By Stampeders.com staff
Here’s a closer look at Saturday’s 14-7 victory over the BC Lions at McMahon Stadium:
Thank heaven for No. 11
The Stamps won their 11th game of the season on Saturday, reaching that total for the fifth consecutive season and for the sixth time in seven years under John Hufnagel.
This is the first time the Stamps have reached the 11-win mark in September under Hufnagel. The previous earliest date Calgary had posted victory No. 11 under Coach Huff’s watch was Oct. 5, which took place in 2013.
The Red and White hasn’t had 11 wins before the calendar flips over to October since 1995 when Calgary reached that number on Sept. 19.
Seasons with at least 11 wins since 2008:
- Calgary (6)
- Montreal (4)
- BC (4)
- Saskatchewan (2)
- Edmonton (1)
- Toronto (1)
- Hamilton (0)
- Winnipeg (0)
Thank heaven for only giving up 7
Saturday marked the third time this season the Stamps have given up exactly seven points in a game. The previous occasions were July 18 at home against Hamilton (a 10-7 victory) and Aug. 24 in Ottawa (a 32-7 win).
It’s the first time since 2009 the Stamps have held the opposition to single digits in points in three games during the same season. You have to go all the way back to 1993 to find a year in which the Stamps held opponents to as few as seven points on three separate occasions.
Calgary has allowed just 239 points so far in 2014, a league-low per-game average of 18.4 points.
Crunching the numbers
With so many teams involved in the West Division playoff race and so many head-to-head divisional games remaining, it can be a little daunting trying to figure out the standings implications of each result.
Despite an 11-2 record, the Stamps have yet to clinch a playoff spot but Calgary is very close. The Red and White need one more victory to lock up a post-season berth for a 10th consecutive season. One more Winnipeg Blue Bombers loss would serve the same purpose.
The Stamps need two more wins (which would give Calgary a 13-5 record at worst) to guarantee themselves of a home playoff date as it would be impossible for both Edmonton and Saskatchewan (both 9-4 with two head-to-head meetings remaining between the Eskimos and Roughriders) to pass them in that scenario.
Drew makes it 6-0 at home
Quarterback Drew Tate has started six home games during his career with the Stamps and has led his team to victory in every one of them.
Among those wins are four critical division games including two decision over the BC Lions and two against the Saskatchewan Roughriders (including the 2012 Western semifinal that was decided by Tate’s 68-yard touchdown completion to Romby Bryant in the final minute).
Drew Tate starts at McMahon:
Oct. 21, 2011 vs Ssk (W)
Nov. 5, 2011 vs Wpg. (W)
June 1, 2012 vs Mtl (W)
Nov 11, 202 vs Ssk (W — Western semifinal)
June 28, 2013 vs BC (W)
Sept. 27, 2014 vs BC (W)
Cornish picks up where he left off
After sitting out last week’s game, Stamps running back Jon Cornish returned to the lineup in style as he rushed for 156 yards against the Lions.
Cornish has cracked the 100-yard in four straight games that he has played and has three games this season with at least 150 yards. All other CFL players combined have two 150-yard rushing games as Saskatchewan’s Anthony Allen and Edmonton’s John White each have one.
In 36 games since Aug. 9, 2012, Cornish has rushed for 100 yards 17 times and has cracked the 150-yard mark on no fewer than 10 occasions.
Despite playing in just six of the Stamps’ 13 games this season, Cornish has 743 yards and trails Montreal’s Brandon Whitaker by just 21 yards for the CFL rushing lead.
Keon’s happy returns
Keon Raymond sealed Saturday’s victory with an interception, his third pick of the season. The veteran defensive back returned Saturday’s interception for 51 yards, increasing his return yardage for the season to 121 yards.
That gives Raymond 514 interception-return yards in his career, good for fifth place on the Stamps’ all-time list. He started the season in 11th place on that list.
Larry Robinson (717 yards), Frank Andruski (676), Darrell Moir (563) and Ray Odums (526 yards) are the Stamps’ career leaders in interception yardage.
Smitty gets in on the act
Defensive halfback Brandon Smith earns praise for his tight coverage on opposing receivers, often drawing the other team’s top pass-catcher as his assignment.
He’s having a strong season in the tackling department as his 63 stops rank second in the CFL.
The one thing Smith isn’t known for is his interceptions as the pick he recorded on Saturday was his first since the season-opener in 2012.
Smith, who joined the Stamps in 2008, has seven interceptions in his career with four of the picks coming during the Labour Day home-and-home series against the Eskimos in 2010.
In case you missed it . . .
Here is more coverage from Saturday’s game
Articles:
>> Game story
>> Locker-Room Blog: Maurice Price
>> Simpson simply superior
Stamps TV:
>> Recap
>> Highlights
>> Game balls
>> Post-game comments: Coach Huff
>> Post-game comments: Jon Cornish
>> Post-game comments: Keon Raymond
Photos:
Other: