Ed Tait
Winnipeg Free Press

As experiments go, it was a little like splitting the atom on the very first visit to the laboratory... and with 25,484 witnesses to back up the achievement.

Kevin Glenn's first complete game as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' starting quarterback AND offensive play-caller was nothing short of a rousing success in Thursday's 37-24 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, with the club racking up 25 first downs and 433 yards total offence while holding onto the ball for nine minutes more than their opponent.

Not bad for a guy who wasn't really sure if he wanted the extra pressure of trying to find his game again and also be in charge of keeping the offence purring and his teammates content.

"There were a couple of plays I wished I could have called back but, as a whole, I think I did a pretty good job of mixing it up and making sure I got everybody in the game," Glenn said. "That's one of the toughest things: making sure you keep all your receivers and your running back happy. You've got to try and satisfy everybody who wants the ball. It's not like you're up in the (spotters' booth) where they can't talk to you. You can have five or six guys in your ear at one time on the sideline and you're hearing all this, you've got to register it, compute it and figure out what the defence is doing. Plus, you've got to be thinking two, three plays ahead.

"There was also a point where I just said to myself, 'I've got to get (Derick) Armstrong the ball, I've got to get him a touch. But the defence they were playing was pressing him and it was hard to get him that touch. But not once did he ever complain.

"It's a two-way street when you're dealing with this. I know some quarterbacks who say they just want to go out and execute the play that's called. It's one of those situations where it's about how you're feeling that night."

And Glenn was definitely feeling it. Sure, he tossed two interceptions -- including one that was returned 19 yards by Zeke Moreno for a touchdown. He connected with Armstrong for one score, but also would have had two more if Romby Bryant and Milt Stegall hadn't dropped two sure TDs.

Even more impressive was this: Glenn not only got Charles Roberts involved for the first time this season (he had 182 yards combined offence), he called for a variety of offensive formations that had the Ticat defence on its heels.

"When you take on a little more ownership of the offence, as Kevin has done, you see some of the things out there you need to see in order to be able to call the next play," head coach Doug Berry said. "That was perhaps a revelation. It's something he may not have paid attention to in the past, but now he's forced to do it because he's calling his own plays.

"I truly believe a quarterback has a sense when he's on the field of what he needs to do and wants to do next. I've been in situations where a play gets sent in and you talk to a quarterback after a game and he says, 'I wasn't comfortable with that call.' Right now, Kevin Glenn can't use that as an excuse -- it doesn't go on the game plan unless he's comfortable with it."

Courtesy: www.winnipegfreepress.com