By Mike Hardiman
Stampeders.com

The Pregame

The Calgary Stampeders head out on the road for the first time in the young 2015 season as they travel to Montreal to take on the Alouettes.

The Stamps won their season-opener at home last week, eking out a 24-23 last-second victory over Hamilton. This is the 11th straight season that Calgary has played its second game of the year on the road and the Stamps’ record is 4-6 in the previous 10 contests. Calgary beat the Argos 34-15 to open its road schedule in 2014.

This is also the second straight game against an Eastern foe as the Stamps will play six of their first seven games against teams from the East and will see the Alouettes again in Week 6 at home.

Montreal lost more than just their season opener to Ottawa 20-16 last week, they also lost two quarterbacks in the process and will have to start a rookie under centre against the defending champs.

Montreal beat Calgary 31-15 at home in 2014 and holds a 4-3 edge in the seven games played in Montreal since 2008.

Calgary had a league-best 8-1 road record in 2014 and the Stamps sport a 31-14 road record over the past five seasons. 

The Kickoff

When/Where: Friday, July 3 at 5:30 p.m. MDT at Percival Molson Stadium in Montreal
Television: TSN Friday Night Football, ESPN2
Radio: Newstalk 770, SiriusXM Channel 167
Internet: www.newstalk770.com

The Stampeders

Calgary lost its only road game of the year in Montreal last season and a look at the game stats help tell the story. Calgary scored only 15 points, one of only four times in 2014 they scored less than 20 points in a game. The 267 yards of total offence and 152 passing yards were both the second-worst totals of the season and Calgary turned the ball over three times, finishing minus-3 in the turnover differential.

Calgary had 12 of its 29 turnovers in its three losses last season and was a combined minus-7 in those games (they were plus-21 in the 15 wins). 

The Stamps must be wary of turnovers as QB Bo Levi Mitchell threw three interceptions in Week 1, something neither he nor the team did at all in a single game in 2014. In fact, Mitchell only threw eight interceptions in total last season and Calgary as a team only threw 11.

WR Jeff Fuller had nine catches for 148 yards last week. RB Jon Cornish opened the season with 70 yards against Hamilton but slower starts (for Cornish at least) are not unusual for the Calgary running back. Cornish has averaged only 54 yards per game in his last three opening games and has also found it a bit tougher against the Alouettes of late, averaging a still respectable 77.6 yards per game in his past five games against Montreal.

Calgary’s top performers on defence against the Als in Montreal last season were LB Deron Mayo with six tackles and a sack and DB Keon Raymond with six tackles. With DE Charleston Hughes in mid-season form after only one week, a key matchup this game will be Montreal’s veteran tackles against Calgary’s defensive ends (Hughes and Freddie Bishop) while the Stamps’ defensive halfbacks Brandon Smith and Jamar Wall will have to take away Montreal’s slotbacks including their old teammate Nik Lewis. 

Who to watch:

Jeff Fuller – WR, #3
2014 stats – 29 receptions, 378 receiving yards, 13.0 yard average, 5 TDs in eight games played
Last game – 9 receptions, 148 receiving yards, 16.4 yard average, 0 TDs; CFL Week 1 Top Performer
2014 vs Mtl. – 3 receptions, 56 receiving yards. 18.7 yard average, 0 TDs in one game

Jon Cornish – RB, #9
2014 stats – 139 carries, 1,082 rushing yards, 7.8 yard average, 5 rushing TDs; 18 receptions, 133 receiving yards, 7.4 yard average, 1 TD in nine games played; led CFL in rushing; 2014 Most Outstanding Canadian, 2014 All-Canadian
Last game – 13 carries, 70 rushing yards, 5.4 yard average, 0 TDs
2014 vs Mtl. – 14 carries, 67 yards, 4.8 yard average, 1 TD in one game

Bo Levi Mitchell – QB, #19
2014 stats – 417 attempts, 264 completions, 63.3% completion rate, 3,389 passing yards, 22 TDs, 8 INTs,  98.3 QB rating – led CFL in QB rating
Last game – 35 attempts, 22 completions, 62.9% completion rate, 263 passing yards, 1 TD , 3 INTs, 59.6 QB rating
2014 vs Mtl. – 25 attempts, 16 completions, 64.0% completion rate, 31 passing yards, 2 TDs , 0 INTs, 134.3 QB rating in one game

Charleston Hughes – DE, #39
2014 stats – 28 tackles, 1 special teams tackles, 2 tackles for losses, 8 sacks, 3 pass knockdowns, 3 forced fumbles in 11 games played
Last game – 4 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 pass knockdowns
2014 vs Mtl. – 5 tackles, 1 sack, 1 pass knockdown in one game

Keon Raymond – DB, #25
2014 stats – 46 tackles, 1 special teams tackle, 4 tackles for losses, 5 INTs, 4 pass knockdowns, 1 forced fumble, 1 blocked kick, 1 TD
Last game – 6 tackles, 2 special teams tackles, 1 INT, 1 pass knockdown
2014 vs Mtl. – 7 tackles in two games

The Alouettes                                                           

Montreal had a strong second half to the 2014 season, winning seven of the last nine games and finishing second in the East before eventually losing the Eastern Final to Hamilton.

The biggest change to that team in 2015 is on offence, due in large part to injuries. Montreal will play two rookies at QB in Brandon Bridge (#7) and Rakeem Cato (#12) thanks to injuries to their three experienced quarterbacks. Montreal has three receivers on the six-game injured list but brought in veterans such as ex-Eskimo Fred Stamps (#2), former Ticat Sam Giguere (#15) and of course long-time Stamp Nik Lewis (#8) to complement remaining veteran S. J. Green (#19).

RB Tyrell Sutton (#20) is the new starter at tailback and is running behind an all-Canadian o-line which features rookie Philip Blake (#68) at guard.

Montreal’s defence is strong and features a terrific front seven that includes defensive ends John Bowman (#7) and Gabriel Knapton (#55), who combined for 21 sacks last season, as well as LBs Chip Cox (#11) and Bear Woods (#48). Woods was a Canadian all-star in 2014 while Cox was an Eastern all-star. DB Billy Parker (#17) and DB Jerald Brown (#39) are familiar faces in the secondary, which also includes former Calgary Dino Mike Edem (#21) at safety.

The Als allowed an average of 21.9 points per game in 2014 and were pretty much on pace in Week 1, allowing 20 points to the RedBlacks. Montreal also picked up former Lion RB/KR Stefan Logan (#0) to aid the return game after incumbent returner James Rodgers went down with an injury. 

Nik Lewis – SB, #8
2014 stats – 37 receptions, 377 receiving yards, 10.2 yard average, 0 receiving TDs
Last game – 4 receptions, 46 yards, 11.5 yard average, 0 TDs
2014 vs Cgy. – was member of Calgary Stampeders

S.J. Green – SB, #19
2014 stats – 53 receptions, 835 receiving yards, 15.8 yard average,  4 receiving TDs; 2014 Eastern All-star
Last game – 2 receptions, 45 yards, 22.5 yard average, 0 TDs
2014 vs Cgy. – 7 receptions, 84 receiving yards, 12 yard average, 0 TDs

Bear Woods – MLB, #48
2014 stats – 89 tackles, 2 special teams tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 7 sacks, 1 INT, 2 forced fumbles – 2014 All-Canadian, Eastern Defensive MOP; led team in tackles
Last game – 8 tackles – led team in tackles
2014 vs Cgy. – 5 tackles in one game 

Stats

Week 3 in the CFL

Thursday, July 9, 7 p.m. – Ottawa (2-0) at Edmonton (0-1)
Friday, July 10, 5 p.m. – Montreal (1-1) at Winnipeg (1-1)
Friday, July 10, 8 p.m. – Saskatchewan (0-2) at BC (0-1)

Bye : Ham.