Standing at six-foot-five, he’s one of the taller receivers in the CFL. That alone is enough to create a mismatch the moment any defensive back lines up against Hamilton’s towering wide receiver, Terrence Toliver.
The second year receiver has had a strong first half of the season despite missing three games due to injury. Hamilton has had receivers reach 100-yard performances on three occasions this season; two of those from Toliver.
A native of Hempstead, Texas, Toliver came back from an injury earlier in the season to help the Ticats kick off the historical comeback in Edmonton. Following an early third quarter touchdown by Edmonton’s big man receiver Adarius Bowman, Toliver responded back with his own big play by breaking loose in the Eskimos’ secondary and picking up a 26-yard touchdown.
Ticats’ Terrance Tolver makes a catch in front of Roughriders’ Tevaugh Campbell during second quarter CFL action in Hamilton on Saturday, August 20th, 2016. (CFL PHOTO – Dave Chidley)
Toliver entered the league in 2015 and quickly became one of Zach Collaros’ favourite targets, making 48 receptions for 679 yards and reeling in six touchdowns. The former LSU Tiger was on pace to have a 1000-yard season before falling to injury and missing five games.
Back with Collaros at Tim Horton’s Field on Saturday, Toliver yet again put his big play ability on display. Using his speed to get behind the Saskatchewan coverage and then using his size to go up and win a jump ball, he made a 45-yard reception to get Hamilton into the redzone. Collaros would find Chad Owens open in the end zone a few plays later to send the Ticats into the locker room with a 27-4 lead at the half.
But Toliver wasn’t done yet. He capped off Hamilton’s first offensive drive of the second half with a 47-yard touchdown catch. On second and long, Collaros found Toliver wide open in the centre of the field. The rest was up to the receiver as he left Saskatchewan defenders lunging in his tracks.
For a little insight into just how much of an impact Toliver gives to the Ticats’ offensive unit, just look directly at his stats. Following Hamilton’s Week 9 thumping of the struggling Saskatchewan Roughriders, Toliver has played in 18 CFL games. He has made 68 receptions while gaining 1,038 yards and nine touchdowns in that time. Not a bad stat line at all when you consider those numbers represent a season’s worth of games.
Toliver has been a big play receiver and it shows in the fact that none of his touchdowns on the year have been less than 26 yards. Not only that, but his 17.9 yards per catch average ranks at the top of the Tiger-Cats receiving group and second in the league among receivers with a minimum of 20 receptions.
Toliver averages the most amount of receiving yards on the Ticats nearly midway through the CFL season, averaging 71.8 yards in the five games he’s played in.
| YEAR | TEAM | GP | REC | YARDS | AVG | TD | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | HAM | 13 | 48 | 679 | 14.1 | 6 | 58 |
| 2016 | HAM | 5 | 20 | 359 | 17.9 | 3 | 47 |
