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After stepping aside for Nathan Rourke in the second half of the BC Lions’ season, the team is turning back to Vernon Adams Jr. for the biggest game of their year.
There’s no quarterback controversy, though. Head coach Rick Campbell has been adamant about that that. It’s just time for Adams Jr. to step back into the spotlight.
‘Big Play VA’ started the season as a front-runner in the MOP conversation with five games of 300+ yards and a season-high 451 against none other than the team he’s playing in this weekend’s Western Semi-Final, the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
He returned to action in Week 20’s game against Montreal, throwing for 385 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions to go along with a major score and 39 yards on the ground. That was enough for Campbell to decide to go with Adams Jr. as the starter for their third-straight appearance in the Western Semi-Final.
Here are three ways that Adams Jr. is going to impact Saturday’s matchup against the Roughriders.
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BIG PLAY VA
With the stakes high and the pressure on level 100, don’t expect Vernon Adams Jr. to change the way he approaches a game.
Adams Jr. is known for his big play ability and is never afraid of taking shots down field. Especially when he has receivers like Justin McInnis, Alexander Hollins and Keon Hatcher (who hauled in 195 yards and a touchdown in last year’s Semi-Final and 162 and a major in 2022’s, by the way) running routes for him.
And there’s no way that Adams Jr. is going to change any of that on Saturday night.
“You aren’t going to see me play conservative,” Adams Jr. said on Friday in the team’s day before media availability at Mosaic Stadium.
“So I’m going to go through my reads and I’m going to do the best I can and when the shot is there, I’m going to take that shot. If it’s not, I have to do a good job getting down to my resets and things like that.”
BIG PLAY VA!
Vernon Adams Jr. is on fire early, as he finds Stanley Berryhill III behind coverage for the score. The @BCLions lead 14-0, Adams with 126 yards through the air. #CFLGameday LIVE on @TSN_Sports & @RDSca
📱: Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/rF0JMPrPGT— CFL (@CFL) October 19, 2024
This season the Lions were second in the CFL in big passing plays (throws of 30+) with 31. The only team with more was the Montreal Alouettes who had 36. The Roughriders defence, while excellent at taking the ball away, did give up 29 big passing plays, fourth-most in the CFL.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And that’s the strategy Adams Jr. and his team are going to implement heading into the winner-takes-all matchup by going deep when they can.
DUAL THREAT
Along with his ability to stretch the field, Adams Jr. can make you pay with his legs.
He’s taken off 40 times for 213 yards and three touchdowns this year, averaging 5.3 yards a carry and his longest going for 19 yards.
The Roughriders defence will have to account for the Lions pivot scrambling out of the pocket on Saturday. Keeping him contained is not an easy task for a defence that allowed Adams Jr. to run for 39 and a major on the ground the last time they faced him in Week 6.
“I think just being good with our eyes” Riders SAM linebacker C.J. Reavis said when asked how to keep the Lions pivot from running. “Like you said, VA is a great quarterback, so we have to make sure we don’t give them the easy stuff. Make him earn everything.”
LESSONS LEARNED
Now heading into his fourth playoff start, VA has learned a few things from his experiences that he can bring to the Western Semi-Final on Saturday.
This is first Semi-Final he’s playing on the road – he was at home in the Eastern Semi-Final while with Montreal in 2019 and then at home in back-to-back Semi-Finals in Vancouver in 2022 and 2023. But he did play on the road in the Western Final in Winnipeg in 2023, a place that was cold and loud, just like it is likely to be at Mosaic Stadium.
Adams Jr. will help to lead his Lions as they look to bring their own intensity to a hostile environment, hoping to earn the right to go to Winnipeg next week to take on the Blue Bombers.
“We have to bring our own energy,” said Adams Jr. “Last year at the (Western Semi-Final) home game, we had energy because we have a home crowd and things like that. But when you’re on the road, you’re going against the other team and their crowd and in a stadium like this and in Winnipeg, which are the top stadiums up here, you just you have to bring your own energy as a team.
“We have to keep each other together, highs and lows, no matter what.”