Darrell Davis
Regina Leader-Post
Eighteen penalties for 178 yards.
Those numbers are vital when answering The Big Question this week: Why did the Saskatchewan Roughriders take so many penalties while defeating the Toronto Argonauts 39-32?
“I was kind of championing the guys and it’s unfortunate because we spoke about it at halftime,” said Roughriders head coach Corey Mace. “Week One, I think we had five penalties and Week Two we had three. So we were on a good trajectory.”
The Roughriders had been downright angelic before Friday’s victory, getting penalized only eight times for 125 yards while defeating the Ottawa Redblacks and Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Saskatchewan’s infractions in Toronto were a long way from the CFL single-game records of 27 penalties for 265 yards (set by the 1992 Hamilton Tiger-Cats) and behind the Roughriders’ worst mark of 24 penalties, set in 2015. Mace has vowed to fix the issue for Saturday’s home game against the B.C. Lions.
In their second game last season the Roughriders committed 11 penalties for 115 yards, which Mace promised to reduce. Mace wouldn’t reveal how his players were disciplined for incurring bad penalties, but some players had their on-field time cut. The team subsequently cleaned up its act.
Friday’s contest started like a normal game, featuring the undefeated Roughriders and winless Argonauts, with only four penalties called until late in the first quarter. That’s when Saskatchewan receiver Dhel Duncan-Busby cut-blocked Toronto linebacker Kenneth George Jr.
Although the low hit appeared to be within the CFL’s legal definition and no penalty flag was thrown immediately by on-field officials, when it appeared that George suffered a leg injury the all-powerful Command Centre intervened with a video review.
While players from both teams yelled at each other and George was helped off the field, Duncan-Busby was assessed a 10-yard, illegal-block penalty. One play later, Argos defensive lineman Jordan Williams aggressively went after Riders quarterback Trevor Harris and received a 15-yard, roughing-the-passer penalty.
The flag-fest was on! Riders defensive end Shane Ray and guard Jacob Brammer were penalized multiple times. There were some coincidental penalties and a bevy of roughing calls as the officials tried to get the game under control.
Toronto took 11 penalties for 129 yards. Argos head coach Ryan Dinwiddie said the Roughriders’ “chirping” suckered his players into taking “stupid, selfish penalties.”
The teams tallied 29 penalties for 307 yards. Before seeing the numbers, Mace speculated his team had given up “north of 200 yards” and Dinwiddie angrily thought the penalty yardage outdistanced his team’s offence.
Saskatchewan’s Mario Alford provided the winning touchdown with a 99-yard kickoff return in the dying seconds. As Alford ran in to the end zone, everyone was looking for a penalty flag, which often negates long returns in the CFL. Surprisingly there wasn’t one.
