The Calgary Stampeders came into their game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday night with something to prove.
They needed to show the naysayers in the media, the sportsbooks, and others around the league that, despite coming into the game four points behind the Riders in the race for the best record in the league, they are indeed the league’s best team.
After a 32-15 beatdown in front of the largest non-Labour Day crowd since 2019, the Stampeders have silenced anyone still doubting that the team has done a complete turnaround from their 11-24-1 record over the last two seasons.
Here’s what I saw from the press box.
Adams does enough
When you think back to when Vernon Adams Jr. was the starter for the B.C. Lions last season, you’ll remember him spraying the ball all over the field, collecting 300-yard games as if they were Pokémon cards and he was a 12-year-old who just got his allowance.
Coming into this season in Calgary, many (including this writer) thought that Adams would have to do more of the same if the Stampeders were going to turn things around.
Instead, the Stampeders have thrown the fewest passes in Canadian football, and Adams Jr. added just 22 tosses in this contest, completing 14 for 222 yards, three touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. His numbers may have been better, but there were a few passes that clanked off the hands of his otherwise solid receiving corps.
One of the interceptions can be forgiven as it was tipped high into the air at the line of scrimmage before it was caught by former Stampeder Jameer Thurman. The other was a rare miscue from the Stampeders version of Vernon, as he slipped in the pocket and recovered, only to heave a wobbling ball downfield into the waiting arms of Rolan Milligan Jr.
Given what Adams has done for this team, you can live with a couple of picks. He and his counterpart for this week, Trevor Harris, are the only two quarterbacks in the league averaging higher than 10 yards per attempt through 12 weeks of action.
Many hands make light work
The Stampeders came into the weekend as the league’s top rushing unit, averaging 115.7 yards per game, but the Riders entered as the league’s best rushing defence, allowing just 69.1 yards per game.
Something had to give, and in this case, it was the Riders’ defence. They found themselves on the wrong end of the measuring stick, as the Stampeders combined for 141 yards on the ground.
That was split up among six different ball carriers, as the Stampeders had just about everybody get a handoff from Adams. Dedrick Mills led the way with 78 yards on 16 carries. Quincy Vaughn added a few short-yardage plunges. Also in the run column were Adams, Jeshrun Antwi, Eric Brooks, and Jalen Philpot, who took a trio of carries for 31 yards on the ground.
Getting his Phil(pot)
“He’s a weapon,” head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson said of Philpot’ carries. “We have to use him. We can’t just sit him at receiver. He can run. He’s smart, and he can catch. He can run an assortment of routes.”
For his part, Philpot feels very comfortable in the backfield.
“I converted to receiver in college. I still feel like a running back out there, just trying to make plays. Whether that is taking handoffs or catching the ball, it doesn’t matter to me.”
Philpot scored his first touchdown of the season in the second quarter after being stymied more than once just shy of the endzone. It was on an eight-yard catch and run that featured a spectacular dive to the goal line that just broke the plane. Kudos to the official who spotted it as well, as Philpot was unsure if he got across. He described the moment as a monkey off his back.
“She’s been running away from me, but hopefully I can just keep stacking them and helping my team win.”
Sack attack keeps climbing
In the late stages of the contest, Saskatchewan coach Corey Mace pulled Trevor Harris from the game in favour of Jake Maier. It was likely because the team was down 17 points, and he wanted to ensure his MOP candidate quarterback would be ready for the Labour Day home-and-home with the Blue Bombers.
Much of that concern came because of the Stampeders’ defensive line, which hit Harris with regularity and collected four sacks on the night. Clarence Hicks had a pair of sacks on the night and was a force to be reckoned with as he was continually in the backfield.
After collecting just three sacks in their first four games as a unit, the Stamps defenders have collected 17 more in their next six games, for a total of 20 on the season.
With the four sacks allowed tonight, the Riders have now allowed 15 on the season, good for second-best in the league. Seven of those have come in the two games against Calgary, with just eight combined in their other eight games.
The front four also stymied the Riders’ rushing attack, allowing 89 yards on the ground.
Halftime magic
There is a scene in the 1997 Looney Tunes classic Space Jam where the team goes into halftime demoralized. Michael Jordan gets the team going by offering them a sip of “Michael’s Secret Stuff” from a bottle, which contained nothing but water, but the Sharpie-modified label made the team believe they were getting something special.
They would come out and win the game against the movie’s villainous Monstars, fuelled by the belief that they had something their opponents didn’t.
I’m not sure if Vernon Adams took a Sharpie to his water bottle at halftime, but the result was the same as the Stampeders outscored the visitors 18-0 after the half, running away with a season series sweep.
“In the second quarter, the energy was really down, even for me. I didn’t like it,” Adams said following the game. “I felt it and I didn’t like it, so we came in (at halftime) and kind of regrouped and had a good drive (to start) the second half.”
So many times in previous seasons, a second quarter that saw an early lead evaporate would kill this Stampeders team. Their resilience is now a palpable feeling.
Eyes on the prize
To a man, every player and coach who spoke to the media after the game downplayed what it meant to beat the Riders in both matchups this season.
“You don’t win the Grey Cup in August,” said Adams.
Dickenson said there are a lot of things to clean up and that this game was not the team’s best football.
Daylen Baldwin, who caught three passes for a game-high 84 yards and a touchdown, spoke to the idea that the team is still getting better, and they are building towards being where they want to be.
Many players talked about quickly shifting focus to a “hot Edmonton team” on Labour Day and how important it will be to continue progressing.
Under Adams’ leadership, the goal remains clear — even if they stop to savour the moments on the road there.
Up Next
The Stampeders’ next challenge will be the Labour Day Classic against the suddenly surging Edmonton Elks, who have now won three games in a row
It’s the first half of the annual home-and-home, and the Stampeders players that remain from last year’s squad will be looking to avenge the Elks’ sweep of the 2024 series. In those two games, Calgary was outscored by a combined 36 points, and the wheels fell off their season.
If the Stamps win both games, they could, depending on the results of the other games, put themselves in position to clinch a playoff spot during their Week 15 bye by virtue of at least a crossover spot.
Should Saskatchewan stumble against Winnipeg in their home and home, the Stampeders could go into that bye week in first place in the league, thanks to the season series sweep tiebreaker.
