November 25, 2017

CFL.ca Game Notes: A look at the 105th Grey Cup

OTTAWA — The 105th Grey Cup presented by Shaw is finally here.

The Calgary Stampeders and Toronto Argonauts finished first in their respective divisions this season and will battle it out for the coveted trophy.

Calgary will be hungry for redemption after the heartbreaking loss against the Ottawa REDBLACKS in the 104th Grey Cup. That motivation and determination will hopefully be the catalyst for the team to finish what they tried to do last year. It’ll be up to Bo Levi Mitchell and co. to try and tackle the tough Argonauts defence lead by Marcus Ball and Shawn Lemon to try and make that happen.

Toronto on the other hand, are inspired by the change of management and their head coach this season. Going from a 5-13 team in 2016 to a 9-9 squad that went all the way to the championship game, the Argonauts now have the opportunity to take the Grey Cup back to Toronto.

Ricky Ray will hope his arsenal of weapons on offence will be enough to battle the ever-dangerous Stampeders defence. Most Outstanding Rookie James Wilder Jr. will hope to build off his second half surge and pass-catches S.J Green, Armanti Edwards and DeVier Posey will look to expose Calgary’s secondary.

Will it be Toronto or Calgary that become Grey Cup Champions on Sunday?


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» Sunday, 6:00 p.m. ET: Argonauts vs. Stampeders


BO LEVI MITCHELL VS. RICKY RAY

QUICK QB COMPARISON

  • Ricky Ray and Bo Levi Mitchell have started against one another five times in regular season with the Calgary quarterback coming out on top in all 5.

RAY

  • Ricky Ray will be playing and starting in his fifth Grey Cup – a win will make him the winningest Grey Cup quarterback starter of all-time.
  • With his late game leadership last week in beating the Riders, Ray reached 42 game-winning drives with the fourth quarter rally.
  • Ray ranks seventh all-time in Grey Cup passing yards (1,215); he needs 206 yards to become second all-time in Grey Cup passing.
  • Combining regular season, playoff and Grey Cup games this will be Ray’s 236th career CFL start (124-110-1).

MITCHELL

  • Bo Levi Mitchell will be starting his 3rd Grey Cup – a win would make him the ONLY Calgary QB to lead the Stamps to two GC wins. (Seven winning starters: Spaith ’48, Keeling ’71, Flutie ’92, Garcia ’98, Crandell ’01, Burris ’08, Mitchell ’14)
  •  No other Calgary quartrerback has ever started three Grey Cup games (Spaith 2, Keeling 2, Mitchell 2)
  • Mitchell ranks 11th in career Grey Cup passing (805 yds); he is 189 yards behind Warren Moon (994) for 10th all-time.
  • Combining regular season, playoff and Grey Cup games this will be Mitchell’s 76th career CFL start (61-12-2 .827).

105th GREY CUP GAME NOTES

  • Toronto went from last place to first the next year for the first time in 31 years (they went from fourth to first from 1985 to 1986).
  • Calgary made it 10-straight years with 10+ wins and finished first for the fourth time in five years.
  • Calgary made it six-straight years playing in the West Division Final, one short of their club record of seven-straight (1990-96).
  • Toronto’s rushing attack went from an average of 65 yards per game in the first 12 weeks of the season to an average of 129 yards per game between week’s 13 and 18.
  • Shawn Lemon had three sacks in the Eastern Final, the first sacks he has ever had in a playoff game. He has two career Grey Cup sacks.
  • Calgary extended their win streak over Toronto to eight in a row and nine of the last 10 games.
  • The Stamps led by at least 16 points in each of the 2017 meetings but trailed by seven in each game as well.
  • Toronto was held under 300 passing yards only five times in 2017 – Calgary did it in each game they played the Argos (214 & 220).
  • The Stamps allowed only 30 quarterback sacks all season – and eight of them were made by the Argos.
  • Jerome Messam gained 138 yards over the two games vs Toronto; James Wilder rushed only five times vs. Calgary for 26 yards.
  • DaVaris Daniels led all receivers with 190 yards on 12 catches for three touchdowns vs. Toronto.
  • S.J. Green (20) and Marquay McDaniel (24) were the most targeted receivers and the only players with 100+ yards in the two-game set.
  • Bo Levi Mitchell’s season-high passing of 384 yards came against Toronto on Aug 26/17.