By Mike Hardiman
Special to Stampeders.com

The Pregame

The Calgary Stampeders are back home to face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

The Stamps, 2-0 and in third place behind both the undefeated Eskimos and Bombers, beat the Argos in Toronto by a 34-15 score last week and playing their third straight Eastern opponent to open the season.

The Tiger-Cats are 0-2 and are coming off of the Week 3 bye after losing 28-24 in Edmonton in Week 2.

Calgary swept both games against the Tabbies last season, a close 26-22 affair at McMahon followed by a 35-11 blowout two weeks later. Calgary is 10-2 since 2008 versus Hamilton and is 6-0 at home over that span. The Ticats haven’t won at McMahon Stadium since a 41-34 victory over Calgary in 2004, a season in which the Stamps only won four games all season.

The past two games have been close however, with both games decided by a total of only six points and, in both games, Hamilton had a chance to win the game in the final seconds.

Calgary is 1-0 at home in the early season and 2-0 against the East while the Cats are 0-2 on the road and 0-2 against the West. 

The Kickoff

When/Where: Friday, July 18 at 8 p.m. MDT at McMahon Stadium in Calgary
Television: TSN, ESPN2
Radio: News Talk 770, SiriusXM 167
Internet: www.newstalk770.com

The Stampeders

The Stamps looked dominant in the win over the Argos last week, overcoming the loss of RB Jon Cornish, SB Nik Lewis and WR Maurice Price, all to injury.

QB Bo Levi Mitchell struck for four TD passes in the game, a career best, and ran his starting record to 5-0 for his young career. RB Matt Walter filled in admirably for Cornish, totalling 69 yards on 12 touches, while REC Anthony Parker broke out with the first 100-yard receiving game of his CFL career. Parker hauled in four passes for 101 yards and scored a major and leads the team in receiving after two games.

SB/KR Jock Sanders contributed with a 121-yard missed field goal return and was named the CFL’s special teams player of the week for his efforts.

Over the past six games against Hamilton at home, Calgary has scored more thab 30 points in four of them (averaging 34.1 points scored per game) while only having given up more than 30 points once (an average of 21.3 points per game allowed).

The Stamps have also won the turnover battle in five of the six wins, although the totals turnovers is closer than expected at 14 for Calgary and 20 for Hamilton. The Stamps have also won the sack battle in four of the six wins, allowing just seven Tiger-Cat sacks while collecting 20 of their own. 

Who to watch:

Bo Levi Mitchell, QB, #19
2014 stats – 49 attempts, 32 completions, 65.3-per cent completion rate, 580 passing yards, 6 TDs, 0 INTs,  146.6 QB rating
Last game – 24 attempts, 16 completions, 66.7-per cent completion rate, 267 passing yards, 4 TDs , 0 INT, 159.5 QB rating – Week 3 vs Tor.
2013 vs Ham. –  30 attempts, 20 completions, 66.7-per cent completion rate, 257 passing yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs, 87.8 QB rating in one start – Week 12 at home

Matt Walter, RB, #14
2014 stats – 17 carries, 78 yards rushing, 4.6 yard average, 0 rushing TD – leads team in rushing
Last game – 10 carries, 46 yards, 4.6 yard average, 0 TD – Week 3 vs Tor.
2013 vs Ham. – 2 carries, 17 yards rushing, 8.5-yard average, 0 TD in two games

Anthony Parker, WR, #86
2014 stats –  5 receptions, 117 receiving yards, 23.4 yard average,  2 TDs –  leads team in receiving yardage
Last game –  4 receptions, 101 yards, 25.3 yard average, 1 TD – Week 3 vs Tor.
2013 vs Ham. – 1 reception, 13 receiving yards, 13.0 yard average, 0 TD in two games played                  

Glenn Love, LB , #36
2014 stats – 4 tackles, 2 special teams tackles, 1 sack
Last game – 4 tackles, 2 special teams tackles, 1 sack – Week 3 vs Tor.
2013 vs Ham. – did not play

Buddy Jackson, CB, #38
2014 stats – 9 tackles, 2 pass knockdowns – tied for team lead in tackles
Last game – 6 tackles – Week 3 vs Tor.
2013 vs Ham. – did not play, 2014 CFL rookie

The Tiger-Cats                                                              

The Cats sit at 0-2 and in last place in the CFL, not a spot in which they envisioned themselves after 2013 when they appeared in their first Grey Cup game since 1999.

However, like most teams in the CFL, the off-season brought changes and the biggest of all was the release of former Stamps QB Henry Burris along with other notables such as LB Brandon Isaac and LB Jamall Johnson.

Injuries have hurt head coach Kent Austin and his Ticats early in the 2014 season, with prize off-season signing QB Zach Collaros leading the list. SB Andy Fantuz, SB Greg Ellingson and DE Brandon Boudreaux have all missed time this year but are all on the 46-man roster this week. QB Jeremiah Masoli (#8) will lead the offence with SB Luke Tasker (#17) and SB Bakari Grant (#84) among his other targets.

One look at the statistical rankings show the Cats are solid on defence. Former stamps DT Brain Bulcke and DB Brandon Stewart are playing solidly and Hamilton added Western all-star S Craig Butler (#28) from the Riders.

Who to watch:

C.J. Gable, RB, #32
2014 stats – 9 carries, 51 yards rushing, 5.7-yard average, 1 rushing TD; 6 receptions, 53 yards, 8.8 yard average, 1 receiving TD in two games
Last game – 12 touches, 96 yards from scrimmage, 2 TDs – Week 2 vs Edm.
2013 vs Cgy. – 32 touches, 321 yards from scrimmage, 1 TD in two games

Bakari Grant, SB, #84
2014 stats –  8 receptions, 63 receiving yards, 7.9-yard average,  0 receiving TDs in two games
Last game – 4 receptions, 28 yards, 7.0 yard average, 0 TD – Week 2 vs Edm.
2013 vs Cgy. – 9 receptions, 143 receiving yards, 15.8 yard average, 0 TD in two games

Stats

The CFL this Week

Thursday, July 17, 6:30 p.m. – Edmonton (3-0) at Winnipeg (3-0)
Friday, July 18, 5 p.m. – Toronto (1-2) at Ottawa (0-2)
Saturday, July 19, 5 p.m. – Montreal (1-2) at BC (1-2)
Bye : Saskatchewan