Ferguson: Harris silences those that said he couldn’t win in big game

There might be no more rewarding feeling in all of professional sports than proving doubters wrong.

Check that. The most rewarding feeling in all of professional athletics is having a peak performance in the biggest moment of your career.

Now imagine doing both.

Welcome to Trevor Harris on Sunday.

With six touchdown passes Harris simultaneously quieted the hates Sunday and reaffirmed his status as the man to lead Ottawa’s dynamic attack into the ever more bright future.

Harris had passes caught by ten different receivers in Sunday’s Eastern Final including touchdowns by underrated Canadians JC Beaulieu, Marco Dubois and Brendan Gillanders. All three were below the radar offensive skill position draft picks who Sunday – based on scheme and understanding of the Jamie Elizondo offensive system – found themselves in the end zone contributing to a team reaching their third Grey Cup in four years.

RELATED: Eastern Final

» Recap: Ottawa Grey Cup bound after handling Ticats
» Trevor Harris sets new playoff touchdown record
» Matchup Set: REDBLACKS to square off with Stamps in 106GC

Harris wasn’t done with throwing touchdowns to just the nationals though. At some point you knew he was going to hit the greatest hits album which came in the form of Diontae Spencer and Greg Ellingson. While Spencer’s scores were as spectacular as ever the Ellingson score showed why Ottawa has become one of the most dangerous offences in the CFL.

To the tailgate enjoying fan it might have looked like Ellingson was wide open the whole time and simply ran away from any Ticats defender in sight. In reality the play was a culmination of Ottawa’s offensive attack against Hamilton in weeks 7, 19 and 20.

In each of those games Harris put up stats worthy of superlatives in head-to-head matchups with Eastern Division most outstanding Player nominee Jeremiah Masoli. Those performances warranted statements this week along the lines of “we’ve tried everything against them this year, we just hope to execute better and make plays on Sunday”.

At the end of that interview with ticats.ca Glanville

Through the first quarter and a half Harris faced an offensive attack full of speed pressure filled with defensive back blitzes in order to reach him before the ball left his hand but the Ottawa attack was ready for the Hamilton onslaught which left only man coverage behind the rush.

In man-to-man coverage defenders are left on an island resulting in the plays made either resulting in great success with pressure applied or poor judgement ending up in a salty slink to the sideline with a helmet down.

With Harris understanding the pressure being applied and receivers finding a way to break free from coverage Sunday Ottawa pulled away with the grandest of displays being supplied by former Ticat Ellingson when placed in a one-on-one matchup with SAM linebacker Don Unamba.

Unamba an Eastern all-star himself and standout defender capable of taking over a game at any point lined up against Ellingson with a blitz showing and jumped an out cut.

Ellingson broke off the route and cut back to the middle receiving a pass from Harris on both time and target before racing to the end zone. Without weeks 7, 19, and 20 Ellingson would never have been so open due to the Ticats defence resulting to pressure as a last bastion of hope after falling to a season sweep at the hands of Ottawa in the regular season which resulted in the Ticats desperation Sunday in what felt like an unstoppable wave of variety from the Redblacks.

Harris set the single game CFL record for passing touchdowns Sunday in a display that brought Redblacks fans to their feet to shower him with praise.

A far cry from the reception taken in through most of his first two years in red and black after leaving the double blue of Toronto.

Harris was masterful Sunday proving his worth as one of the CFL’s most respected quarterbacks in both statistics and perception. Simultaneously shutting up the haters and showing up in the biggest game of the year.

There is nothing better, except winning the Grey Cup, which Harris will have a chance to do Sunday for the first time in his CFL career.