The Saskatchewan Roughriders are opening their new $278 million Mosaic Stadium on Canada Day by welcoming arch rivals the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to town.
There is no bigger rivalry in Canadian Football League history than this one and to stage the home opener to officially christen a new stadium on Canada’s 150th birthday is only fitting.
The Roughriders are coming off a tough 17-16 loss to the Montreal Alouettes last week while Winnipeg will be playing their first game of the year. In that contest, the Roughriders took 12 penalties for 113 yards and committed two turnovers, both of which occurred in Montreal territory.
Kevin Glenn, who signed with Saskatchewan in the off-season after being released by the Bombers, gets the start at quarterback. The 38-year-old signal caller was solid in the season-opening loss to Montreal, throwing for 298 yards and rushing for 16 more. Running back Cameron Marshall was impressive in his debut with Saskatchewan, rushing 11 times for 84 yards and catching four passes for 17 yards. Nic Demski, who set single-game career highs in receptions (seven) and receiving yards (87) in Montreal, will start again at wide receiver.
Saskatchewan’s defense will see a change at middle linebacker as Sam Eguavoen comes off the injured list to replace Henoc Muamba, who has been put on the six-game injured list with an undisclosed ailment.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive back Taylor Loffler throws down Naaman Roosevelt of the Saskatchewan Roughriders during a game earlier this season. Photo: Brent Just / Getty Images
The Bombers enter the game with the league’s third leading rusher in 2016, Andrew Harris who rushed for 974 yards a year ago. Matt Nichols will start at quarterback for Winnipeg. He completed 69.5 per cent of his passes for 3,666 yards with 18 touchdowns last year against nine interceptions and posted a QB rating of 97.1. He is 4-1 lifetime against the Riders.
Defensively for Winnipeg, a player to watch is defensive back#4 Roc Carmichael. He caught everyone’s eye from the very first moment he stepped on the field during mini camp. He’s an older CFL rookie at 28, but has 19 NFL games under his belt with Philadelphia and Houston and showed superb cover skills playing both halfback and linebacker in camp.
The Bombers were a league-best 7-2 on the road last season; the Riders were 3-6 at home last year. Winnipeg swept last year’s two-game season series, winning 28-25 on Labour Day in Regina and 17-10 a week later in Winnipeg. The two clubs played to a 25-25 tie in the preseason.
American Football International is collaborating with Yare Media and the Canadian Football League to present every 2017 CFL game live. This is more than a livestream. This is a stream of the top flight television broadcast from Canada’s sports network, TSN.