Thomas Skrlj/CFL.ca
TORONTO — One of the most anticipated dates on the CFL schedule is finally here as Touchdown Atlantic gets set to kickoff this weekend.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders and Toronto Argonauts head to Nova Scotia this week as they get prepared for their Week 6 matchup set to take place at Acadia University on Saturday afternoon. Toronto is back from a bye, hoping to forget about the heartbreaking loss in Week 4 against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Saskatchewan, on the other hand, is riding a two-game winning streak, and will be looking to make it three-in-a-row to keep pace in a tough West Division.
Along with Touchdown Atlantic, Week 6 has three other exciting matchups for CFL fans to enjoy.
It all starts on Thursday night as the Montreal Alouettes host the Edmonton Elks. With an injury to Tre Ford last week, the Elks have made a change at quarterback, announcing Taylor Cornelius as the starter earlier this week. Can he help the Elks to their second win of the campaign? As for the Alouettes, this will be the team’s first game with general manager Danny Maciocia patrolling the sidelines as head coach.
Friday night will see a battle of the only two unbeaten teams, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Calgary Stampeders. Winnipeg is coming off of an excellent showing against the BC Lions where quarterback Zach Collaros worked his magic in helping his team to improve to 5-0. The Stampeders meanwhile had a week of rest and will be hungry to knock the Bombers off the top of the division with a win in enemy territory.
And finally, following Touchdown Atlantic will be an East Division clash between the Ottawa REDBLACKS and Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Don’t let their records fool you, even though neither of these teams have cashed in a win yet on the season, both have showed glimpses of potential. Who gets their first victory? Find out on Saturday at Tim Hortons Field.
Buy Week 6 Tickets
» Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ET: Edmonton at Montreal
» Friday, 8:30 p.m. ET: Calgary at Winnipeg
» Saturday, 2:00 p.m. ET: Saskatchewan at Toronto
» Saturday, 5:00 p.m. ET: Ottawa at Hamilton
EAST COAST CLASSIC
- Saturday’s game mark the fifth installment of Touchdown Atlantic and the first since 2019.
- The 2022 edition will represent the first-ever regular season game played in Nova Scotia.
- History of TDA
- The first four TDAs averaged 56 points
- Atlantic Canada Connections
- SSK | K | Brett Lauther | Born in Truro, N.S.; played collegiately at Saint Mary’s
- TOR | OL | Gregor Mackellar | Born in Timberlea, N.S.; played collegiately at St. FX
- TOR | LB | Henoc Muamba | Played collegiately at St. FX
- Notable past performances
- Passing
- Kevin Glenn (2011 – HAM): 16-of-23, 276 yards, 3 TD
- Josh Neiswander (2013 – MTL) 26-of-36, 294 yards, 2 TD
- McLeod Bethel-Thompson (2019 – TOR) 36-of-47, 464 yards, 2 TD
- Rushing
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- Jon Cornish (2011 – CGY) 9 car, 84 yards
- Avon Cobourne (2011 – HAM) 15 car, 84 yards, TD
- Calvin McCarty (2010 – EDM) 10 car, 84 yards, 2 TDs
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- Passing
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- Receiving
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- Marcus Thigpen (2011 – HAM) 6 rec, 139 yards, 2 TDs
- Duron Carter (2013 – MTL) 9 rec, 112 yards
- Rodney Smith (2019 – TOR) 12 rec, 136 yards
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- Receiving
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- Defence:
- Elliot Richardson (2010 – EDM) 4 DT, 2 INTs, 1 FF
- Chip Cox (2013 – MTL) 8 DT, 2 sacks, 1 INT
- Kevin Eiben (2010 – TOR) 9 DT
- Defence:
THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE
- Friday night’s game between Calgary and Winnipeg features the second-best combined record among undefeated teams, Stampeders (4-0) and Blue Bombers (5-0) – behind only Hamilton (4-0) and Edmonton (7-0) on September 11, 1961.
- Both QBs are on winning streaks: Bo Levi Mitchell at seven games; Zach Collaros at five
- Mitchell is 5-3 in head-to-head matchups with Collaros
- Mitchell against the Blue Bombers:
- 12-3 record
- 30 TDs to 9 INTs
- 10 of his 37 300-yard games have come against Winnipeg
- Week 5 Top Performer Zach Collaros is on a streak of 10-0 at IG Field
A RETURN TO THE SIDELINES
- Newly minted head coach Danny Maciocia will welcome his former team, the Edmonton Elks, to Montreal.
- Maciocia coached Edmonton from 2005-08, compiling a regular season record of 33-38-1
- In 2005, Edmonton finished third in the West (11-7), before defeating Calgary and BC to reach the 93rd Grey Cup. Edmonton beat Montreal 38-35 in overtime to claim the championship.
- As a head coach, Maciocia is 3-1 in the playoffs
- The last five head coaches to take over following an in-season change all won their first games
QUICK SLANTS
- Teams coming off a bye this year are 3-1. Hamilton, Toronto and Montreal are all coming off a week’s rest. Toronto has already won off a bye this year.
- Taylor Cornelius will make his first career start against Montreal. He has yet to face BC.
- Manny Arceneaux leads the Elks in receiving yards with 296 (15.4 yards per catch) on 19 receptions. Teammate Kenny Lawler leads the league with 26 receptions.
- Trevor Harris will be making his first start against his former team – Edmonton
- Chandler Worthy has the opportunity to become the first player-ever to return a kickoff for a touchdown in three straight games
- Bo Levi Mitchell has a TD pass in each game this year and last week, recorded a passer rating of 149.6 – his highest in four years.
- Malik Henry has 323 receiving yards in his last two games, averaging 26.9 yards per reception
- Zach Collaros needs 210 passing yards to pass John Hufnagel for 31ston the all-time list
- The Riders have not started 5-1 since 2013 – the last time they won the Grey Cup
- Charleston Hughes sits sixth all-time in sacks (133). John Bowman is fifth with 134, and Joe Montford is fourth with 135
- Nick Marshall has 14 career interceptions in 49 games, with five returned for majors (35.7 per cent). He is second only to Malcolm Frank, who had 21 interceptions and eight scores (38.1 per cent).
- In the last five seasons, Toronto has played in 12 one-point games (8-4)
- In his last game, Andrew Harris rushed for 111 yards on 22 carries (5 yards per rush). It was his 28th career 100+ yard rushing game, tying him with Earl Lunsford for seventh all-time.
- Last week, Ottawa’s William Powell (4,774) passed Reggie Barnes to move into the Top-50 on the all-time rushing list. He needs 30 more to pass CJ Gable for 49th.
- Hamilton’s Tim White has averaged 97 receiving yards in his last three games on a league-high 22 catches.
- Jovan Santos-Knox and Wynton McManis are the only two players in the league to have registered at least six tackles in each game this season.
