By Mike Hardiman
Special to Stampeders.com

The Pregame

The Stampeders travel to Steeltown to take on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the first of back-to-back road games against East Division teams.

Calgary dispatched the expansion Ottawa RedBlacks at home last week by a 38-17 score and, in doing so, took over first place in the CFL’s West Division with a 5-1 record.

Hamilton dropped a close one to the BC Lions, a 36-29 road loss that left the Tabbies with a 1-5 mark.

This is Calgary’s first rematch in 2014 as the teams met back in Week 4 when Calgary eked out a 10-7 win at McMahon. The rematch will take place at Ron Joyce Stadium on the grounds of McMaster University and marks the fourth different venue in which Calgary has played the Ticats in the past four seasons. The teams met in Moncton in Touchdown Atlantic in 2011, at Ivor Wynne in 2012, at Alumni Stadium in Guelph in 2013 and now Ron Joyce Stadium.

Calgary is 4-0 against the East this season and 2-0 on the road while Hamilton is 1-1 at home and 0-5 against the West. 

The Kickoff

When/Where: Saturday, Aug. 16 at 1 p.m. MDT at Ron Joyce Stadium in Hamilton
Television: TSN, ESPN 3
Radio: News Talk 770, SiriusXM 167
Internet: www.newstalk770.com

The Stampeders

Calgary bounced back from its Week 6 loss to the Lions in fine form, scoring a season-high 38 points while once again allowing fewer than 20 points (for the fourth time this season).

The 399 yards of offence registered by the Stamps was the second-highest total of the year. One area of concern for the Stamps that needs attention is penalties as Calgary was flagged 13 times, the fourth time this season the Stamps have had 12 or more penalties in a game. That being said, Calgary is still ranked third in fewest penalties with 68, an average of 11.3 per game.

QB Bo Levi Mitchell is looking to rebound from a sub-par game against Hamilton when the two teams met in Week 4 as he had his second-lowest passing totals and QB rating that game.

SB Marquay McDaniel broke out in the win over Ottawa, catching nine passes for 117 yards. The nine receptions are a single-game high for the Stamps and the 117 receiving yards marked the fourth time a Stampeder receiver has topped 100 yards in a game in 2014. SB Jabari Arthur caught his first touchdown pass of the season and is looking to improve on his career-best 510 receiving yards performance of 2013.

Calgary’s defence forced four turnovers in the win. Calgary sits third in the CFL in takeaways and is also third in interceptions with six. DB Brandon Smith continues to lead the team with 32 tackles while DE Charleston Hughes added another sack to his team-leading total of six and now has a sack in each of Calgary’s six games.

When the teams last met in Week 4, Calgary’s defence held Hamilton to just seven points and 223 yards of offence, both season bests. The Stamps were led on defence by MLB Juwan Simpson, who had eight tackles, and Smith, who had six stops. 

Who to watch:

Bo Levi Mitchell, QB, #19
2014 stats – 180 attempts, 113 completions, 62.8% completion rate, 1,421 passing yards, 11 TDs, 2 INT,  103.0 QB rating – leads CFL in QB rating and touchdowns passes
Last game – 36 attempts, 26 completions, 72.7% completion rate, 289 passing yards, 3 TD, 1 INT,   111.9 QB rating – Week 7 vs Ott.
2014 vs Ham. – 35 attempts, 20 completions, 57.1% completion rate, 201 passing yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs, 73.6 QB rating – Week 4 at Calgary

Marquay McDaniel, SB, #16
2014 stats –  24 receptions, 308 receiving yards, 12.8 yard average,  3 TDs – leads team in receiving, 9th in CFL
Last game –  9 receptions, 117 yards, 13.0 yard average, 1 TD – led team in receiving – Week 7 vs Ott.
2014 vs Ham. – 5 receptions, 54 receiving yards, 10.8 yard average, 0 TDs – Week 4 at Calgary

Hugh Charles, RB, #33
2014 stats –  13 carries, 86 rushing yards, 6.6 yard average, 0 rushing TDs in one game
Last game – 13 carries, 86 rushing yards, 6.6 yard average, 0 rushing TDs – Week 3 vs BC (with Saskatchewan)
2013 stats – 24 carries, 202 rushing yards, 8.4 yard average 0 TDs – with Edmonton

Jamar Wall, DB, #29
2014 stats – 20 tackles, 1 special teams tackle, 1 INT, 1 pass knockdown
Last game – 3 tackles, 1 INT, 1 pass knockdown – Week 7 vs Ott.
2014 vs Ham.  – 4 tackles  – Week 4 at Calgary

Joshua Bell, DB, #11
2014 stats – 14 tackles,  2 INTs – leads team in interceptions
Last game – 3 tackles, 1 INT –  Week 7 versus Ottawa
2014 vs Ham. – 0 tackles, 1 INT  – Week 4 at Calgary

The Tiger-Cats                                           

At 1-5, it’s easy to lump Hamilton in with the rest of the struggling East and while it’s true the Ticats’ record is not good, they have been playing competitive football all season. 

All five of Hamilton’s losses have come against West teams and the last four have been by a combined 15 points. Hamilton has changed its starting quarterback since the first meeting with Calgary as Dan LeFevour (#13) is now at the controls. They have also added injured receivers SB Andy Fantuz (#83) and SB Greg Ellingson (#82) back into the lineup.

LeFevour adds a rushing element to the Ticats offence as he has topped the 100-yard mark in rushing in two of his past three games. RB C.J. Gable (#32) remains a dual threat in the backfield and veterans WR Cary Koch (#86) and SB Bakari Grant (#84) round out a good receiving corps.

Hamilton’s defence is stout against the run, allowing less than 100 yards per game, ranking fourth overall. The Tabbies’ linebacking crew is the strength of the team with Simoni Lawrence (#21) leading the way and newcomer Taylor Reed (#44) improving every week.

LB Rico Murray (#0), CB Delvin Breaux (#27) and S Craig Butler (#28) are other Tiger-Cats to watch on defence. In addition, KR Brandon Banks (#16) last week was named the CFL’s special teams player of the week.

Who to watch:

Dan LeFevour, QB #13
2014 stats – 119 attempts, 80 completions, 67.2% completion rate, 994 passing yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs,  88.0 QB rating; 42 carries, 272 yards rushing 6.5 yard average, 4 rushing TDs – leads team in rushing
Last game – 34 attempts, 23 completions, 67.6% completion rate, 298 passing yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs, 95.0 QB rating; 9 carries, 103 rushing yards, 11.4 yard average, 0 rushing TDs – led team in rushing – Week 7 vs BC
2014 vs Cgy –  11 attempts, 9 completions, 81.8% completion rate, 76 passing yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs in relief – Week 4 at Calgary

Simoni Lawrence – LB, #21
2014 stats – 31 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 1 sack – leads team in tackles, third in CFL
Last game  – 5 tackles –  Week 7 vs BC
2014 vs Cgy – did not play due to injury

Stats

The CFL this Week

Tuesday, Aug. 12 — Winnipeg 21 at Toronto 38
Friday, Aug. 15, 5:30 p.m. – Edmonton (5-1) at Ottawa (1-5)
Saturday, Aug. 16, 5 p.m. – Montreal (1-5) at Saskatchewan (4-2)
Sunday, Aug. 17, 5:30 p.m. – BC (4-3) at Toronto (2-4)