Arthur Ward/CFL.ca
Winless in their last four games, the Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-4-1) look to get back on the left side of the ledger as they kick off Week 12 Thursday night against the Toronto Argonauts (5-4-0).
It’s the second meeting of the year between the two teams with the Riders looking to sweep the season series after a 30-23 win back in Week 5.
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Here are four keys for Saskatchewan as they look to knock off the Argos and pick up their first win in the month of August.
GET AFTER THE QUARTERBACK
Priority number one is getting to the reigning Most Outstanding Player as Chad Kelly makes his 2024 debut after serving a nine-game suspension to start the season. And much like how Winnipeg made life difficult in Nathan Rourke’s return last week, the Riders can spoil Kelly’s return by continuing to do what they’ve done all season.
Saskatchewan has been getting to opposing quarterbacks right from week 1 and their 26 sacks has them sitting number one overall. Defensive tackle Micah Johnson is tied for the league lead with five individual sacks, while fellow linemen Malik Carney and Bryan Cox Jr. each have four. Knowing Toronto has allowed a league-worst 23 sacks, the Roughriders have the chance to exploit a mismatch at BMO Field.
PICK UP WHERE THEY LEFT OFF LAST WEEK
Even with an 0-3-1 mark in their last four contests, things haven’t been all bad for Saskatchewan. And the positive return of Trevor Harris to game action in last week’s tight 27-24 loss to Montreal is one of those bright spots.
Harris returned after missing almost two months with a knee injury and threw for 355 yards and two touchdowns against the Als. With that performance in his back pocket and going up against an Argos secondary that has allowed an average of 325.7 passing yards over their last three games, Harris has a great chance to keep this roll going.
Furthermore, in Dohnte Meyers and KeeSean Johnson, the Riders boast a pair of new weapons in their array of receivers. Meyers has racked up back-to-back 101-yard performances in his first two CFL games, while Johnson caught his first CFL touchdown to go along with 90 yards last week against Montreal. Neither Meyers nor Johnson were on the roster when Saskatchewan last played Toronto in early July.
KEEP STOPPING THE RUN
One of the hallmarks of this Roughriders squad under new head coach and defensive coordinator Corey Mace has been their ability to stop the run. Saskatchewan is allowing 76.9 rushing yards per game, which ranks them second overall entering Week 12. As much as this Riders front four has harassed opposing quarterbacks, they’ve also been extremely difficult to run on.
It’s a great potential matchup, too. Led by a resurgent Ka’Deem Carey, Toronto is the league’s number one running team by averaging 123.9 yards per game. Individually, Carey sits third overall with 611 rushing yards and leads all tailbacks with five touchdowns. And with Kelly starting his first game of the season, you can bet Carey will be a big part of the Argos offensive game plan.
GET FRANKIE HICKSON ENGAGED
First major of the year in a big way for Frankie Hickson!
That’s 73 on the ground for the Saskatchewan RB as the visitors take the lead after one quarter. #CFLGameday on TSN, RDS 📲 Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/K0wje6pNQK
— CFL (@CFL) July 26, 2024
AJ Ouellette’s return to Toronto will unfortunately have to wait until 2025. The star running back has been ruled out for Saskatchewan as he continues to deal with a hip injury even after returning from a three-game absence last week against the Alouettes. And as Ouellette is forced to sit out for a fourth time in five weeks, the Roughriders are set to turn to Hickson once again.
Hickson was on top of the depth chart for the three games Ouellette missed prior to Week 11 and handled himself well. Now in his fourth year with Saskatchewan, Hickson racked up 206 yards and a touchdown while averaging 7.4 yards per carry in his first two starts. That dropped to 23 yards on 12 carries in his third outing against Ottawa, but Hickson has shown he can step in for Ouellette and get the job done.
