5 days Ago By Scott Billeck
When Ryan Dinwiddie was thrust into a similar situation in 2007, he couldn’t get the Winnipeg Blue Bombers over the finish line. Seventeen years later, and now the head coach of the Toronto Argonauts, Dinwiddie, who had replaced the injured Kevin Glenn for the big game in Toronto all those years ago, was faced with a similar predicament on Sunday in Vancouver. While the former quarterback wasn’t behind centre at the 111th Grey Cup at BC Place, the wisdom gained from that game undoubtedly helped Argos backup Nick Arbuckle avoid repeating the same fate he suffered against Saskatchewan.
For the second time in three years, the Argos were crowned CFL champions, sending the Blue Bombers and the dynasty talk to their third consecutive defeat in their fifth straight trip to the big game, 41-24, in a rematch of the 2022 final. After starting 0-4 and dealing with devastating injuries throughout the season, the Bombers had no storybook ending after their second-half surge. Winnipeg finished the season 12-7, winning eight straight before Toronto ended that streak in October.
They won the West and then the West Final, punching their ticket to Sunday’s game with a convincing 38-22 win over the Roughriders last Saturday. Toronto went 10-8 in the regular season, including two wins over Winnipeg, hammered Ottawa 58-38 in the Eastern Semifinal and then outlasted the Montreal Alouettes 30-28 last weekend in the East Final. Arbuckle, who replaced 2023 Most Outstanding Player Chad Kelly after the latter broke his ankle during the East Final last weekend, completed 26 of his 37 attempts for 252 yards, two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions as Toronto won its CFL-best 19th championship.
The 31-year-old journeyman was named Grey Cup MVP after completing 70% of his passes. Veteran pivot Zach Collaros, who had left the game to have a cut on his finger at the end of the third, emerged to toss back-to-back picks in the fourth, including one that was returned to the house by Argos defensive back Robert Priester to make it 34-16. Collaros struggled long before the fourth quarter as Winnipeg’s offence sputtered, completing 15 of his 30 attempts for 202 yards, four interceptions and no touchdowns.
Brady Oliveira, who took home his first CFL Most Outstanding Player award and his second consecutive Most Outstanding Canadian trophy, rushed 10 times for 81 yards, tacking on a garbage-time touchdown on a one-yard plunge with 47 seconds remaining. With Toronto up 17-16 early in the fourth quarter, Arbuckle picked out Dejon Brissett on a 17-yard touchdown catch. Brissett was named the most outstanding Canadian in the game after making three catches for 45 yards.
After his first pick-six, Collaros, who had to wear a glove on his throwing hand, nearly saw Wynton McManis take another one back on Winnipeg’s next drive. A couple of plays later, running back Ka’Deem Carey put the final nail in the coffin on a four-yard rush that made it 41-16. Carey finished with 15 carries for 79 yards and that fourth-quarter major.
Toronto put up 322 yards of offence to Winnipeg’s 283 and won the turnover battle 5-2. The Argos scored 27 points off of those turnovers. Arbuckle had a solid first half, completing 15 of his 18 pass attempts for 146 yards while spreading the ball to eight receivers.
It was conservative, as you’d expect from a backup starting in the biggest game of his career. But as the half wore on, the playbook opened up and so did Toronto’s offence. Arbuckle found receiver Damonte Coxie 36 yards downfield, leading to Toronto’s second of three first-half field goals.
Their first, off the foot of former Bombers kicker Lirim Hajrullahu, gave the Argos a 3-0 lead on their first drive of the game. Winnipeg’s offensive wheels spun on their first two drives but found the lead on a five-play drive capped off by a Terry Wilson three-yard plunge to make it 7-3. The push downfield was helped by a 49-yard connection between Collaros and Ontaria Wilson, who made an early bid for Grey Cup’s MVP with four catches and 85 first-half yards.
The rookie receiver finished with five catches for 99 yards in his first Grey Cup. Winnipeg went up 10-3 on a Sergio Castilo 20-yard field goal in the second quarter, an eight-play, 72-yard drive that showed more promise than its result. Hajrullahu hit two more field-goal tries of his own before the half was up, including a 45-yarder after Argos corner Benji Franklin picked off Collaros late in the second.
Hajrullahu was injured after converting from 35 yards out earlier in the quarter and limped onto the field to make his third, which he tucked just on the inside of the left upright. scott.billeck@kleinmedia.
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