Als-Ticats

I was raiding the enemy’s chat/blog when I came upon this topical gem posted by one of the TiCat faithful:

[url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/444509541.html?dids=444509541:444509541&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+12%2C+1998&author=Mark+Harding&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=Ex-Ticat+Calvillo+finds+Als+good+fit&pqatl=google]http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/acc ... atl=google[/url]
With four games remaining in the '98 season, [Anthony Calvillo] finds himself in control of the Alouettes' offence and guiding the club to what it hopes will be a first-place finish in the East standings as [Tracy Ham] recovers from a leg injury.

“I’m sure these guys had some questions when I came here, but hopefully I’ve shown I can get the job done,” said Calvillo, who has clearly won the confidence of [Jim Popp]. Last week, the Als’ GM extended Calvillo’s contract through the 1999 season with an option for 2000.

With Ham expected to hand in his playbook at season’s end, Calvillo is staking an early claim to the Als’ No. 1 job for the future. He’ll be challenged by Ohio State product Stanley Jackson, ex-Blue Bomber and Roughrider Kevin Mason and current backup Lance Funderburk.


A blast from the past…or a vision of the future…
One way or another, irony and destiny collide on Saturday.
Hopefully Adrian McPherson will be the last one standing.

Well, so far so good. Adrian seems composed and has done the things we know he can do. The veterans, however, will have to come up big in this one and I think that the D will have to have a big day!

Sorry but Tim Maypray is useless. Might as well try Eric Wilson out there, he's shown he has speed!!!!!!!

Ha! ha! Good one, Mike!

Can't post much right now, because I have to go out to the grocery store, but I'll just say this: the future is bright. What a game for Adrian.

Adrian was good. . . not great, but good. Too soon to expect great, anyway. Good mechanics, read the defence well, good at running the ball, passes were generally on the money. . . BUT he does need to work on his accuracy for intermediate and long passes. That part of his game left a lot to be desired.

MadJack, respectfully, I think you’re being just a tad too harsh on the kid. :slight_smile: For a young QB with very little CFL experience coming off the 9-game IR and facing a ferocious Hamilton front 7, he acquitted himself magnificently. Yes, some of the deep balls lacked touch or were overthrown. But he also had some receiver drops and some bizarre non-PI calls by the officials, particularly in the red zone. IMO Adrian could have had 3+ passing TDs if Green secures the football and the referees stop taking that Hamilton bribe and start calling PI evenly for both teams.

I guess it boils down to what can be considered ‘great’ and ‘good’ for a quarterback in Adrian’s position. Frankly, all things considered, I thought he was great! :rockin:

I feel sorry for Chris Leak in all this. Yes, Adrian is clearly miles ahead of Chris in terms of overall development, but the team also played a helluva lot better today than they did against BC. The defense was ferocious and kept Hamilton in check even when our offense was stalling and punting. They also came up with huge plays when needed: Estelle and Parker INTs, Cox stuffing Wilbur on the fake punt, McElveen recovering Guzman’s forced fumble.

BTW, Billy Parker appears to have heard my criticism from a few weeks ago. The past two games, he’s elevated his play dramatically. Good for you, Billy! :slight_smile:

The best thing about McPherson is all the guys he makes miss trying to tackle him. I'm embarrassed for the Cats when comparing 2nd string QB's with the Als. Mac has all the tools and is multidimenionally talented. Porter, what can he do?

Porter has potential but I don’t know how effective any QB is going to be in Mike Gibson’s offense. Methinks the Cats’ problem lies in the playcalling / scheming and not with the men under center.

Adrian showed some promise out there today even if we were spoiled with AC for the past 10 yrs.
I agree Maypray is useless with only a couple of breakouts during the season.

Our blocking on punt returns is awful. Three guys were routinely on Maypray before he had a chance to even accelerate. Not much anyone can do in that situation. We seriously need a real special teams coordinator. Were it not for Chip Cox's athleticism, we'd have had another team fake-punt their way to a major gain on the ground because everyone had bailed into coverage and nobody was actually pressuring the punter.

Pretty good game by the Als today:

  • MacPherson played really well today considering that he just came off the IR list. I don't think that there can be very much doubt as to who AC's successor will be. His running ability is incredible.

  • Cox was fantastic out there today...guy is everywhere! Although, I must say the defense as a whole played very, very well. Glenn looked VERY confused out there today.

  • As far as the special teams go, I agree with discipline...the blocking is brutal! Maypray looks up after securing the football and sees at least 3 opponents in his face. This definitely needs work.

  • Not that it changes much but what a catch by Cahoon! Nice to see that he seems to have got his velcro hands back.

  • Glad to see that Parker has started to play better but Dix still looks very confused out there.

Couple of questions:

  • Arland Bruce starts a fight and yet, we get penalized net 45 yards! What's up with that?

  • Was it just me or did it look like the playbook today made the most of Adrian's abilities whereas last game, it looked like Chris Leak was pretty much asked to execute the same game plan as AC?

It's a bit like the argument about the offensive line...whether it's an immobile QB and a lack commitment to the run...or the Oline is letting us down.
They seemed just fine with McPherson taking snaps

So I'm not convinced about the "lack of blocking" on returns argument..
The only way to be sure is to get Larry Taylor (or Leroy Vann?) in there and see if it's the blocking, or a lack of acceleration, instinct and speed by Maypray.

I'm convinced it's the latter...but we won't know until we try.

Hawkins is an OK second returner, and potentially a GREAT slotback, but until we get Vann in there, the return game will continue to be lackluster at best. If Vann does nothing then we know we REALLY have a problem.

But I think I know talent when I see it.

WAY TO GO ADRIAN!!!

:rockin:

-I know…right?
The refs continue to HATE on the Alouettes.
That was the most bizzaro penalty assessment I’ve ever seen

-Leak isn’t really known as a running quarterback, but from what I’ve read, more of a pocket passer…with mobility.
According to Herb, Adrian’s game tonight marked the first time in Alouettes history a quarterback has run for over 100 yards.
It looked like they just gave him the green light and said “if nobody’s open…do your thing”

While it WAS nice to see some Cobourne running plays called, straight draw plays on 1st and 10 snuffed a half dozen drives…I’m not arguing against running the ball (God NO) just upping the unpredictability a bit.
I’d rather McPherson NOT be put in 2nd and long so often…good on him for not throwing more than 1 INT. I would have liked to see a bit more play-action on 1st down…and maybe one or two bombs to stretch the field a bit more.

Still…with McPherson’s accurate and powerful arm, and the running bonanza…you can’t complain too much about the play calling and the results.

Of course a QB with legs like Adrian makes the Olines job easyer.

Both. Poor Blocking and Maypray is not the guy.

We all know Adrian has IT but we can respect AC while we are excited about the future.

Despite overwhelming the Ti-Cats on both offense and defense this was a very close game until well into the 4th quarter. The Als had red zone problems today and had to settle for field goals too many times. Indeed they were very close to the goal line on at least a couple of occasions. I was wondering why they predominately went for the pass in these situations. I guess if one misses the first pass one might have to pass again- I thought the play calling in the red zone was poor- was this Trestman's calling or was it our inexperienced QB? I am beginning to wonder if our running game is up to the task [ outside of McPherson]?
Have we become so addicted to the pass that we lack proper execution of the run? Paul Lambert was offside at a critical time today nixing a running play. We need another center to replace our all star Chui. Maybe we should sit one of our import receivers and bring in an American to fill this critical position. Colbourne was getting stuffed today with regularity.

Our defense was master of the task today! Our linebackers rush a fair bit and, Glen had a poor response to this- such that he was taken out near the end of the game- too bad Porter was worse. McEleven and Bowman were super and Cox was his usual outstanding self. He was a demon with the defensive rush and made his mark at critical times. He made a brutal sack of Glen and brought the ball carrier down on the fake punt. It was only the lack of red zone execution that prevented a rout of the TiCats!

So you’ve come around on Maypray? Maybe I wasn’t being so ‘harsh’ after all. :smiley: :smiley: :wink:

We all know Adrian has IT but we can respect AC while we are excited about the future.
Exactly. This is an exciting time to be an Als fan. Hopefully we can negotiate the transition from AC to AP over the next season or so. We should be able to slot Adrian gradually into the starter's role while still allowing Calvillo to get quality game time and break some records. ;)

Niagara: Our red zone production would have been just fine if the zebras hadn’t turned a blind eye to blatant Hamilton PI on our receivers. :wink:

Keep in mind that there were dropped passes and penalties that killed drives in the red zone.

Am I wrong or was Milanovich sending in a two-play set to McPherson...a main play and an alternative he could choose to run depending on how he read the defense? Why else would he be using that "illegal procedure" signal as he changed the play at the line of scrimmage?

If so, it seems like a fairly accessible way for a young quarterback to adjust to the blitz etc without having to make too complicated a play-call "on the fly".