2008 Saskatchewan Roughriders season

2008 Saskatchewan Roughriders season
Head coach Ken Miller
General manager Eric Tillman
Home field Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field
Results
Record 12–6–0
Division place 2nd, West
Playoff finish Lost Western Semi-Final
Team MOP Wes Cates
Team MOC Gene Makowsky
Team MOR Weston Dressler
Uniform

The 2008 Saskatchewan Roughriders finished in 2nd place in the West division with a 12–6 record for the second consecutive year. It was their 51st season in the Canadian Football League. The Roughriders attempted to repeat as Grey Cup champions, but, due to an abundance of injuries, lost to the BC Lions in the Western Semi-Final game.

Off-season

Several months after capturing the 2007 Grey Cup, 2007 CFL coach of the Year Kent Austin stepped down as head coach to become the offensive co-ordinator at Ole Miss. In accepting this position in the NCAA, Austin turned down a very lucrative contract that the Riders had offered.[1] On February 6, 2008, Eric Tillman announced that the new head coach would be Ken Miller. Miller was formerly an offensive coordinator under Austin.[2]

Last season's starting quarterback Kerry Joseph was traded to the Toronto Argonauts on March 5, 2008, along with a third round pick in the 2010 CFL Draft in exchange for offensive tackle Glenn January, defensive lineman Ronald Flemons, the Argos' first-round pick in the 2008 CFL Draft and a 2010 second-round selection.

On April 5, 2008 a report was released saying that the Roughriders set a new record for earnings in a single season. At the Roughriders' annual general meeting, Mike Back, the club's vice-president of finance and operations, reported the Roughriders registered a record profit of $1,737,377 in 2007.[3] The Roughriders exceeded the $22-million plateau in total operating revenue and expenditures. This figure eclipsed the previous mark of $15 million. Total net assets increased by $1,998,857 to $5,096,393.[3] These earnings were due in part to the championship season the Roughriders sported, which included 8 home game sellouts and their first home playoff game in 19 years.

CFL Draft

Round Player Position School/Club Team
1 (via Toronto) Keith Shologan Defensive Lineman Central Florida Knights
2 (via Edmonton, via Toronto, via Edmonton) Jonathan St. Pierre Offensive Lineman Illinois State Redbirds
2 (via BC) Michael Stadnyk Defensive Lineman Montana Grizzlies
4 (via BC) Jean-François Morin-Roberge Offensive Lineman Montreal Carabins
5 Jeff Zelinski Defensive Back Saint Mary's Huskies
6 (via Hamilton) Teale Orban Quarterback Regina Rams

Pre-season

Week Date Opponent Score Result Attendance
A Fri, June 13 BC Lions 33–13 [4] Win 28,800
B Thurs, June 19 at Edmonton Eskimos 37–7 [4] Lost 33,508

Regular season

Crowd trouble

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.[5] The incident occurred on the night when the Roughriders were honouring past CFL legend Ron Lancaster, who recently died at the age of 69. The club subsequently announced that in order to reduce the probability of a similar incident beer in the east stands (where the visitors bench is) would be sold in plastic cups for at least the remainder of the season.

Ron Lancaster

On Thursday, September 18, Ron Lancaster, 69, died from an apparent heart attack, less than two months after being diagnosed with lung cancer.[6] The former Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback, also had a long career as a head coach, with the Edmonton Eskimos and Hamilton Tiger Cats. He was diagnosed in late July and had been undergoing radiation and chemotherapy.[6] Lancaster played 16 seasons with Saskatchewan, and led the team to five Grey Cup appearances. He led the club to their first CFL championship in 1966 when Saskatchewan upset the Ottawa Rough Riders 29–14.[7] When he retired in 1978, at the age of 41, he was the league's all-time leader in passing yards (50,535), touchdown passes (333), pass attempts (6,223) and completions (3,384).[8] He also suffered more interceptions than any other quarterback in CFL history.[9] He had also passed for more yards than any passer in professional football history.[9]

Season standings

West

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

East

East Division
Team GP W L T PF PA Pts
Y-Montreal Alouettes 18 11 7 0 610 443 22 Details
X-Winnipeg Blue Bombers 18 8 10 0 435 490 16 Details
Toronto Argonauts 18 4 14 0 397 627 8 Details
Hamilton Tiger-Cats 18 3 15 0 441 593 6 Details

Season schedule

Week Date Opponent Score Result Attendance Record
1 Sat, June 28 vs. Edmonton Eskimos 34–13 Win 28,800 1–0
2 Fri, July 4 at BC Lions 26–16 Win 33,815 2–0
3 Sat, July 12 at Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33–28 Win 20,874 3–0
4 Sat, July 19 vs. Montreal Alouettes 41–33 Win 28,800 4–0
5 Sun, July 27 vs. Toronto Argonauts 28–22 Win 28,800 5–0
6 Sat, Aug 2 at Calgary Stampeders 22–21 Win 35,650 6–0
7 Thurs, Aug 7 vs. Calgary Stampeders 30–25 Loss 28,800 6–1
8 Bye
9 Thurs, Aug 21 at Edmonton Eskimos 27–10 Loss 48,808 6–2
10 Sun, Aug 31 vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers 19–6 Win 30,985 7–2
11 Sun, Sept 7 at Winnipeg Blue Bombers 34–31 Win 29,770 8–2
12 Sat, Sept 13 at BC Lions 28–23 Loss 38,608 8–3
13 Sat, Sept 20 vs. BC Lions 27–21 Loss 30,945 8–4
14 Sun, Sept 28 at Montreal Alouettes 37–12 Loss 20,202 8–5
15 Fri, Oct 3 vs. Calgary Stampeders 37–34 Win 30,945 9–5
16 Mon, Oct 13 at Calgary Stampeders 42–5 Loss 35,650 9–6
17 Sun, Oct 19 vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats 30–29 Win 30,945 10–6
18 Sat, Oct 25 vs. Edmonton Eskimos 55–9 Win 30,945 11–6
19 Thurs, Oct 30 at Toronto Argonauts 45–38 Win 28,654 12–6

Roster

Saskatchewan Roughriders roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Slotbacks

 Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

 Reserve List

Developmental Squad

Injured Lists

Suspended List

Italics indicate Import player
Roster updated 2008-10-30
Depth Chart • Transactions
46 Active, 11 Inactive, 7 PS

→ More rosters

Transactions

2008 Saskatchewan Roughriders' Transactions

Player stats

Passing

Player Att Comp % Yards TD INT Rating
Michael Bishop 274 160 58.4 2550 10 13 81.9
Darian Durant 129 77 59.7 1122 7 6 86.8
Marcus Crandell 128 67 52.3 924 7 3 84.3
Steven Jyles 61 42 68.9 533 4 6 76.7
Andy Fantuz 1 0 0.0 0 0 1 (−414.6)

[10]

Rushing

Player No. Yards Average TD Fumbles
Wes Cates 216 1229 5.7 12 4
Michael Bishop 46 244 5.3 4 5
Darian Durant 27 204 7.6 1 1
Stuart Foord 27 162 7.0 2 0
Neal Hughes 35 130 3.7 4 1

[11]

Receiving

Player No. Yards Avg. Long TD
Weston Dressler 56 1123 20.1 67 6
Andy Fantuz 36 488 13.6 31 3
Wes Cates 39 451 11.6 40 2
Rob Bagg 22371 16.9 72 0
Adarius Bowman 23 358 15.6 73 3

[12]

Awards and Records

CFL All-Star Selections

[13]

CFL West All-Star Selections

[14]

Playoffs

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

References

  1. ↑ "Austin jumps ship for Ole Miss". Slam.canoe.ca. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  2. ↑ CANOE – SLAM! Sports – CFL – Saskatchewan: Riders hire Miller as coach Archived February 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. 1 2 "Riders season a financial success". Slam.canoe.ca. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  4. 1 2 "CFL.ca". Cfl.ca. Archived from the original on 7 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  5. ↑ "CFL fans behaving badly". Slam.canoe.ca. Archived from the original on October 26, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  6. 1 2 CBC Sports (2008-09-19). "CFL fans remember Ron Lancaster". Cbc.ca. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  7. ↑ Ralph, Dan (2008-09-18). "Tributes pour in for 'Mr. CFL,' legendary Ron Lancaster". The Star (Toronto). Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  8. ↑ "CFL legend Ron Lancaster dies at 69". Canada.com. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  9. 1 2 "Ron Lancaster". Histori.ca. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  10. ↑ "CFL.ca". Cfl.ca. Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  11. 1 2 "CFL.ca". Cfl.ca. Archived from the original on 18 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  12. ↑ "CFL.ca". Cfl.ca. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  13. ↑ "CFL.ca – 2008 All-Stars". Cfl.ca. Archived from the original on 2009-07-23. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
  14. ↑ "CFL.ca – 2008 East & West Division All-Stars". Cfl.ca. Archived from the original on 2009-07-23. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
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