Nov
Als not worried about long layoff
Courtesy Montreal Gazette:
You’re undoubtedly familiar with all the statistics by now, and you’ll hear them again, over and over this week, leading up to Saturday’s East Division final.
On Oct. 26, Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo was held to a season-low 191 yards by Winnipeg in a 24-23 loss. He passed for only one touchdown and completed 19 of 36 passes while generating only seven second-half points.
Calvillo hasn’t played since then, held out of Montreal’s season finale at Edmonton. That’s a long time between games – 20 days – leading many to wonder whether it’ll be the good Calvillo, or bad Calvillo, that comes out against the Eskimos with a Grey Cup berth on the line at Olympic Stadium.
“I missed one day of practice, a day on which we practised 15 offensive plays. And I missed one game on the road,” Calvillo said yesterday, on a day the Als held meetings and film review, but no practice. They did, however, practise twice last week, on Thursday and Friday, while enjoying their bye week, although their opponent had yet to be determined.
“I’ll take any day off I can get. This is a physical game. It’s good to give your body a break,” said Calvillo, 36, in his 15th Canadian Football League season.
Despite his lack of CFL experience, Als head coach Marc Trestman proved this season to be an offensive genius. His team scored 30 points or more in 15 of 18 games. And two of the three in which it didn’t were the last two, long after first place had been clinched. And Trestman, through his years in the NFL as an offensive co-ordinator, proved to be a quarterback guru, working with many of the game’s luminaries and bringing them to new heights. So the guy knows what he’s doing, and if he decided to give Calvillo a rest in the last game, who are we to argue?
At least, that is, until we see how Calvillo plays Saturday.
We will point out, however, Calgary head coach John Hufnagel, under somewhat similar circumstances, played Henry Burris for a half in the Stampeders’ final game, against British Columbia. It should also be pointed out the Lions needed a victory – they didn’t get it – to finish second in the division. Hufnagel and the Stamps undoubtedly wanted to prove they weren’t throwing the game.
Calvillo entered this season with little playing time through the Als’ two exhibition games, the majority of his work coming on the field, at training camp. Calvillo then went out and opened the season by passing for 312 yards and two touchdowns at Hamilton.
“Personally, I’ll be ready,” Calvillo vowed, “whether I played the last game or not.”
Nobody really knows what to expect, but Calvillo’s teammates don’t sound overly concerned. They figure, after 15 years and almost six months into the season, the veteran probably knows what he’s doing.
“I have no answer. There’s no point in trying to predict,” slotback Ben Cahoon said. “Am I concerned? Absolutely not.”
Despite Calvillo’s defiant answer that his team needs to score only one more point than Edmonton, he must realize the potential for an offensive slugfest exists. The Als have proven they can score, while Eskimos quarterback Ricky Ray passed for 303 yards last weekend, in less than ideal conditions at Winnipeg.
Saturday under the dome, conditions will be ideal, and the Als must control the clock. When these teams met Sept. 21 at Molson Stadium, the Als had the ball for more than 35 minutes. Calvillo also torched the visitors for 414 yards and two scores in a 40-4 victory. Ray was benched during the game.
“The entire season, we’ve been building up to this,” Calvillo said. “Every game was meaningful, and we executed the offence from Day 1. It has been an 18-game journey. We showed some greatness and we struggled at times. But overall, we played better than the opposition. And now, we want to show us and everyone we’re a well-balanced team that can beat anyone.”
Defensively, assuming Ray’s on his game, Montreal’s secondary will have a stern test. Ray’s a tremendous quarterback. When he’s not dumping the ball off to his backs, he has a pair of 1,000-yard receivers – Kamau Peterson and Kelly Campbell – at his disposal. And let’s face it, the Als’ secondary, at times, was rather porous.
