How do you spell relief? W-I-N.
Or perhaps, D-Y-C-E.聽Because you couldn鈥檛 have had one without the other.
Let me explain. The Saskatchewan Roughriders were 0-9 in the first half of the 2015 CFL season which led to the dismissal of General Manager Brendan Taman and head coach Corey Chamblin last week.
Their replacements, on an interim basis, were former Roughrider player and assistant GM Jeremy O鈥橠ay and special teams coordinator Bob Dyce, respectively.
The new duo鈥檚 first game in charge of Canada鈥檚 Teamwould be Sunday鈥檚 Labour Day Classic XLIX at a sold-out Mosaic Stadium in Regina against the 3-6 Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
A few years ago the Roughriders鈥� marketing campaign was 鈥淚t鈥檚 Better In The Stands鈥� which was an effort to get the Rider Nation off the couch and buying tickets for the games. 聽Well, the slogan continued to ring true on Sunday as 33,427 fans packed the stadium despite a forecast of rain and it turned out to be a spectacular afternoon of Canadiana between two prairie football rivals.
However, unfortunately, the game started out similarly to all the rest for the Green & White. The Blue Bombers jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter thanks in part to a muffed direct snap to Saskatchewan running back Jerome Messam which the Bombers pounced on at the Rider 20-yard line. Less than a minute later it was in their endzone.
But no one, that I could hear, allowed themselves to think 鈥榟ere we go again鈥�.聽
Then the game changed. Rookie Rider receiver/returner Nic Demski turned the game around with a 60-yard punt return touchdown midway through the second quarter which tied the game 10-10 and Saskatchewan never trailed the rest of the game on the way to a 37-19 victory.
Paradyce!!
Interim coach Dyce got the Gatorade shower from players Tim Agbaje and Alex Suber in the waning moments of the contest and the stadium erupted when the clock hit 0:00.
Finally!
鈥淚t felt good!鈥� Dyce said afterwards about collecting the win in his CFL debut. 鈥淏ut it's cold! 聽And sticky.鈥�
If it鈥檚 true that Labour Day Weekend is the unofficial kickoff to the CFL season, then sign me up.聽They say that because the rest of Canada finally wakes up to the fact CFL football is on while the rest of us have known it since June.
No matter. It鈥檚 a brand new season here in the Wheat Province and it鈥檚 nothing but blue skies ahead under Bob Dyce. The Riders were a different team on Sunday than they were under Corey Chamblin. Calm, resilient and composed.
Make no mistake, this game was as much about Bob Dyce as it was about facing the Winnipeg Blue Bombers no matter how differently the Riders would like to frame it.
鈥淔eels great,鈥� the Riders鈥� Nic Demski gushed amidst the smoke of the postgame fireworks. 鈥淏ob's such a great guy, such a great leader and we really feel a change. We're excited to take the next step with him.鈥�
We learned it was as much about Dyce as anything because that鈥檚 what the players were talking about in the locker room afterwards. The reviews were universally positive.
鈥淗onestly Coach Dyce has been trying to hide it but he looked nervous all week,鈥� admitted Messam after the game. 鈥淲e're happy to get the win for him. We all love him.鈥�
There were those who said Sunday, Sept. 6, 2015 would be an historic day in Roughrider history. 聽Would the franchise鈥檚 fortunes change on the shoulders of Dyce and O鈥橠ay or would they lose another game, fall to 0-10, and be at perhaps the lowest point in the franchise鈥檚 105 years?
Well they got that first win. That鈥檚 a start. And this tandem of O鈥橠ay and Dyce just feels right. At some point O鈥橠ay鈥檚 going to have the interim tag removed and Dyce was going to be one of the candidates for the head coaching job at the end of the season anyway.聽Now he鈥檚 got a head start on the rest of the field and already looks like a star
And, he remains humble.
鈥淚'm happy for the guys in that room,鈥� Dyce said afterwards. 鈥淭hey went through nine hard weeks of great effort. 聽For that to materialize into a victory, I'm ecstatic about it.聽I'm happy for Jeremy and I'm happy for (head scout) Craig (Smith). I'm just happy. It's probably the first time where I'm happy for myself as well.聽But I'm happy.鈥�
What a nice change.
