By Mike Hardiman
Special to Stampeders.com

The Pregame

The Calgary Stampeders stay on the road in Week 9 as they head east to the Big Smoke to take on the Toronto Argonauts in a rematch of last year’s Grey Cup game.

This will be Calgary’s last set of back-to-back road games this season as the Stamps will play six of their last 10 games at home.

The Stamps had their four-game winning streak broken by the Lions in Week 8, losing 26-22, but they remain second in the West with a 5-2 record.

The Argos outlasted the visiting Eskimos 36-33 last week and now own the league’s longest current win streak at four games. Toronto also has a 5-2 record after seven games and sits atop the East Division, two games up on second-place Hamilton.

The teams met twice last year in the regular season with the Argos winning both games, 39-36 at Rogers Centre in Week 2 and 22-14 at McMahon in Week 8. Of course, the two teams met one more time in the Grey Cup game in Toronto and the Argos beat Calgary for a third time, this time by a 35-22 score.

Calgary has not enjoyed its visits to the Ontario capital of late, losing three straight regular-season games there dating back to 2010. All three games have been close, however, with Toronto winning by a combined eight points.

Calgary is unbeaten against the East in 2013 (3-0) and is 2-2 on the road while the Argos are 3-1 at home and 2-2 when playing Western teams. 

The Kickoff

When/Where: Friday, Aug. 23 at 5:30 p.m. MDT at Rogers Centre in Toronto
Television: TSN Friday Night Football, ESPN3
Radio: News Talk 770, Sirius Satellite Channel 157, XM Satellite Channel 160
Internet: www.newstalk770.com

The Stampeders 

Calgary took it on the chin last week against the Leos as their high-powered offence could muster only 22 points, the third time in four road games that Calgary has scored 22 points or fewer.

The offence totalled only 294 yards and 18 first downs despite ending the game with 34 minutes of possession. The 298 yards was a season low and the 18 first downs were the second-lowest total of the season.

The Lions did a good job keeping RB Jon Cornish under wraps, limiting the CFL’s second leading rusher to 73 yards and Calgary’s team total to 77, both the second-lowest totals of the season.

Calgary is now 0-2 when rushing for fewer than 100 yards and both games were divisional road contests (Saskatchewan in Week 2 was the other).

Calgary also gave up a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter.

Calgary’s defence played well, allowing just two offensive touchdowns and 284 total yards — as well as tying a season high with four turnovers — and the unit now tied for second in the CFL in takeaways with 18. Calgary has forced three or more turnovers four times this season and is 4-0 in those games.

K Rene Paredes was good on two more field goal attempts to remain perfect on the season after 20 attempts and ran his CFL record to 38 consecutive field goals without a miss. Paredes leads the CFL in scoring with 80 points. 

Who to watch:          

Marquay McDaniel, SB, # 16
2013 stats – 29 catches, 313 yards receiving, 10.8-yard average, 2 TDs – 15th  in CFL receiving, second on team 
Last Week – 7 catches, 75 yards, 10.7-yard average, 1 TD versus BC Lions – led team in receiving
2012 vs Tor. – 10 catches, 132 yards receiving in two games

Kevin Glenn, QB, #15
2013 stats – 128 attempts, 87 completions, 68.8% completion rate, 930 passing yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs, 92.9 QB rating in four starts (3-1 record in those games)
Last Week – 38 attempts, 22 completions, 57.9% completion rate, 199 passing yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, 80.9 QB rating – fourth straight game of 1 TD pass
2012 vs Tor. – 52 attempts, 37 completions, 71.1% completion rate, 464 passing yards, 3 TD, 3 INT in two games – 292 passing yards in Week 8 game was his third-highest single-game total of 2012

Jabari Arthur, SB, #81
2013 stats – 14 receptions, 168 yards, 12.0-yard average, 0 TDs
Last Week – 4 receptions, 35 yards, 8.8-yard average, 0 TDs
2012 vs Tor. – did not play against Toronto in 2012

Charleston Hughes, DE, #39
2013 stats – 16 tackles, 4 sacks, 1 INT, 1 tackle for loss, 1 forced fumble, 2 pass knockdowns
Last Week – 1 tackle, 1 INT, 2 pass knockdowns versus BC Lions
2012 vs Tor. – 6 tackles, 1 special teams tackle, 1 forced fumble in two games

Deron Mayo, LB, #42
2013 stats – 17 tackles, 1 sack, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 tackle for loss – fifth on team in tackles
Last Week  – 2 tackles, 3 special teams tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble versus BC Lions
2012 vs Tor. – 1 tackle, 2 special teams tackles in two games

The Argonauts                                                                                 

The Argos should be a very familiar opponent for Stamps fans as far as East teams go as many of their key management team members have ties to the Stampeders. GM Jim Barker is a former head coach and GM with Calgary, head coach Scott Milanovich was a quarterback and a coach with the Stamps and defensive coordinator Chris Jones also held the same job with the Red and White.

QB Ricky Ray spent nine seasons with Calgary’s provincial rivals the Eskimos and is off to the best start of his CFL career.

While the Argos running game has been hampered by injuries, Ray has directed the league’s top passing attack, a group that features league MOP Chad Owens (#2) and veterans FB Andre Durie (#32) and SB Jason Barnes (#81) as well as newcomer WR John Chiles (#85), who has nine catches for 184 yards and three TDs in his past two games.

Jones’ defence is an active one that gives up yards but is stingy in giving up points. It has been rebuilt from last year’s championship unit but still boasts All-Canadian CB Patrick Watkins (#25) as well as LB Marcus Ball (#6) and DB Jalil Carter (#19). Former BC Lion Khalif Mitchell (#96) heads up a relatively unknown defensive line that also features former Stamps o-lineman Tony Washington (#93).

Who to watch:

Ricky Ray, QB, #15
2013 stats – 183 attempts, 143 completions, 78.1% completion rate, 1,768 passing yards, 14 TDs, 0 INTs, 133.0 QB rating – leads CFL in completion percentage and QB rating
Last Game– 35 attempts, 30 completions, 85.7% completion rate, 413 passing yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, 151.3 QB rating versus Edmonton  – CFL Offensive Player of the Week
2012 vs Cgy. – 73 attempts, 51 completions, 69.8% completion rate, 723 passing yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs, in two games

Chad Owens, SB, #2
2013 stats – 52 catches, 572 yards receiving, 11.0 average, 2 TDs; 1, 395 combined yards, 3 Total TDs – leads CFL in combined yards, second in receiving yardage
Last Game – 9 catches, 102  receiving yards, 11.3 yard average, 1 TD versus Edmonton
2012 vs Cgy – 10 catches, 175 receiving yards, 17.5 yard average, 0 TDs in two games

Robert McCune, LB, #45
2013 stats – 43 tackles – 3rd in CFL in tackles
Last Game  – 5 tackles versus Edmonton
2012 vs Cgy. – 8 tackles in two games    

Stats

Here are the two teams’ offensive and defensive totals and league rankings after last week’s games

The CFL this Week

Thursday, Aug. 22 – 5:30 p.m. – BC Lions (5-2) at Montreal (2-5)
Saturday, Aug. 24 – 11 a.m. – Winnipeg (1-6) at Hamilton (3-4)
Saturday, Aug. 24  – 2 p.m. – Saskatchewan (6-1) at Edmonton (1-6)