July 20, 2017

O’Leary: Despite slow start, spirits high in TigerTown

Johany Jutras/CFL.ca

Zach Collaros stood in the middle of a small pack of reporters, fine-tuning a lemon Gatorade concoction, pouring it back and forth between two cups. Mike Filer, Collaros’ centre, stood a few feet behind him on the podium stage, almost invisible in the dimly-lit media room, picking away on his acoustic guitar.

The biggest concern for Collaros, Filer (especially Filer) and a handful of other Tiger-Cats players on Wednesday morning was that the order of sandwiches that rounds out the media room food offerings on your standard walkthrough day was more than an hour late.

It’s not until the questions come that you’re reminded that this fun-loving group of men has something bigger on its horizon. At 0-3, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats will play their second game in five days on Thursday. If they want to pick themselves up over the gate that’s tripped them early this season, they’ll have to do it against a 3-0 Edmonton Eskimos team that’s shown a ton of veteran-led poise in each of its wins.

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If his track record is any indication, it’s only a matter of time before Zach Collaros starts to find a rhythm under centre for the Tabbies (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)

There’s pressure that comes with a slow start like this, especially for a team that was projected to fare well with a healthy Collaros in the lineup. On Wednesday, there were no signs that the pressure had gotten to any of the Ticats.

“It’s a great headline for the media,” Filer said, “but we’ve been here before. We’ve been asked so many times about the locker room and such, and it’s still great.

“We’re all waking up every day and playing the sport we love. It’s just going to take a little bit of time to turn this ship around. I think we made some good strides last week and we just have to continue to capitalize on those good plays and good drives, especially up front. I think everything will work itself out as long as everyone’s doing their job.”

Hamilton started 1-4 in 2013 and 1-6 in 2014 and made it to the Grey Cup game both years.

“There was never really a feeling of panic around here,” Collaros said of that 2014 season, where he was the starting pivot. “We stayed the course and it’s kind of a snowball effect. You win and you get a little swagger back to you and things start to go your way. Or at least it feels that way.”

“We haven’t really been stressed,” added receiver Brian Tyms. “We haven’t been at each other’s throats, we haven’t been negative to each other.

“If you watch us practice you wouldn’t think we’re 0-3. We’re out there having fun, we’re going hard at each other like we’re 3-0. In this league you can’t think like that. If you sulk, it’ll pass you by. You try to live in the moment and take advantage of every opportunity.”

The CFL is full of underdog success stories that teams can always cling to when things aren’t going their way. Two of the most recent ones include the BC Lions, who started the 2011 season 0-5; they finished it holding the Grey Cup over their heads. Last season, the Ottawa REDBLACKS won eight games in the regular-season and stunned a 15-win Calgary Stampeders team in the Grey Cup. No lead is safe, TV announcers love to remind you. Standings — once you win a game — may not matter that much when the dust of a season settles, either.

“I think we have a really good shot to upset some people,” Tyms said.

“I know everybody’s checking us off like it’s an easy win but I’m not a scrub. I don’t know if they know who I am. I’m not going out like a sucker. There’s 45 other guys in (that locker room) that aren’t going out like suckers.”

“We haven’t really been stressed. We haven’t been at each other’s throats, we haven’t been negative to each other.”

Bryan Tyms 

Ross Scheuerman found the end zone last week against the BC Lions and will be looking to keep the ground game rolling against Edmonton (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)

Collaros looked around the locker room this week and played it as he saw fit.

“You have to be able to read the situation. If guys are down, speak some words of encouragement. If guys are too excited, be the calm, steady hand,” he said.

“I was always taught growing up to be cool, calm and collected as the quarterback, try to not show too much emotion, whether you’re up 50 or down 50, stay even throughout the whole game. It’s gotten me to this point so I’m going to continue to try to do that.”

Filer and the offensive line will look to build off of their best performance of the still-young season. Collaros had much more time to operate on Saturday night and was only sacked twice. The o-line helped generate 81 yards of rushing, including 58 on eight carries for running back Ross Scheuerman, who had one of Hamilton’s three touchdowns.

“Being o-linemen we want to run that football and we have to make sure that every time a run play is called we have to capitalize on that,” Filer said. “We had some good things in film and I think we took away some good things. I think we’re still making some mistakes that we’ve got to brush up on and clean up but that’s part of it. It’s a long season. We have to continue to capitalize on the things we’re doing well and clean up on the bad.”

The challenge will be steep against the Eskimos, but Tyms says he and his teammates are sticking together to try and get this win and turn it into another one.

“This season is way too long to count us out, but I do appreciate everyone that does,” he said. “You give us that drive, that fire. One of us reads something, we share it with the other 45 guys that are playing and all of us feel the same way. It’s not just one person.”