With just over four minutes remaining in Sunday's Western Final, Calgary's Larry Taylor muffed a punt from Saskatchewan's Ricky Schmitt. The ball hit the frozen turf, bounced off Taylor's foot and was touched by a Rider before it slid out of bounds. It was Calgary's sixth turnover of the game and, for all intents and purposes, was the last meaningful play of a game that sent Saskatchewan to its first home Grey Cup in the 103-year history of the franchise.
A lot of ink - if I can use such an outdated phrase - will be spilled on the exploits of Darian Durant, Kory Sheets and Weston Dressler, and with good reason. All three, especially Durant, were spectacular in leading Saskatchewan to a 22-6 halftime lead that they would never relinquish. Still, I saw two other factors - one obvious and one subtle - that contributed to Saskatchewan's win as much as anything: turnovers and great play from both the offensive and defensive lines, often the most anonymous members of a football team.
First of all, those turnovers screamed for attention. Whether it was a Rider making a great play or a Stampeder simply dropping the ball, turnovers completely changed the complexion of the game. It began with an interception and ended with the recovery of that muffed punt; in between the Riders scored 18 of their 35 points off Stampeder miscues, but the truth of it is that those points wouldn't have been scored without superlative play from the offensive line.
Durant threw for three touchdowns in the first half alone, the beneficiary of a ton of time in the pocket thanks to an offensive line that totally controlled the line of scrimmage. Kory Sheets broke off several long runs and tallied 177 yards on the ground, the beneficiary of linemen setting the edge so that he could scamper down the sidelines.
On the other side of the ball, the Riders' defensive line did a great job limiting Jon Cornish, the CFL's leading rusher during the regular season. Cornish only had one long run and was never a real factor.
They also harassed quarterback Kevin Glenn into several questionable decisions, leading Calgary to put the ball in Drew Tate's hands in the second half. Tate wasn't much better and, as the seconds ticked away in Calgary, what had once been little more than a pipedream became reality: the Riders would host the Grey Cup at Mosaic Stadium.
The opponent will be the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who defeated the Toronto Argonauts 36-24 in the Eastern Final. The Riders beat the Ticats twice this year, including a 37-0 beat down on July 21 that will probably have almost no bearing on the Grey Cup. This is a different Tiger-Cats team and the Riders must avoid any hint of overconfidence.
Perhaps most interesting are the links between the Tiger-Cats and Riders: Henry Burris and Andy Fantuz are both former Rider greats and Kent Austin won the Grey Cup as both a player and coach with Saskatchewan. My guess is they'd love to stick it to their former team on the biggest stage of all. It's just another layer of intrigue for a game that is already chock full of it.
If there's one thing that can be said with certainty, it's that Regina is going to be a circus this week. Tens of thousands of people from across the country will flood the city. Hotels will be full, bars will overflow and there will be an undeniable sense of festivity taking over the city. It will be fascinating to see what, if any, impact the big stage has on the Riders.
If recent history is any indication, Riders fans should be optimistic. The last two Grey Cups have been won by the home team - B.C. in 2011 and Toronto last year.
This year's Riders stand on the edge of history. Sunday will either be one of the best or worst days in the history of the franchise - there's no in between and that's what makes games like this so spectacular. Regardless of what happens on the field, Sunday will be a day to remember for Riders fans. I know it's hard, but sit back and try to appreciate the moment as it happens. A game like this might not come around again for a long time - maybe 103 years or so.
