This Week in the CFL - Week 10

Where are the great young QBs coming from? Oh wait, they’re here.

• The three winningest QBs in the league – Zach Collaros (26),Trevor Harris (29) and Bo Levi Mitchell (25) – have all led their respective clubs to 6-2 records
• None have had more than 30 career starts
• Their combined winning percentage is .746 (47-16)
• Mitchell, 21-4 as a starter, has more wins in his first 25 games than any QB in CFL history
• Collaros will celebrate his 27^th birthday on Thursday with a game versus Montreal
• He has led Hamilton to 14 wins in their last 19 games
• Collaros currently leads the CFL in passing yards (2,339), yards per drive (27.9), points per drive (2.49), and percentage of drives ending in a touchdown (21.9)
• Trevor Harris has led Toronto to seven wins in nine career starts and a 6-2 record in 2015, their best record at the 8 game mark since 1997
• Harris leads the CFL in pass efficiency (115.7), completions (195), and percentage of completed passes (74.1)

 

 

These new rules mean defenses cannot stop touchdowns - oh wait, they can’t stop scoring touchdowns.

• CFL defences are scoring at a record pace
• They have turned takeaways into touchdowns 21 times (16 interceptions, five fumble returns)
• They are on pace to score 47 touchdowns this season, surpassing the all-time record of 43 set in 2004
• With a fumble recovery TD last week, the Tiger-Cats have scored 8 defensive touchdowns in 8 games
• They are on pace to break the single season team record of 11 set by BC in 1987
• With six interception return TDs so far, Hamilton is also on pace to break the record of seven “pick sixes” set by Toronto in 2006
• The single season record for total interception return TDs in a CFL season is 27, set in 2004

 

 

Scoring is UP

• CFL per-game scoring for the year has climbed above the 50-point mark at 50.03
• That is 10% higher than the 45.5 points per game in 2014
• Games in Week 9 averaged 56.0 points per game
• That is the second-highest scoring Week of the 2015 season
• No week in the 2014 season averaged more points than that all season long
• There were 22 offensive touchdowns last week and every club had at least one score on offence
• We had 26 total touchdowns and they came in five different ways: 22 rushing and passing scores from scrimmage, two “pick sixes”, Norwood’s fumble return and a blocked punt return for a TD (Junior Mertile, in his first career game)

 

 

Penalties are down

• The year-to-date running average of penalties per game fell for the eighth straight week
• It dropped to a season-low 24.81 per game through 36 contests
• Over the first three weeks of the season, penalties averaged 28.50 per game
• Since then that rate has dropped almost 20% as there have been on average 22.96 penalties per game over the last 24 contests
• The drop in penalties over the last six weeks has translated into a game that is taking 4 minutes less to play on average (2:56 down to 2:52)
• 12 games this year were conducted in 2:49 or less
• Of the last 14 CFL games, eight drew 19 flags or fewer

 

 

So close and yet….

• The hard luck Roughriders (0-8) lost another close one, 34-31 at home to Calgary
• That marks the sixth time the Riders have lost by four points or less
• The record for such heartbreaking losses is 7: BC lost that many by four points or less back in 1996

 

 

No lead is, well, eventually… no lead at all

• There were three lead changes and one late tie break in fourth quarters in Week 9
• The winning points were scored in the final 15 minutes in three of the four games
• Both Toronto and Montreal overcame fourth quarter deficits with strong game-ending runs of 13-0 and 11-0, respectively

 

 

 Upon Further Review

• CFL coaches are on a bit of a hot streak when it comes to challenges: 7 of their last 12 (58.3%), dating back to August 8, have resulted in overturned calls
• Their previous nine were unsuccessful
• Overall, there has been on average only 1.2 challenges per game, with 39% resulting in changes to the ruling made on the field
• Of the 17 successful challenges, 13 involved pass interference

 

 

Youth Movement

• Current CFL rosters feature 247 players in either their first or second CFL season – that is 46% of the entire contingent of active players
• Through the season’s first 36 games, CFL clubs have introduced 112 first-year players
• The injury-plagued Saskatchewan Roughriders have given the most first-year players a chance: they have debuted 20 of them, 12 of whom made their way into the starting lineup

 

 

One point covert is harder, then easy, then harder again

• Through Week 4, 48 of 60 one point convert attempts (80%) were good
• From Week 5 through Week 7, kickers made 45 of 46 (95.7%)
• But in the last two weeks, the change to make them kick this year from the 32-yard-line is taking its toll again: only 21 of 30 attempts (77%) have been good
• Through 36 games, clubs have gone for two-point converts 39 times
• They have been successful 27 times (69%), seven via the run and 20 via the pass
• Still, coaches have shied away lately, opting to “kick for one” after 74 of the last 84 touchdowns (88% of the time)
• Paul McCallum’s streak of successful converts came to an end on Saturday
• His streak of 802 consecutive converts began on September 25, 1993
• The streak lasted 8002 days or 21 years, 10 months and 29 days
• He made 792 from the 12-yard line and 10-for-11 from the 32-yard line - well above the CFL wide average from the 32-yard line
• Troy Westwood holds the second longest streak with 657 and Lui Passaglia is third with 560

 

 

Names in the CFL News

• Jim Popp stepped in to replace his team’s head coach for the fourth time, breaking the mark of three times he shared with Bob O’Billovich, who coincidentally became a Hall of Famer on the weekend
• Eric Norwood returned a fumble 106 yards, a Hamilton record and the third-longest in CFL history
• Henry Burris completed 18 consecutive pass attempts and was 32-of-36 overall in the REDBLACKS’ narrow defeat at Toronto. At 88.9%, Burris set a CFL record for completion percentage in a game with at least 35 pass attempts
• Eric Rogers scored a receiving touchdown for the sixth consecutive game. That is the first time any CFL player has produced a streak of 6 games in a row with at least one TD since Weston Dressler in 2012
• John Hufnagel has been the Stampeders head coach since the start of 2008 and for 134 games. He has a record of 94-39-1. His winning percentage of .705 puts him fourth all-time, just behind Ralph Sazio at .707
• Weston Dressler surpassed the 500-reception mark for his career with six catches last week and is now up to 503
• Nik Lewis 
is now only 25 receiving yards behind Arland Bruce III (11,625 yards). Lewis has a career total of 11,600 yards on 834 receptions which ranks eighth all-time
• Swayze Waters returned after missing 6 games, made all three of his field goal attempts including two in the final 7:17 to provide the winning points, punted for a 50.6 yard average, and forced Ottawa to start inside their own 20 on five occasions
• Derel Walker has started his career in Edmonton in spectacular fashion, with 24 catches in two games for 308 yards. Last week, six of his catches went for clutch second down conversions
• Matt Walter:  With Jon Cornish hurt, Walter has kept the Stamps right on running, with a career-high 110 yards rushing last week on 19 carries
• Ray Early: The Riders’ punter tried something truly exceptional last week: shifting over to attempt a field goal from 65 yards out. His unsuccessful kick fell 4 yards short of breaking teammate Paul McCallum’s record for the longest CFL field goal: 62 yards set in 2001