The offseason pressure is over. Now it’s time to take care of business. The BC Lions their highly anticipated 70th regular season this Sunday with a road clash against the Toronto Argonauts at BMO Field (4:00 pm/TSN/980 CKNW/Sher-E-Punjab Radio AM 600). As far as storylines go, take your pick. Two teams that can call themselves legitimate Grey Cup contenders with plenty of star power on both sides. For Justin McInnis and the Lions, it’s all about focusing on the task at hand and ignoring any outside noise.
“Man, it’s go time. You spend those weeks out in Kamloops basically building for this day,” said McInnis on the building excitement to play a game that means something.
“To finally strap it up and go for real is definitely always exciting.”
The outside noise is not evident when you’re around this group at practice. That’s a credit to Rick Campbell and his coaching staff keeping these players zoned in on the task at hand. McInnis echoed those beliefs on the long process ahead.
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” the receiver explained.
“We look at each week like its own individual sprint. We’re only focused about Toronto, we can’t control what’s going to happen in November here today. We’ve got to take care of business in Toronto and then look at whoever we’re playing on any given week.”
Entering his fourth season as head coach, Rick Campbell has seen his team grow little by little each season. The championship window appears to be as wide open as ever.
“I’m optimistic. You never know what’s going to happen until you play games for real and I think that’s the thing all teams go through,” Campbell said.
“You wonder where you stack up when you play for real. Obviously, we’re playing a really good team on the road so we’re going to have to play really well to beat them. We’re excited to see where we are as a team.”
It is indeed a solid test to kick things off. No one who was here has forgotten how it went the last time against the Boatmen when the visiting Lions fell back down to earth after a 3-0 start and big statement win at Winnipeg in the previous week.
“A little revenge game right? They got the best of us last year. We only got to play them one time and because of that, I think everyone’s extra dialled in just ready to go back out there,” McInnis added.
“The first game of the season, a lot of eyes are on this. A lot of people believe we have the team that’s going to win at all. We just got to take it one day at a time. And that starts with Toronto.”
The Quarterbacks
# 3 Vernon Adams Jr.- the CFL’s passing leader in 2023 has looked stronger than ever throughout camp and pre-season and is poised to make an even bigger step in this massive year for the organization. As a Lion, Adams Jr. is winless in two appearances against Toronto. Big Play VA eclipsed the 300-yard passing mark on eight occasions last season.
# 11 Cameron Dukes– the product of Lindsay William College is no stranger to the Boatmen offence after dressing every game last season while earning two starts toward the end after Toronto had locked up first place in the East. His best outing came in the regular season finale against Ottawa where he went 22/34 for 317 yards and two touchdown strikes.
3 Lions To Watch
WR # 19- Ayden Eberhardt– the speedster out of Wyoming appeared in two contests last season and emerges in 2024 with a roster spot at the wide side. The burning question to many outsiders: how do they replace the likes of Dom Rhymes and Lucky Whitehead? The offence will be in good hands with Eberhardt and American newcomer Travis Fulgham.
RB # 31- William Stanback- you simply have to love a veteran who acts like a rookie with a chip on his shoulder. The 2023 Grey Cup champion is reunited with Adams Jr. and will give the squad a punishing presence in the backfield.
DB # 23- Adrian Greene- the third-year safety out of St. Mary’s has drawn high praise from his coaches. Greene could be a possible dark horse for All-Star credentials in a star-studded Lions’ defence.
Extra Yards
These teams have met 52 times in regular season history with the Lions holding a 28-24-0 all-time edge. Toronto and Ottawa are the only two CFL teams in which the Lions have a winning record against in road contests.
The Lions have gone winless in their last three visits to Toronto which adds up to the longest span between wins than any other opposing CFL venue. The most recent triumph at BMO came in week four of the 2019 campaign, a result best remembered for Sergio Castillo’s rouge on a missed field goal with no time on the clock proving to be the difference.
2005 was the last instance where the Lions opened a season in Toronto. It was starting quarterback Dave Dickenson leading the way in a 27-20 victory at the old Skydome. That year’s Lion team would famously start the season 11-0 before the wheels fell off in the final couple of months.
More on Big Play VA: Sunday marks his 52nd career CFL start. He holds a record of 32-19-0 in the previous 51 starts behind centre. Toronto is the only team he has a losing record against (2-4-0).
Following the retirement of future Hall of Famer Andrew Harris, Stanback is now the CFL’s active leader with 3,716 career rushing yards. Stanback sits 92nd on the all-time list.
On the other side, Argonaut receiver DaVaris Daniels is now the CFL’s active leader in receiving yards with 5,579. That’s also good enough for number 92 all-time