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SASKATCHEWAN – After the first meeting between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats this season was a nail-biting affair decided by just three points, the home team did not want to re-live the come-from-behind victory the week before.
Instead, the Riders led from start to finish, leading by as many as three scores in the win, earning head coach Corey Mace his first win at home as well as starting the season 3-0, while the Ticats dropped to 0-3 after the loss.
Former Ticat Jameer Thurman had a stellar showing against his old team, recording a pick-six and a forced fumble, while AJ Ouellette found his footing for the Riders recording 98 rushing yards in the win.
Here are CFL.ca’s three key stats from the Roughriders’ win over the Tiger-Cats.
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52 – YARDS FROM INTERCEPTIONS
In a night that Bo Levi Mitchell likely wants to forget, he threw three interceptions while throwing for two touchdowns in the loss.
Thurman picked off Mitchell for a score, while an interception thrown at the end of the game that was picked off by Rolan Milligan Jr. all but sealed the game for the Riders.
Trevor Harris threw an interception himself, but lucky for the Riders did not give the Ticats any advantage in field position. Mitchell completed 29 of 45 attempts for Hamilton, but Saskatchewan’s defence forced throws that were easy to read and intercept.
98 – RUSHING YARDS FOR AJ OUELLETTE
After recording just 64 yards total through the first two weeks of the 2024 CFL season, AJ Ouellette was a workhorse for the Riders as they continually used his strength on the ground to power through each drive and get downfield.
His work resulted in 98 rushing yards on 20 carries, as the running back who eclipsed 1,00 rushing yards for the first time in his career last season is starting to find his place on a new squad after playing the first four years in the league in Toronto.
Getting just 11 touches on the ball the week prior against the Ticats, Ouellette showed what he’s still capable of and had his best showing yet to help the Riders remain undefeated, looking to break that 100-yard mark in a game in the near future.
9 – HAMILTON RUSHING ATTEMPTS
While Saskatchewan figured out how to use the ground game led by Ouellette, Hamilton didn’t have the same luck trying to run the ball.
The Ticats attempted to run the ball just nine times in the loss, resulting in 29 yards, or an average of 3.2 yards per attempt. In comparison, the Riders rushed for 100 yards as a team in the win, with Ouellette accounting for all but two.
Running back James Butler tallied just 10 yards on five carries in the loss, with Mitchell being the team’s leading rusher tallying 17 yards.
Butler has passed the 1,000 rushing yards mark in each of the last two seasons, and had 119 yards in the season opener against Calgary, but was unable to get anything going in both Week 2 and Week 3 against Saskatchewan.