Complete Game Notes

KICKOFF: Saturday, Oct. 25 (2:00 p.m.)
SITE: Mosaic Stadium (Regina, Sask.)
CAPACITY: 33,427
RANKINGS: Manitoba #9, Regina NR
TELEVISION: Canada West Football on Shaw (Jim Mullin/PxP, Jesse Lumsden/CC) - live on Access7
REGINA RADIO: 620 CKRM (Michael Ball/PxP, Marco Ricci/CC)
MANITOBA RADIO: 101.5 UMFM (Derek Taylor/PxP, Matt Rollason/CC)
LIVE VIDEO: www.canadawest.tv
 
GAME KEYS
• The playoffs start now for the Rams - there's a seemingly endless amount of tiebreak possibilities with two weeks to go, but the Rams simply need to win this weekend to keep postseason hopes alive
• The two teams met earlier this season, with Manitoba defeating the Rams 42-18 in Winnipeg back in Week 2
• Jared Janotta is moving closer to a major Canada West record, as he needs just five catches to surpass former teammate Mark McConkey as the conference's all-time leader in career receptions
 
SCOREBOARD WATCHING: The Rams are by no means mathematically eliminated from the postseason, but they'll need to win both of their remaining games and get some help on the out-of-town scoreboard. Even if the Rams beat Manitoba this weekend, a win by either UBC (at Calgary) or Alberta (at Saskatchewan) will severely jeopardize the U of R's chances of making the playoffs -
• If UBC wins on Saturday, the Rams can only qualify for the playoffs if Manitoba and UBC both lose in Week 8 and the Rams either beat Manitoba by at least 23 points, or beat Manitoba and Alberta by a combined margin of at least 35
• If Alberta wins on Saturday, the Rams can only qualify for the playoffs if Manitoba and UBC both lose in Week 8 and the Rams win by at least 25 over Manitoba
• If both UBC and Alberta win on Saturday, the Rams are eliminated regardless of Saturday's result at Mosaic
 
JANOTTA WATCH: Jared Janotta now needs just four receptions to tie former teammate Mark McConkey's Canada West record of 180 career receptions and five to take over sole possession of the all-time lead. He's also just 137 yards away from breaking Chad Goldie's University of Regina record of 2458 career receiving yards.
 
THE RICHARDS REPORT: Addison Richards again went over 100 receiving yards in Week 6 at UBC, finishing in triple digits for the fifth time in six Canada West games this year. Richards leads the entire CIS with 774 receiving yards, already the fourth most in University of Regina single-season history. He's still on pace to join Don Blair (Calgary) and Brian Fryer (Alberta) as the only players in Canada West history to register 1000 in a year. Blair actually accomplished the feat twice, collecting 1033 in 1994 and setting the conference record with 1112 the following season. Richards also has 46 receptions on the year and could challenge both Goldie's school single-season record of 54 (2007) and the Canada West record of 59 shared by Calgary's Josh Borger (1983) and Alberta's Tylor Henry (2013).
 
RAMS IN THE PROS: The Rams currently boast three former players in the NFL, including P Jon Ryan (Seattle), DL Akiem Hicks (New Orleans), and DL Stefan Charles (Buffalo). Four University of Regina products are currently on CFL active rosters, including OL Brett Jones with Calgary and SB Chris Getzlaf and OL Brendon LaBatte with Saskatchewan. FB Neal Hughes remains on Saskatchewan's six-game injured list, while SB Chris Bauman was added to Calgary's practice roster on Wednesday and DL Micheal Dadzie (Ottawa), OL Chris Mercer (Edmonton), and DL Ryan Wellman (Saskatchewan) are also on practice rosters.
 
CONFERENCE LEADERS: Richards leads Canada West in two major receiving categories including receiving yards (774) where he also leads the nation. Richards is also the conference leader with 46 receptions, while his 85-yard touchdown reception from Noah Picton late in the Alberta game is the longest play from scrimmage in a conference game this season. Kicker Andrew Fabian is 10-for-12 on field goal attempts for the year to lead the conference with an 83% success rate, while defensive end Tyler Perkins is one of only two Canada West players with multiple fumble recoveries this season.
 
QUARTERBACKS
• After missing the Saskatchewan and Calgary games due to an injury suffered in Week 3 at Alberta, Cayman Shutter returned for the UBC game and was 28-for-40 for 377 yards and a TD
• For the season, Shutter has completed 61.7% of his pass attempts for a total of 1065 yards and three TDs
• First-year QB Noah Picton started both games in Shutter's absence - combined with plenty of playing time in Week 2 and Week 3, he's also completed 61.7% of his attempts while compiling 1194 yards and seven TDs
• Frankie Gray is third on the depth chart at QB, while fourth-year SB Landon Buch often serves as the team's quarterback in short-yardage situations
 
RUNNING BACKS
• With Dillon Dawson out due to an injury suffered in the Calgary game, rookie Atlee Simon got his first start and gave the Rams their finest rushing performance of the season - Simon ended up with 18 carries for 121 yards and a TD
• Simon now has 39 carries for 265 yards this year and is averaging 6.8 yards per rush
• Jens Johnson has dressed as a backup RB in all six games so far this year, with 22 rushes for 127 yards and a TD
• Rookie Josh Koshman dressed for a Canada West game for the first time last week with Dawson out - with Dawson still questionable for Saturday, either Koshman or Parker Scott will likely dress for the Rams
 
RECEIVERS
• WR Addison Richards leads Canada West in receptions and receiving yards - he's on pace for over 1000 yards, a mark which has only been surpassed three times in conference single-season history (see Page 2)
• WR Mitch Thompson starts opposite Richards and is third on the team in receptions (24) and fourth in receiving yards (198)
• SB Jared Janotta is second on the Rams in both receptions (37) and receiving yards (569) - see Page 2 for more as Janotta approaches school and conference records in two major receiving categories
• Like Janotta, Riley Wilson has started all six games at slotback for the Rams - he has 20 catches for 319 yards this season
• SB Landon Buch returned to the lineup last week after missing the Calgary game due to injury - Buch had three catches for 46 yards last week and has 11 catches for 119 yards this year
• SB Mitchell Picton and WR Richard Sindani are the only other non-RBs with receptions this season - both second-year players, Picton has seven catches for 138 yards and two TDs and Sindani has five for 55 yards
 
OFFENSIVE LINE
• The Rams have gone with the same starting five on the line in each of the last five games and that shouldn't change this weekend, with Jeremy Zver (LT), Kyle Paterson (LG), Aaron Picton (C), Tristain Hoath (RG), and Matt Degelman (RT) expected to start again on Saturday against Manitoba
• Picton, who will be eligible for the 2015 CFL Draft, is the team's most experienced lineman with 17 career Canada West starts and two postseason starts
• Also a post on the U of R's basketball team, Zver will make his 15th consecutive start at left tackle for the Rams
• Degelman comes into Saturday with 13 career starts, while Paterson has 12
• Keenan Carrier, Nathan Cugnet, and Brandon Williams will also dress on Saturday
 
DEFENSIVE LINE
• The Rams have gone with the same starters on the line in all six Canada West games with Dean Viena at rush end, Bryce McKinnon at nose tackle, and Tyler Perkins at defensive end
• One of only two players in Canada West with multiple fumble recoveries this season, Perkins also has a pass breakup and 14 tackles including three TFLs and a sack
• Viena has a team-leading two sacks this year and has a total of 16 tackles and a pass breakup
• McKinnon has 12½ tackles (8 solo, 9 assisted) and one tackle for loss this year
• Eric Wicijowski continues his rapid development and was especially impressive on a play late in last Saturday's game where he stuffed UBC RB Brandon Deschamps for a two-yard loss
• Grey McKen is likely to dress for the fourth consecutive game, while rookie Brad Sich might dress for the first time as a Ram
 
LINEBACKERS
• The Rams went with the same starting linebackers for the second consecutive game last week with Zack McEachern at SLB, Connor Ketchen at MLB, and Michael Stefanovic at WLB
• Stefanovic is the team's leading tackler (24 solo, 15 assisted) and also has a pair of TFLs
• McEachern stepped into the starting lineup for the Calgary game and leads the team with 14½ tackles over the past two weeks
• Ketchen has 17½ tackles this season including 2½ TFLs, while Minshull started the first four games of the year and has 24½ tackles including 3½ TFLs and 1½ sacks
• Ketchen and Minshull were teammates in high school (Neelin HS in Brandon, Man.)
• Cody Kezama (7 tackles) and rookie Danny Nesbitt (3 tackles) have also dressed for all six Canada West games, with rookie Alex Rorke a possibility to dress this weekend
 
DEFENSIVE BACKS
• The Rams are expected to go with the same starting backfield as the last two games, including Tevaughn Campbell and Ryan Serbu at cornerback, Jeff Propp and Patrick MacDonald at halfback, Justin Edralin at safety, and Joey Dwyer at dimeback
• Kadeem Ellis, Korey Greene, Jordy Kibamba, Robbie Avram, and Kahlen Branning will also dress for the Rams as backups, while rookie Dilan Elgert could dress as well
• Edralin, MacDonald, and Serbu each have an interception this season, while MacDonald also has a team-high four pass deflections
• Dwyer is second on the team with 29½ tackles, has a forced fumble, and is the only defensive back on the Rams with a sack this year (he's got 1½)
• Propp is third on the team with 26½ tackles (21 solo, 11 assisted) while MacDonald is fourth with 26 tackles (20 solo, 12 assisted)
• Both Propp and Campbell have three PBUs
 
PUNTERS/KICKERS
• Former Calgary Colts kicker Andrew Fabian leads the conference with an 83% success rate (10-for-12) on field goal attempts - he's also averaging 38.9 yards per punt
 
RETURNERS
• WR Catlin Schneider and DB Tevaughn Campbell are expected to return both punts and kickoffs for the Rams
• Campbell is averaging 17.4 yards per kickoff return and a team-high 8.9 yards per punt return, while Schneider averages 5.7 yards per punt return and has returned a pair of kickoffs for an average of 31.5 yards
 
HOLDER / LONG SNAPPER
• WR Mitch Thompson will hold on field goal attempts, with DB Justin Edralin to snap for punts and OL Jeremy Zver on FG attempts