It’s surprising, really, to learn that until Sunday night Bo Levi Mitchell had never thrown for five touchdowns in a CFL game. This is a sure-fire Hall of Fame quarterback, with the highest winning percentage in league history, the confidence and style of a gunslinger and a thirst for paydirt.
But there it was in the Ticats’ thorough 48-28 dismantling of the reeling Edmonton Elks, a score which was an outsized flattery of the home team: touchdown passes to Jevoni Robinson, his first as a pro; to Luther Hakunavanhu; to Kiondré Smith; his fifth of the season; and two to Tim White.
It was the Ticats’ second win in a row and first road win of the season. Yes, the Elks are gasping for air, but you can only play, and hopefully defeat, the only team on your schedule that night.
Despite Mitchell’s eye-popping night—he threw for 316 yards, extended a series with a critical run when his receivers were covered and had just the one interception when he misread the play—the central player of the Ticats’ offence was one who didn’t register a touchdown but whose fingerprints were all over the five majors.
As the old mystery novels framed it, The Butler Did It.
That would be James Butler, who rushed 21 times for 98 yards and –combined with big plays from the defence and, hello again, special teams— was particularly effective in the first 25 minutes or so until Mitchell, who struggled early, found his rhythm then worked the groove like a jazz musician.
Head coach Scott Milanovich, who calls the plays, kept pounding with Butler, who played with fierce determination and ripped off some big yards but also settled for short gains where he just battering-rammed the line and drew a crowd. No accident that Mitchell’s first two touchdown passes—to Robinson, directly after Kobe Jones’ blocked punt, and to Hakunavanhu who sprinted 66 yards to paydirt—came off variations of play action calls that drew on the attention surrounding Butler.
“He’s playing well,” Milanovich said of Butler. “He’s a good hard runner and a great (pass) protector. Like I always say, he’s a pro. I have nothing but trust for him back there.”
The Ticats trailed 8-0 early after the Elks could not convert on some solid drives when the defence held and forced field goals where touchdowns would have been disastrous.
The Elks’ offence can be dangerous but the Hamilton secondary made some big plays and McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who has delivered some excellent efforts in the past against the Ticats, was under steady pressure, was well off his own game and didn’t reach 100 passing yards. That had the slim Commonwealth Stadium crowd howling for—and finally getting, but far too late—Canadian Tre Ford to come into the game. His unpredictable scrambling and creative extension of plays resulted in three touchdown passes in the final quarter which made the score much closer than the tone of play realistically indicated.
Once the Ticats got a tailwind with a critical special teams play they opened their sails against the now 0-7 Elks who are moving closer to thinking mostly about 2025. With the score 8-6 Elks, Kobe Jones the first-year defensive lineman from Mississippi State stormed in with special teams giant Ante Litre right behind him and blocked Jake Julien’s punt, which was recovered by DQ Thomas at the Edmonton 12. On the very next play, after a great double fake–reminder: the defence was looking for Butler— Mitchell hit Robinson for six, and the Ticats’ offence used it as WD-40 to get on a serious roll.
It’s important to note that the game’s shape-shifting block came after rookie safety Robert Panabaker, the Western Mustang starting just his second CFL game, had slammed the ball out of Edmonton receiver Arkell Smith’s grasp to necessitate the punt attempt which doomed the Elks.
“It shows how important complementary football is,” Mitchell said. “The defence shuts them down, special teams make a play. Offence, it’s your time to go get it. A field goal there would have felt like a loss, and we would have lost momentum probably. To get a touchdown there feels great. Those are the kinds of things that can spark you. It did last week over Toronto, and this week again.”
Mitchell had never thrown five touchdown passes, although he’d had four in an opening half and then was replaced.
“He got hot there about the middle of the second quarter, started playing really well,” Milanovich said. “The receivers were catching the ball. It’s nice when you can have some balance. It makes it a lot easier in terms of them not having a bead on what you’re going to call and what you’re going to do and that’s how I felt it was.
“We were running the ball pretty well in the first half and we were able to get some play action going and some screen game.”
While Milanovich praised his quarterback’s work, it was a mutual admiration society as Mitchell lauded his coach’s acumen.
“I love that Scott showed the trust,” Mitchell said. “He gave me the opportunity to take a shot, trick plays and whatnot, to continue to move the ball and kind of find my groove and once we did we started to the move the ball and that’s when this team is going to be very good: we play complementary football.
“I’ve never had to call plays. When your quarterback’s on it’s easy and when he’s not, it’s hard. And I was not on. He found a way to kind of get me there. I don’t know how he does it. But he kind of sees what you’re doing, how you feel, and puts you in a position to be successful. He called some great plays at key times.
“And we had some great players make some great plays. Our receivers had a great game. JB and the O-line running the football. A lot of things add up.”
Here’s something else Milanovich contributed that few outside the game would notice. He made only three changes to the roster which beat the Argos last week, putting big Jordan Murray in at right tackle, switching Robinson in for Camren McDonald at tight end, and moving Jones back into the defensive line rotation. They all came up huge.
“When you get your opportunity you have to step up and make plays and all those guys did,” Milanovich said, deflecting the praise. “I’m glad it worked out for them and it worked out for us.”
Jones thanked Milanovich for returning him to the lineup.
“I just feel great,” he said. “My coaches trust me enough to draw a plan up to be in a position to change the game and help my team come up with the win. I also want to thank my teammates: Ante’s been killing it all year on special teams so I feel his presence kind of complemented my rush. Those guys were probably more keying in on him, and that allowed me to get in and make that play.
“Our coaches did a great job. Coach (Dennis) McKnight and Coach O (Orlondo Steinauer) drew it up and we executed it. It happened exactly how we practiced it all week.”
The Ticats are still just 2-5, but they won the last game of the first third of the season and the first game of the next third. Although the Elks are the only winless team in the league and the Ticats are a better squad and should beat them, it was still essentially a “must” win for the Ticats who couldn’t let the rest of the East lurch too far ahead of them. They’re still eight points in arrears of Montreal, six of Ottawa and four back of Toronto but have also maneuvered themselves into a decent position for an East-to-West crossover playoff spot if they can’t catch at least one of the other Eastern teams. As Mitchell said afterward, there’s still a long way to go.
A long way but a short week, as the Alouettes come into Tim Hortons Field Friday night for the first of a home-and-away set which will continue the following weekend in Montreal. While they’re still in a hole, the Cats’ destiny is in their own hands: five of their next seven games are against divisional opponents.
“We’re going to take every win we can get,” Milanovich said. “Go on the road, play well in all three phases, it’s just giving us confidence. That locker room is feeling a lot different than it was three weeks ago, before the bye. Proud of where they’re at but gotta keep working.
“It felt like it’s the first time this year where we’ve come together offensively, defensively and special teams and we played well on each side. Hopefully, that’s an example of what we can do when we bring all three phases.
“We’re definitely playing better, there’s no doubt about that. You get a little momentum. Winning’s a habit, losing’s a habit. Let’s try to keep it going. We’ve got the Grey Cup champs coming to our house and I look forward to measuring ourselves against them.”
CATS CLAUSES: Marc Liegghio had three more field goals and has made 14 straight, with his only miss coming on opening night … Robert Panabaker set the tone for the game on the first play when he made a great tackle on the opening kickoff. He also had four tackles and a sack … shutdown corner Jamal Peters had another strong game and made an aggressive interception against McLeod Bethel-Thompson … SAM linebacker Jonathan Moxey had a sack and two knockdowns … DT Casey Sayles had five tackles, one for a loss … James Butler had 24 touches, 21 carries and three pass receptions for 19 yards … Kiondré Smith caught two balls for 69 yards, including his 59-yard touchdown … Luther Hakunavahu had two catches for 83 yards and that long touchdown. Shemar Bridges had four for 50 yards, Steven Dunbar Jr. had one catch for 42 yards.
