ROBSERVATIONS: Fast pace at BC Place … head coach’s homecoming … mid-season musings … legendary doctor has Riders ties

To air is human — especially at BC Place.

Some of the most riveting displays of aerial football in Saskatchewan Roughriders history have taken place when the team has enjoyed climatically controlled conditions in Vancouver, where the B.C. Lions are to face the Green and White on Sunday.

Some highlights …

Sept. 19, 1988: Ray Elgaard caught nine passes for 176 yards and three touchdowns as the Roughriders won 36-32. Elgaard caught a game-winning, 36-yard touchdown pass from Kent Austin with 1:42 remaining in the fourth quarter. The hat trick gave Elgaard a share of the Roughriders record for touchdown catches in a game.

July 18, 1989: Tom Burgess threw five touchdown passes in a 42-37 Saskatchewan win. He tied a franchise record that had previously been set by Ron Lancaster (in 1963 and 1966) and Joe Barnes (1981). Burgess created a five-way tie when he again threw five TD passes in an Aug. 18, 1989 visit to Hamilton. Austin went off for five on Aug. 21, 1991 versus the visiting Lions. Then came …

Sept. 21, 1991: Austin threw a team-record six touchdown passes to help the Roughriders prevail 49-47. Jeff Fairholm caught three TD passes, claiming a share of a team record.

Aug. 13, 1992: Austin amassed 558 passing yards — also an enduring single-game franchise record — as the Roughriders posted a 46-43 overtime victory in Vancouver.

July 9, 1993: Austin compiled 484 yards (ninth All-Time) as the Roughriders and Lions once again went into OT. Fairholm registered 215 receiving yards, which was then the fourth-highest total by a Roughrider.

Nov. 14, 2004: Saskatchewan’s Henry Burris threw for 416 yards and three scores in the Western Final. Smilin’ Hank’s passing yardage total is the fifth-best by a Roughrider in a playoff or Grey Cup game.

July 19, 2025: Trevor Harris threw for 395 yards and three majors as the Roughriders won 33-27. Dohnte Meyers caught seven passes for 132 yards, including majors of 50 and 30 yards, for a 2025 Roughriders team that went on to win the Grey Cup.

With that and other experiences in mind, what is it like for a quarterback to play at BC Place?

“It’s nice,” Harris said. “You don’t have to worry about wind. It nice to have that ‘dome’ feel.

“BC Place is a beautiful stadium. My first year in the league, I thought, ‘I feel like the World Cup could be here.’

“It’s a tremendous facility and a great place to play football, so it’ll be fun. We go there twice this year.”

To be continued on Sept. 25.

MIDWAY POINTS

The Roughriders begin the back nine of their 2026 regular season on Sunday.

How did the front nine go?

“I think we’ve handled adversity well and we’ve played well, for the most part,” said Harris, whose team has a 6-3 record after a 26-19 loss in Hamilton on Aug. 15.

“Our one-off game was our last game. I think that’s all it is — a one-off game. We took a really good, hard look at the film and we’ll play better. We have a lot of equity built up in terms of how we’ve played and how we’ve responded to any adversity or to whomever our opponent is.

“We’ve had one rough game, but aside from that, I think we’ve done enough to continue to be in a position in the second half of the season where we control our own destiny.

“But we’ve got to continue building. The best teams are always the ones that peak late and play the best football in the back half. I think that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

Over the first half, Harris has thrown 20 touchdowns — the second-highest total in the league entering Week 12. He boasts an impressive quarterback efficiency rating of 111.5.

With Harris exclusively at the controls, the Roughriders lead the league in offensive plays per game (57.6) and second-down conversion percentage (58.7). Saskatchewan is a strong third in offensive points per game (31.2).

His most frequent target, KeeSean Johnson, has 61 catches for 765 yards and six touchdowns. That puts him on pace for 122 catches, 1,530 yards and 12 TDs over a full 18 games.

With a strong second half, Johnson could threaten or eclipse the Roughriders’ single-season records for catches (125 by Don Narcisse in 1995) and receiving yards (1,715, Joey Walters, 1981).

Defensively, the Roughriders have allowed the fewest points per game (25.4 by rival offences) and the third-fewest yards of net offence (an average of 368.4).

On special teams, the highlight has been the performance of both punt return units.

Saskatchewan leads the league in yards per punt return — an eye-popping 16.6 — and has also allowed the lowest average (10.7).

The Roughriders have been effective on punt returns despite injuries to James Letcher Jr. and Mathew Sexton. In their absence, Rosetown-born rookie Daniel Wiebe has averaged 12.1 yards per return. And he had a 70-yarder called back due to a penalty.

That being said, the Roughriders are one of the CFL’s least-penalized teams. Winnipeg has been assessed 5.9 penalties per game. Saskatchewan and B.C. are tied for second at 6.0.

Taking all of that — and much more — into account, how does the Head Coach assess the team at this juncture of the season?

“I’m pleased with where we’re at, but I’m eager to fix the things that we need to fix,” Corey Mace replied. “There’s things in all three phases of the team that we’ve got to fix. These guys know that and they’re eager to make the fixes as well.

“Sitting at the halfway point, there’s a lot of ball to be played and a lot of work to be done.”

MACE AND BC PLACE

The looming road game will be a home game of sorts for Mace.

He is from Vancouver.

“As a kid in high school or community football, you knew you were in a big game if you were playing at BC Place,” Mace recalled. “Throughout my (CFL) career, a lot of important games have been played over there.

“It’s always nice to know that I’m going to have family at the game. It’s a special place for me personally, but ultimately you push those things to the side when you’re looking at what we have to do as a team.”

BC Place was the site of Mace’s first of three Grey Cup victory celebrations.

On Nov. 30, 2014, he helped the Calgary Stampeders defeat Hamilton 20-16 in the 102nd Grey Cup Game.

Late in the fourth quarter, Mace sacked Zach Collaros on second down to force Hamilton to settle for a field goal. The Tiger-Cats then recorded what were ultimately the final three points of the game.

“It was a fun time, being able to do that with our team,” Mace said. “Looking back, that was my last real game, and it was in front of my family.

“That was a cool moment. The whole day was awesome.”

Even before that, Mace had some BC Place moments to cherish.

“Community football championship,” the former Coquitlam Falcons game-breaker said. “Three touchdowns, buddy … as a running back.

“Mic drop.”

PIVOTAL POINTS

A leftover from last week …

The Tiger-Cats started four different quarterbacks over the first nine games of the season. That got me thinking: Have the Roughriders ever been in such a situation?

Definitive answer: No.

There have been several seasons in which the Roughriders have started four (or more) quarterbacks, but they have never reached that point by the nine-game mark.

They came close, mind you, in 1979. On Sept. 16 of that year, Craig Juntunen became the Roughriders’ fourth starting QB, following Tom Clements (Games 1-7), Larry Dick (8) and Lloyd Patterson (9). Danny Sanders made it five when he assumed the reins to begin the 14^th game.

Until 1979, the Roughriders had not called upon a fourth starter earlier than the 12^th game. Frank Tripucka was Saskatchewan’s fourth starting signal caller of the 1963 season, following Bob Ptacek (Games 1-2), Ron Lancaster (3-8, 10-11) and Lee Grosscup (9).

The 1979 season was the second — and most recent — in which the Roughriders started five quarterbacks. The 1959 edition deployed George Herring (Game 1), Bob Brodhead (2-6, 8), Don Allard (7, 9-14), Ron Adam (15) and Tripucka (16).

The four-starter years are as follows:

1980: John Hufnagel (1, 4-13), Sanders (2), Tom Rozantz (3) and Barnes (14-16).

1996: Warren Jones (1-6, 8), Heath Rylance (7, 13), Kevin Mason (9-12), Jim Kemp (14-18).

2008: Marcus Crandell (1-2, 6-8), Darian Durant (3-5, 16), Michael Bishop (9-15, 18), Steven Jyles (17).

2014: Durant (1-10), Tino Sunseri (11-13, 15), Seth Doege (14), Joseph (16-18),

2015: Durant (1), Kevin Glenn (2-5, 12-15), Brett Smith (6-11, 16-17), Keith Price (18).

Compare that to the stability of today. Harris is the first Roughrider to throw every one of the team’s passes over the first nine games of a season. The previous high of seven games was set by Austin in 1992.

In the sixth game of 1992, he threw for 558 yards at BC Place.

CELEBRATING ALLAN BLAIR

A nugget from researcher/historian extraordinaire Dale Richter: The great gentleman after whom the Pasqua Hospital’s Allan Blair Cancer Centre was named practised with the Regina Rugby Club — the forerunner to the Roughriders — on Sept. 2, 1920.

Soon after that, he was off to Saskatoon to attend the University of Saskatchewan. He played college football at the U of S and Montreal-based McGill University.

Blair had become a Reginan at age 11 when his family relocated from Ontario. He returned to the Queen City in 1939 and later became the director of Saskatchewan Cancer Services and the Regina Cancer Clinic.

Dr. Blair was only 48 when he passed away on Nov. 9, 1948.

One of the many tributes to Allan Walker Blair was the re-naming of the cancer centre.

ROLL CREDITS …

• Nice people who deserve a plug: Danny Banda, Dale Isaac, Vivian Isaac, Rod Schmidt, Bernie Schmidt, Lois Kos, Janz Stein, Kevin Graham, Dennis Hendricksen, Cruise Carson, Josh Woods, Chryssoula Filippakopoulos, Jessica Gelowsky, Jermarcus Hardrick, Oscar Chapman, Kent Maugeri, Edward Yuen and Johnny Johnson III.