By Mike Hardiman
Stampeders.com

The Pregame

It’s the final regular season game of the year as the Calgary Stampeders close out the 2015 season on the road against the BC Lions.

Calgary (13-4, second place in the West) dispatched the Riders 42-19 last week to finish up its home schedule and hit the 13-win mark for the 11th time in club history.

The Lions (7-10, third place) knocked off the Argos by a 27-25 score on the road and, in doing so, clinched a playoff spot for the 19th straight year. The Lions have not hosted a playoff game since 2012 when Calgary beat them in the Western Final by a 34-29 score.

This is the third straight season Calgary has finished the regular season on the road against BC and the Stamps have a 1-1 record in the previous two games.

Calgary beat the Leos 35-23 at McMahon back in Week 13.

Calgary is 5-3 on the road and 7-2 against Western teams while the Lions are 4-4 at home and 4-5 against the West. 

The Kickoff

When/Where: Saturday, Nov. 7 at 5 p.m. MST at BC Place in Vancouver
Television: TSN, ESPN3
Radio: Newstalk 770, SiriusXM Channel 167
Internet: www.newstalk770.com

The Stampeders

This week’s game against the Lions does not impact the standings so expect the Stamps to play a lot of players.

Quarterback Drew Tate will get the start, his first of the season and second career start in Vancouver. Tate passed for 206 yards and one TD in his start in BC in Week 20 of 2014. Calgary snapped a four-game road losing streak against the Lions with a win last year. In the 33-16 victory a year ago at BC Place, Calgary rolled up 469 yards of offence, had only one turnover and did not give up a sack.

Slotback Eric Rogers has 15 catches and three TDs in his last three games while Calgary’s other 1,000-yard receiver Marquay McDaniel has 16 receptions and a major score in his last three games.

Calgary’s defence will be looking to exploit the Lions’ penchant for giveaways as BC is ninth in the CFL in turnovers with 47. The Lions committed nine turnovers in their last three losses while Calgary has 11 takeaways in the last four games. Calgary forced a season-high six turnovers in the Week 13 win over the Leos.  

Defensive tackle Junior Turner is having another good year on the interior of the Calgary D-line with 28 tackles, three sacks and four tackles for losses and linebacker Deron Mayo continues to anchor the defence in Juwan Simpson’s absence, leading the team in tackles with 69 and adding five sacks.

The Stamps defence has 12 sacks in its last four games with defensive end Freddie Bishop III leading the way with four sacks over that span. 

Who to watch:

Jerome Messam – RB, #33
2015 stats – 150 carries, 947 rushing yards, 6.3 yard average, 2 TDs; 49 catches, 465 receiving yards, 9.5 yard average, 0 TDs – second in CFL rushing, third in CFL yards from scrimmage
Last game – 15 carries, 121 rushing yards, 8.1 yard average, 0 TDs – Week 19 vs Saskatchewan; second 100-yard game of season; seventh of career
2015 vs BC – 27 carries, 189 rushing yards, 7.0 yard average, 0 TDs – three games as a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders           

Drew Tate – QB, #4
2015 stats – 15 attempts, 10 completions, 66.7% completion rate, 91 passing yards, 1 TDs, 1 INTs,  77.4 QB rating – no starts
Last game – 4 attempts, 2 completions, 50.0% completion rate, 22 passing yards, 0 TD, 0 INTs,  66.7  QB rating –  Week 19 vs Saskatchewan
2015 vs BC – did not play

Joshua Bell – S, #11
2015 stats – 41 tackles, 6 special teams tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 INT, 4 pass knockdowns, 1 fumble return
Last game – 2 tackles, 1 INT, 1 pass knockdown – Week 19 vs Saskatchewan
2015 vs BC – 2 tackles, 1 special teams tackle – Week 13 at Calgary                     

The Lions  

The Lions have won two straight games and have seven wins on the season but will fall short of the nine wins they registered in 2014.

Quarterback Jonathon Jennnings (#10) got his first serious reps as a CFL quarterback against the Stamps in relief of injured starter John Beck in Week 13 and has started all six games since, posting a 3-3 record. The Lions announced this week that veteran pivot Travis Lulay (#14) will get the start on Saturday.

Running back Andrew Harris (#33) leads the CFL in rushing and has four 100-yard rushing games to his credit this year (the Lions are 3-1 in those games).

The Lions have a good receiving corps led by slotback Manny Arceneaux (#84) and featuring rookie Lavelle Hawkins (#7) and Austin Collie (#17).

BC’s defence is missing CFL MOP Solomon Elimimian due to an Achilles tendon injury but middle linebacker Adam Bighill (#44) has stepped up with a terrific season and is a leading contender for the league’s Most Outstanding Defensive player award. Defensive end Alex Bazzie (#53) leads the teams in sacks with seven while veteran defensive back Ryan Phillips is tied for the CFL lead in interceptions with six.

Other players on the Lions defence to watch are defensive back T.J. Lee (#6, 81 tackles, four picks), linebacker Alex Hoffman-Ellis (#11, 57 tackles, three picks) and defensive end Khreem Smith (#94, six sacks).

Kick returner Chris Rainey (#28) is a threat on special teams, having scored twice on kick returns this season. 

Manny Arceneaux – SB, #84
2015 stats – 76 receptions, 1, 151 receiving yards, 15.1 yard average, 67.3% reception percentage, 9 receiving TDs – leads team in receiving, fourth in CFL receiving, second in receiving TDs
Last game – 5 receptions, 71 receiving yards, 14.2 yard average, 0 TDs – Week 19 at Toronto
2015 vs Calgary – 7 receptions, 95 receiving yards, 13.5 yard average, 0 TDs – Week 13 at Calgary

Adam Bighill – MLB, #44
2015 stats – 117 tackles, 7 special teams tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, 1 INT, 1 fumble return – leads CFL in tackles
Last game – 9 tackles – Week 19 at Toronto
2015 vs Calgary – 6 tackles, 1 fumble return – Week 13 at Calgary

Stats (through Week 19)

Week 20 in the CFL

Friday, Noc. 6, 5:30 p.m. – Winnipeg at Toronto
Satuday, Nov. 7, 2 p.m. – Hamilton at Ottawa
Sunday, Nov. 8, 11 a.m. – Saskatchewan at Montreal

Bye: Edmonton