The Saskatchewan Roughriders 2025 regular season ended without much risk.
The Green-Whites played their second consecutive meaningless game against an opponent who had something to play for. In this case, the Lions needed a win to advance to the Western semifinals next week. A loss would send the Leos to Montreal for the East Semi-Finals as a CFL crossover team.
After most of the starting lineup played for part of the first half, the second half featured mostly the rest of the lineup, especially on offense. So, it is yet another encouraging sign for this team that they were not embarrassed by their opponents despite leaving a number of their best players on the bench.
Here are the good, the bad and the stupid of the Riders' sixth loss of the season.
good
It looks like the week off did some good for quarterback Trevor Harris.
The team's starter and Most Outstanding Player nominee returned to the lineup after missing the entire game last week in Winnipeg.
Harris' recent starts left much to be desired. Looking at the numbers alone, the veteran would have looked fine, but an eye test raised doubts that there was something wrong with Harris, physically or mentally. The touch he showed most of the year just wasn't there. Harris can't throw fastballs anymore, but he knows where to put the ball to stay out of trouble. In several games, Harris seemed to struggle to find a point of release.
The 39-year-old has also had a tough time following the team's previous bye weeks this year.
On Saturday against BC, Harris looked sharp in his quarter-and-a-half game, completing 10 of 11 pass attempts for 112 yards to help the Riders score 10 points on their first two possessions, another challenge that has had to be faced this season.
Harris' throws were timely and in the right places, an encouraging sign for the Riders heading into the Western finals in two weeks.
Bad
If you're a regular on this column, you know that I don't particularly like to discuss refereeing, but something happened in this game that needs to be discussed.
In the third quarter, Lions wide receiver Keon Hatcher appeared to miss the goal line by millimeters. The ball was picked up by Saskatchewan fullback Tevon Campbell, who went racing for a 107-yard touchdown.
As is the case with all potential scoring plays, the play was automatically renegotiated, which seemed fair since Hatcher came very close to breaking the plane before making the interception. Perhaps he was at home.
The on-field decision was that Hatcher didn't break the plane, but the whistle blew early so the Riders got the ball at the three-yard line. You couldn't hear the whistle in the stadium, but you could hear it on the broadcast.
By the letter of the law, the replay center correctly called the play, but what happened to letting the play end before whistling it to death? There was no need to make a big deal out of it.
It's an unfortunate outcome for the Riders because it had a bearing on the game, but like any officiating decision, it wasn't decisive. The Riders still had plenty of time in this game to make another play, but they didn't.
Blunt
It's safe to say new Riders forward Michael Hughes has big feet.
The American was signed on October 7 and made his debut this week against the Lions. He converted both of his field goal attempts, including a 42-yarder that would have been good from at least 60 yards out.
Hughes showed off his leg after Saskatchewan's first touchdown as he launched a kick through the uprights and into the end zone for a blush. Most kickoffs in the CFL are on the 10 to 5 yard line.
Once you get into the end zone, it's usually a windy day – which surprisingly wasn't the case Saturday night in Regina.
Hitting the upright on a kickoff is such a rare accomplishment in the CFL that it seems like there's an extra reward for doing it.
