Ferguson: Examining the Behar, Crum connection

Marshall Ferguson

CFL.ca

@TSN_Marsh

What Ottawa has done over the last month of REDBLACKS football was unimaginable anytime over the last year, two years, during the pandemic, or in 2019.

It’s been four long years – three seasons – since the nation’s capital has received these kind of positive headlines around their football team. A thin era for wins, with much hope and little to show for the fans’ continued passion.

Of course, the real head scratcher in all of this is that after big free agency acquisitions like Jeremiah Masoli, emergency trades like Nick Arbuckle, and stunning underdog stories like Tyrie Adams, the quarterback to make the tidal wave of negativity shift the other direction is Dustin Crum.

To me, Crum was just another obscure first year CFL quarterback through the first month of the season. Like many others I slapped his name and college stats on my CFL on TSN game prep not expecting to say it for more than a couple snaps.

Then all hell broke loose. From Arbuckle to Adams then to Masoli and finally to Crum, the man calling plays in the huddle has been a turnstile of unparalleled proportions. Until now.

For that cycle to stop somebody had to earn the right to stay starter and maintain their health long enough to validate it. The first is no longer a question, the second is a week-to-week grind but hey, that’s pro football.

In reality, Dustin Crum is a shining star, a guiding light for what CFL teams should be looking for moving forward. For all the major conference big bodies, and coaches sons who have played the game since birth, Crum shows that all you really need is a gamer with the athletic traits to exploit a CFL size field.

Mixed in amongst the many stunning improvements for Ottawa over the last six quarters of play is the unforeseen connection of Crum and veteran National receiver Nate Behar. Sure, it might just be coincidence that Nate has his name called more and more by offensive coordinator Khari Jones as the REDBLACKS began to surge past previous offensive standards, but when you watch closely there is more to see than just being in the right place at the right time.

Behar’s Winnipeg experience began slowly, much as his CFL career did despite being a first round pick. In the second quarter, he converted a second and eight. Later, there were a couple of big slant catches as Crum dialled in on the reliable hands of Ottawa’s No. 80.

With 2:32 remaining in the fourth quarter, Behar went to work on Brandon Alexander with an inside slot option route before Crum placed the ball where only his man could catch it low and away from contact.

Shortly afterwards came a second and three sideline comeback route that extended the drive for Ottawa, followed quickly by a sideline toe tap with 15 seconds remaining and the savvy veteran settled between zones for a two-point conversion, which sent the game to overtime where the Crumback was born.

A week later on the road it was Crum to Behar for a touchdown with 1:27 remaining in the final quarter of play, or so we thought. In overtime, the heroics continued when Behar caught a second and 10 pass over the middle, immediately knifing for the first down before tacklers could arrive.

To finish the job, Crum found Behar as the primary receiver on an out route, two-pointer that resulted in Ottawa being the first team in CFL history to win consecutive games in overtime.

Dustin Crum will get the attention and fanfare, rightly so. He has stepped into an incredibly difficult situation with eyes wide open, naive to the recent history of the franchise at home and beyond to take the reins and lead two incredibly memorable victories.

As we know though, football is the ultimate team game and the men around Crum have stepped up their play to give Ottawa a reason to believe as they come home this Friday to take on the Tiger-Cats.

It’s not lost on me, or anyone who sat through 13 consecutive home losses what a win would mean this week. Just imagine if it’s Crum to Behar that does it, again.

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