Amazing how one play changes things.
The Ottawa Redblacks were feeling good about their chances for a successful 2023 season after earning their first win and getting veteran quarterback Jeremiah Masoli back in the lineup from a torn ACL that sidelined him nearly a calendar year.
Now, as it prepares to host West co-leader Winnipeg on Saturday, Ottawa is in a bad place. Masoli’s return game will be his only game this year because he tore an Achilles in the second quarter of last week’s 21-13 loss in Hamilton.
With backup Tyrie Adams (ACL) already done for the year and Nick Arbuckle, who started in Week 1, having been passed on the depth chart by Dustin Crum, it will be Crum who gets his first CFL start against the Blue Bombers’ tough defense.
Crum showed promise in Hamilton, throwing for 149 yards and running for 91 and a touchdown, but he also tossed two interceptions and lost a fumble. The Kent State product knows he’ll have to cut out mistakes to give the Redblacks (1-3) a chance on Saturday.
“I’ve always had the perspective more football games are lost than won,” Crum said. “We just have to take care of ourselves and play the cleanest football game we can.”
Meanwhile, Winnipeg (4-1) scored its second straight win last week by overcoming a slow start to stop Calgary 24-11. The Blue Bombers got 231 passing yards from veteran quarterback Zach Collaros and 110 all-purpose yards from running back Brady Oliveira.
The result was coach Mike O’Shea’s 86th career win, tying him with Cal Murphy for second on the club’s all-time list. O’Shea needs 17 more wins to surpass Bud Grant — the same coach who took the Minnesota Vikings to four Super Bowls in the 1970s — atop the franchise’s record book.
“Mike O’Shea is a great person. He coaches the person before the player,” right tackle Jermarcus Hardrick said. “He’s just constantly making me better and constantly making me get mentally tougher. And he does that for everyone.”
Winnipeg gave up just 215 yards of total offense to Calgary in its second straight dominant defensive effort. After permitting 88 points in the first three games, the Blue Bombers have allowed only 14 in the last two.
–Field Level Media
