Over the last season and a half, the Edmonton Eskimos have been one of the best home teams in the CFL, but that hasn’t translated on the road. The Eskimos will look to solve their road woes on Friday night when they visit the Toronto Argonauts from BMO Field.
Since the start of the 2018 season, the Eskimos are 11-2 on The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium. On the road, the trend is reversed as the Eskimos have only three wins in their last 13 road games since the beginning of 2018.
“Calgary and, I think, Ottawa over the last three years have won more games on the road than anybody else,” Eskimos head coach Jason Maas said. “The rest of us are at about 44 per cent winning on the road.
“It’s difficult to win in this league, period and then you go on the road with different circumstances. It’s excuses, if you ask me, but there’s obviously a reason they call it ‘home field advantage.'”
LISTEN BELOW: Eskimos head coach Jason Maas on needing his offence to score and what he sees from the Argos
The Eskimos haven’t won in Toronto since the 2016 season, but have won six of their last eight meetings against the Argos including a 26-0 win back on July 25 in Edmonton.
Last week the Eskimos held on for 16-12 win over the Ottawa Redblacks. Running back C.J. Gable led the way offensively, rushing for 116 yards and scoring two touchdowns.
Gable added 34 receiving yards in the win.
The Eskimos preserved the win with a defensive stand at their own 11 yard-line with under a minute to go, defensive back Josh Johnson knocked down a pass from Dominique Davis intended for Nate Behar to seal with win.
Johnson has seven pass knockdowns this season to put him into a tie for the CFL lead in that category.
The Eskimos will make three changes to their lineup for Friday’s game.
Linebacker Christophe Mulumba-Tshimanga has been activated off the six-game injured list and will play. Defensive back Tyquwan Glass and running back Alex Taylor will return to the lineup after missing last week’s game vs. Ottawa.
Fullback Tanner Green was placed on the six-game injured list this week after injuring his knee last week against the Redblacks. Running back Shaq Cooper and offensive lineman Kwabena Asare have been placed on the practice roster.
The following is the projected offensive and defensive starters for the Eskimos:
Offence
Quarterback: Trevor Harris
Running Back: C.J. Gable (Fullback: Peter Cender)
Offensive Line: Tommie Draheim-Jacob Ruby-David Beard-Travis Bond-Colin Kelly
Receivers: DaVaris Daniels-Ricky Collins Jr.-Natey Adjei-Greg Ellingson-Tevaun Smith
Defence
Defensive Line: Kwaku Boateng-Almondo Sewell-Mike Moore-Nick Usher
Linebackers: Vontae Diggs-Larry Dean-Don Unamba
Defensive Backs: Anthony Orange-Money Hunter-Jordan Hoover-Josh Johnson-Arjen Colquhoun
The Argos will play their first game off their bye week and are coming off a dramatic win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers back on Aug. 1 at BMO Field, the first win of the season to improve to 1-6.
The Argos erased a 20-0 deficit to win 28-27 when quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson threw the game winning touchdown to S.J. Green with under a minute left to go in the fourth quarter.
Bethel-Thompson has four 300 yard passing games in his five starts and has passed for 300 yards or more in 80 per cent of his starts dating back to last season.
LISTEN BELOW: Argos head coach Corey Chamblin on the effect of finally winning their first game of the season two weeks ago vs. the Bombers.
You can hear Friday’s game between the Eskimos and Argonuats on 630 CHED starting with Countdown to Kick Off at 4 p.m. The opening kick off from BMO Field in Toronto is at 5:30 p.m. with Morley Scott and Dave Campbell calling all of the live action. Plus, hear analysis from former Eskimos offensive lineman and two-time Grey Cup champion Blake Dermott.
Comments