Marquee Matchup: Will Tre Ford lead the Elks to a W?
1 year ago
Tre Ford #TreFord
TORONTO — The Edmonton Elks head to Hamilton on Thursday night for a tussle with the Tiger-Cats as they look for their first win of the season in this week’s CFL Pick ‘Em presented by Old Dutch Marquee Matchup.
Tre Ford will get his second-straight start after having a solid outing in his season debut last week. Sure, the Elks didn’t get the win, but they did start the game 22-0 against a tough Winnipeg Blue Bombers squad. Ford sparked the team’s offence, scoring two touchdowns (one through the air and one on the ground), so there are plenty of positives to take into the first game of Week 11.
And don’t forget, Ford’s first career start last year was against Hamilton at Tim Hortons Field where he led the Elks to their first win of the season. Will history repeat itself?
Hamilton returns from a bye with a new playcaller in the mix as the team parted ways with offensive coordinator Tommy Condell and handed the keys over to Scott Milanovich. Hamilton has won three of their last five contests as they look to improve on their 1-3 record at home.
Will the shakeup on the coaching staff help Hamilton to find their footing as they look to keep pace in the East? Have your say below!
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Game Notes:
71 Games at Tim Hortons Field: The Ticats are 1-3 at Tim Hortons Field in 2023 – they have not had a losing home record since 2018 (4-5) and since opening up on September 1, 2014 they are 41-30 overall.
0-9 Starts: In CFL history, only 11 teams have begun a season at 0-9 – none of these clubs made the playoffs. Of the 11 teams with 0-9 starts, three stopped their run at nine losses, eight went to 0-10 with another defeat. The last team to start 0-9 was Saskatchewan in 2015, the last to start at 0-10 was Hamilton in 2003 (1-17 overall).
Emmanuel Arceneaux 137 in a row: Arceneaux returned to the lineup and grabbed two passes for 16 yards. The catches extended his consecutive streak to 137 games since July 4, 2010. That 137 game streak ties Tony Gabriel for the fifth-longest in CFL history. He is now just 18 yards short of the 9,000 yard mark for his career – 623 receptions for 8,982 yards and 58 TDs.
Leading by 22: The Elks played Winnipeg tough last week dominating the first 19 minutes building a 22-0 edge. From there, Winnipeg wore down that lead to win in a 38-7 turnaround. The Bombers’ 22-point comeback over Edmonton tied for No. 15 all-time in CFL history – it was the second-largest ever blown lead by Edmonton after only a 25-point Hamilton comeback on Jul 23/16.
Kevin Brown: Brown ran for a season-high 98 yards last week with 65 coming on Edmonton’s first play from scrimmage. He had 91 of his 98 yards in the first eight minutes but had just six carries for seven yards after that.
A.C. Leonard: Leonard comes into this game with 99 career starts in 106 career games.
Loucheiz Purifoy: After last week, he now has two ‘pick 6’s’ in 2023 – he is the first Edmonton player with two or more in one season since 2014 (Dexter McCoil). Purifoy has increased his career interceptions total to 18.
3-2 in Last 5 games: The Ticats have won three of their last five after an 0-3 start to sit in third place.
Slow Starts: The Ticats have scored only 19 points in the first quarter in 2023 and just one TD (in Gm #3, Jun 23/23). The 19 points is 10 fewer than any other team.
Terry Godwin: Godwin has been the Ticats’ leading receiver over the last three games with 18 for 263 yards but has yet to record a TD this year. He has four deep throw (20+ downfield) receptions in his last three games.
Simoni Lawrence: Lawrence had a season-high 11 tackles last week – he now has 31 in 2023 and 689 for his career, No. 11 all-time.
Tre Ford: Ford was the Elks’ QB starter last week and led them to 28 offensive points with three TD drives. He started three games in 2022 with a 1-2 record and is now 1-3 overall – his debut came on Jul 1/22 at Hamilton (Won).
Last year, Ford became the first Canadian to start at QB for Edmonton since Frank Cosentino on Oct 30/68. With this start, that make it at least one CDN start at QB in all CFL seasons since 2017 except for 2019. (Ford, Rourke, O’Connor, Buckley & Bridge)
It’s anyone’s guess as to who will take this one in this week’s Pick ‘Em Marquee Matchup. Who are you siding with?
