per game: Calgary’s Jon Cornish is also off to an excellent start with 676 rushing yards on just 93 carries for an average of 7.3 yards. With an average of 112.7 yards per game thus far, he has the 5th-highest per game average in CFL history. He is on pace to go over 2,000 yards (2,028) as is Sheets at 140.8 or 2,535 yards, a total that only Mike Pringle achieved in 1998 (2,065).
AC TD Passes: Anthony Calvillo has thrown a TD pass in 23-straight games, the CFL’s 3rd-longest streak in history. It is notable that AC’s streak has a similarity to Travis Lulay’s 26-gamer in that Calvillo was part of the 42-man active roster on Nov 3, 2012 but did not see the field at all.
The CFL’s prior ruling was that such streaks can continue due to the specific nature of the QB position. Of additional note, Calvillo’s current run of 6 games under 300 yards is his longest since 2006 (8 games in a row).
Consecutive Games with Receptions: Calgary’s Nik Lewis has extended his streak to 163-straight games with at least one reception accounting for every regular season game in his 10-year career. It is the 3rd longest streak of all-time. Simon has catches in all three of his games in 2013 extending his consecutive run to 176 in a row and continues at #2 all-time, 40 back of the all-time record holder Don Narcisse of Saskatchewan at 216. Weston Dressler now has a 51 game reception streak underway and Fred Stamps has extended his to 92 games.
