2008 BC Lions season

2008 BC Lions season
Head coach	Wally Buono
General manager	Wally Buono
Home field	BC Place Stadium
Results
Record	11–7
Division place	3rd, West
Playoff finish	Lost West Final
Team MOP	Cameron Wake
Team MOR	Stefan Logan
Uniform

The 2008 BC Lions season was the 51st season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 55th overall. The Lions finished the season in third place in the West Division with an 11–7 record and appeared in the CFL Western Final, losing to the eventual Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders.

Offseason

CFL Draft

In the 2008 CFL Draft, 48 players were chosen from among 752 eligible players^[1] from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. The first two rounds were broadcast on TSN.ca with host Rod Black.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	5	Justin Sorensen	OL	South Carolina
2	9 (via Hamilton)	Rolly Lumbala	RB	Idaho
3	18 (via Edmonton)	Justin Shaw	DL	Manitoba
3	20 (via Saskatchewan via Montreal)	Jason Arakgi	LB	McMaster
3	22	Mike McEachern	LB	Western Illinois
5	38	Brady Browne	DB	Manitoba
6	46	Hubert Buydens	OL	Saskatchewan

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Attendance	Record
A	June 13	at Saskatchewan Roughriders	33–13 [2]	Loss	28,800	0–1
B	June 19	Calgary Stampeders	39–35 [2]	Win	26,242	1–1

 #  Games played with white uniforms.

Regular season

• On September 13, Lions running back and former Blue Bomber, Charles Roberts reached over 10,000 rushing yards in his CFL career versus the Saskatchewan Roughriders.^[3]

• On July 6, Bobby Ackles, an integral member of the B.C. Lions for more than 50 years, died of a heart attack at his family's cabin on Bowen Island.^[4] Ackles started with the team as a waterboy in 1954.^[5] Ackles was sixty nine years old.^[6] Under Ackles' leadership, the Lions captured the Grey Cup in 1985 and in 2006.

• On September 20, an unsportsmanlike incident occurred during a game in Saskatchewan. It started in the fourth quarter when Saskatchewan fans became angry about a B.C. play they thought should have been a face mask penalty. Lions defensive back Dante Marsh fired the ball into the stands, and Saskatchewan fans responded by pelting the Lions with full cans of beer.^[7] The incident occurred on the night when the Roughriders were honouring past CFL legend Ron Lancaster, who had recently died at the age of 69.

• On November 1, B.C. Lions kick returner Ian Smart set a new CFL record for most kickoff return yardage.

Season standings

West Division
Team	GP	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pts
Y-Calgary Stampeders	18	13	5	0	595	420	26	Details
X-Saskatchewan Roughriders	18	12	6	0	500	471	24	Details
X-BC Lions	18	11	7	0	559	479	22	Details
X-Edmonton Eskimos	18	10	8	0	512	536	20	Details

Season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Attendance	Record
1	June 26	at Calgary Stampeders	28–18	Loss	30,159	0–1
2	July 4	Saskatchewan Roughriders	26–16	Loss	33,813	0–2
3	July 11	at Winnipeg Blue Bombers	42–24	Win	26,735	1–2
4	July 18	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	27–18	Win	37,174	2–2
5	July 25	Montreal Alouettes	36–34	Win	30,132	3–2
6	July 31	at Edmonton Eskimos	35–24	Loss	35,008	3–3
7	Aug 8	Edmonton Eskimos	40–34	Win	30,863	4–3
8	Bye					4–3
9	Aug 22	Calgary Stampeders	36–29	Loss	34,221	4–4
10	Aug 29	at Montreal Alouettes	30–25	Loss	20,202	4–5
11	Sept 6	at Hamilton Tiger-Cats	35–12	Win	18,723	5–5
12	Sept 13	Saskatchewan Roughriders	28–23	Win	38,608	6–5
13	Sept 20	at Saskatchewan Roughriders	27–21	Win	30,945	7–5
14	Sept 27	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	40–10	Win	31,161	8–5
15	Oct 3	at Toronto Argonauts	24–20	Win	28,273	9–5
16	Oct 10	Edmonton Eskimos	27–20	Loss	34,778	9–6
17	Oct 17	at Edmonton Eskimos	43–28	Win	34,342	10–6
18	Oct 25	Toronto Argonauts	55–32	Win	35,994	11–6
19	Nov 1	at Calgary Stampeders	41–30	Loss	30,275	11–7

 #  Games played with colour uniforms.

 #  Games played with white uniforms.

 #  Games played with alternate uniforms.

Roster

BC Lions roster
Quarterbacks 12 Zac Champion  7 Jarious Jackson 16 Buck Pierce Running Backs 37 Alexis Bwenge FB 28 Lyle Green FB 26 Stefan Logan 46 Rolly Lumbala FB  1 Charles Roberts  2 Ian Smart KR/PR Receivers  8 Bret Anderson SB 82 Jason Clermont SB 89 Clarence Coleman 19 Paris Jackson 81 Geroy Simon SB 88 O'Neil Wilson SB		Offensive Linemen 59 Kelly Bates G 55 Sherko Haji-Rasouli G 60 Jason Jimenez T 56 Rob Murphy T 69 Lorne Plante C 64 Angus Reid C 63 Walter Stith T 54 Dean Valli G Defensive Linemen 95 Ricky Foley DE 76 Jeremy Gibbs DT 90 Aaron Hunt DT 97 Brent Johnson DE 93 Matt Kirk DT 91 Cameron Wake DE 96 Tyrone Williams DT		Linebackers 35 Otis Floyd OLB  6 Javier Glatt ILB 39 Jamall Johnson OLB 51 Terna Nande OLB 11 Jason Pottinger ILB Defensive Backs 45 Jason Arakgi S 24 Korey Banks DB  3 Tad Crawford S 25 Jerome Dennis DB 27 Lavar Glover CB 31 Dante Marsh CB 16 Barron Miles S 21 Ryan Phillips DB 32 B. J. Tucker DB Special Teams  4 Paul McCallum K/P 70 Dan McCullough LS		Reserve Lists 67 Jon Hameister-Ries G 18 Cory Rodgers SB Practice Roster 34 Donald Brown DB 13 Ryan Grice-Mullen WR 83 Greg Hetherington SB 79 Caesar Rayford DL 94 Justin Shaw DL 87 Rufus Skillern WR 10 Sean Whyte K/P Italics indicate Import players Roster updated 2008-10-11 Depth Chart • Transactions 46 Active, 2 Inactive, 7 PS → More rosters

Player stats

Passing

Player	Att.	Comp	%	Yards	TD	INT	Rating
Buck Pierce	362	232	64.1	3018	19	9	97.4
Jarious Jackson	288	158	54.9	2164	17	10	84.3
Paul McCallum	2	2	100.0	53	0	0	158.3
Zac Champion	3	2	66.7	11	1	0	158.3
Charles Roberts	1	0	0.0	0	0	0	2.1
Stefan Logan	1	0	0.0	0	0	0	2.1

^[8]

Rushing

Player	Att.	Yards	Avg.	TD	Fumbles
Stefan Logan	122	889	7.3	0	4
Jarious Jackson	63	362	5.7	2	4
Charles Roberts	65	298	4.6	5	1
Joe Smith	55	236	4.3	3	0
Buck Pierce	29	177	6.1	2	2

^[9]

Receiving

Player	No.	Yards	Avg.	Long	TD
Geroy Simon	82	1418	17.3	79	10
Paris Jackson	76	1180	15.5	56	8
Jason Clermont	50	640	12.8	36	3
Stefan Logan	52	477	9.2	31	3
Clarence Coleman	34	389	11.4	39	3

^[10]

Awards and records

• Cameron Wake (DE), British Columbia Lions – CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award
• Cameron Wake, Norm Fieldgate Trophy

2008 CFL All-Stars

• Brent Johnson, Defensive Tackle
• Aaron Hunt, Defensive Tackle
• Jason Jimenez, Offensive Tackle
• Dante Marsh, Cornerback
• Barron Miles, Safety
• Geroy Simon, Receiver
• Cameron Wake, Defensive End

Western Division All-Star Selections

• Korey Banks, Defensive Back
• Javier Glatt, Linebacker
• Aaron Hunt, Defensive Tackle
• Paris Jackson, Receiver
• Jason Jimenez, Offensive Tackle
• Brent Johnson, Defensive Tackle
• Dante Marsh, Cornerback
• Paul McCallum, Punter
• Barron Miles, Safety
• Rob Murphy, Offensive Tackle
• Geroy Simon, Receiver
• Ian Smart, Special Teams
• Cameron Wake, Defensive End

^[11]

Playoffs

Week	Game	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Attendance
20	West Semi-Final	Nov 8	at Saskatchewan Roughriders	33–12	Win	30,945
21	West Final	Nov 15	at Calgary Stampeders	22–18	Loss	35,650

 #  Games played with white uniforms.

West Semi-Final

Date and time: Saturday, November 8, 3:30 PM Central Standard Time
Venue: Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field, Regina, Saskatchewan

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
BC Lions	7	9	10	7	33
Saskatchewan Roughriders	0	6	3	3	12

West Final

Date and time: Saturday, November 15, 2:30 PM Mountain Standard Time
Venue: McMahon Stadium, Calgary, Alberta

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
BC Lions	6	6	3	3	18
Calgary Stampeders	0	9	6	7	22

References

1. "Draft List for Year 2008" (PDF). Canadian Football League. 2008-01-28.
2. CFL.ca
3. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/story/4225998p-4863965c.html
4. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=242666
5. Weird Facts about Canadian Football, p.86, Overtime Books, First Printing 2009, ISBN 978-1-897277-26-3
6. Weird Facts about Canadian Football, p.88, Overtime Books, First Printing 2009, ISBN 978-1-897277-26-3
7. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Saskatchewan/2008/09/23/6849161-cp.html
8. http://www.cfl.ca/statistics/league/stat/Passing/year/2008/
9. http://www.cfl.ca/statistics/league/stat/Rushing/year/2008/
10. http://www.cfl.ca/statistics/league/stat/Receiving/year/2008/
11. http://www.cfl.ca/article/2008-east-west-division-all-stars