L’attaque en profondeur est la clé du système offensif à multiples facettes de ROUGE ET NOIR
Picture this: The Ottawa REDBLACKS are heading into their Week 3 bye with an 0-2 record, having rushed the ball for a grand total of 96 yards. The offence sputtering, and points are hard to come by.
Sounds bleak, right? Offensive Coordinator Khari Jones sure thought so, as he and the rest of the coaching staff set off to find a solution. Did it work? Work doesn’t do it justice. In their next five games, the REDBLACKS ran roughshod, piling on the yardage to the tune of 840 yards from scrimmage and six touchdowns. Suddenly, a team that couldn’t muster 100 yards in two games is averaging 168 hard-earned ticks on the tally sheet each night.
Conventional wisdom suggests that when you have a young quarterback – like Ottawa does with Dustin Crum – you want to protect them with the running game. That doesn’t account for a pivot who comes in and becomes your team’s leading rusher in three and a half games, which has allowed the running backs to keep loose.
“Pressure hasn’t gone up,” said five-year veteran, Jackson Bennett. “As we always say, there are 12 people on the field at all times, and each one has their own job to do. We trust everyone that’s put out there. Crum has done a really good job, so we have all the faith in him to do great things. Running the ball is just another piece of the cake.”
Right behind Crum in the pecking order is Devonte Williams, who made a name for himself last season by rushing for over five yards per carry on his 90 attempts. He dealt with some injury problems early in the year, missing three games, but since returning to the lineup in Week 6, he has been effective, toting the rock for 116 yards on 26 carries.
At 4.46 yards-per-carry in his last three games, Williams acknowledges that there’s room for improvement, but content with his body of work thus far, Jones is looking for ways to get him involved more.
“He has really been a big plus for the running game,” he said. “He’s been making people miss in the holes, which is fantastic. We have to get more of a focus on him with Dustin running as much as he has. I want him to be the focal point in the run game, and get him the ball as much as we can.”
A run game routinely in the triple digits is about a lot more than just the dudes with the ball in their arms, however. Williams immediately credits the offensive line, as if not for them opening the running lanes, he’d never have had the chance to make would-be tacklers miss in the second level.
The blockers have loved the extra opportunity to get out and set the tone, and see runners take off down the field.
“It’s fun to go out there and move guys around, but it also helps us out with everything,” said Jacob Ruby. “It helps with the run, it keeps the defence on their toes, and balances everything out. It makes our job in pass protection a lot more fun, too. That has definitely been a focus of ours here in the past few weeks, and we want to keep that rolling.”
Tearing off big yards is one thing, but it isn’t the end of the responsibilities of the running back. They play a big role in keeping the quarterback clean in pass protection, and with some scary names, including Micah Johnson and Pete Robertson lining the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defensive line, it’s going to be tricky to handle when the ball is kicked off Sunday evening.
“We’ve all got to do our job,” Ruby said. “Protection starts with the offensive line, but the quarterback is a part of it, so are receivers and running backs. I think we did a really good job of focusing on doing our job in the gameplan this week.”
The job isn’t done if Crum takes off, either.
“We want to keep him up as much as we can,” Bennett shared. “But he’s a great runner, too, so opening up those lanes and being firm in our blocks is super important. Being physical up front is going to give Dustin some confidence back there.”
In Saskatchewan, nothing comes easy. Maybe the watermelons carefully sculpted to look like helmets have sound-amplifying properties, but everyone knows by now that when you go to Mosaic Stadium, the decibels soar.
At practice, the REDBLACKS ran their offence through ground-thumping music, ranging from Drake to ACDC, preparing themselves to communicate in a different way.
“Most teams that have gone there this year have been in a silent cadence the entire game,” Ruby said. “That’s something we have practiced this week. A lot of our guys have been there before, but it’s a loud stadium and they have an up-beat fan base, so we have to go in there focused. We have to key in on the communication, and see what’s happening in front of us when things get crazy.”
With the playoff race wide open in a way that only the CFL could ever provide, no one is satisfied.
“There’s definitely more, we’re just getting started,” Williams said.
