Ticats Fall Short, Despite Mitchell’s Franchise Record

In a season as trying, and exasperating, as 2024’s has been of course the final game would end this way: so near, and yet so far.

While the Ottawa Redblacks celebrated in delirious relief as if they’d just captured the Grey Cup—which they’re still eligible to do—the Hamilton Tiger-Cats reeled in disbelief that with time expiring and a first-down at the Ottawa one-yard line they were unable to score what would have been the game-winning touchdown.

Three tries by short-yardage specialist Ante Litre—who also had some long yardage in this one—and three times coming up shy, as the Ticats fell 37-31.

It was Ottawa’s second win over the Ticats this season on the final play at TD Place.

The Redblack, who’d already clinched their post-season berth, finished three points ahead of the Cats for the third and final playoff spot in the CFL East. So you could make the arithmetical argument that the field goal that beat the Ticats in late June and the stops that stymied the Cats last night were the difference in the Hamilton season.

But that would be to oversimplify not only last night’s game—which was a pyrotechnic explosion of offence, 1067 total yards worth—but also the entire Ticat season.

“It sucks,” said quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell who fell those three downs short of becoming just the 10th CFL quarterback to win 100 games, but did set a new Tiger-Cats single-season passing yardage record. “But we are where we are because of the way we played at the beginning of the season.

“I’m proud of the team, the resilience that we pulled together.  We’ve got the right guys on the bus. Trusting the staff, trusting each other.

“Emotions are up and down right now. You kind of feel like it got stolen from you but hats off to them, they made a helluva goal line stand, it was a great-fought game and good luck to those guys in the playoffs.

“Everybody knows that they’ve (Ottawa) got an amazing, big, strong D-line and the line showed up on those three plays. They’re a reason they are where they are this year. Hats off to them for playing that way. I’m sure most people would get deflated having the ball on the one-yard line with time running down. Give them credit.”

With the victory, Ottawa (9-8-1) won the season series with the Ticats and secured their first winning record in five years, and just the third in the 10-year history of the Redblacks. More importantly, they regained some equilibrium and confidence, snapping a six-game losing streak, and found some vital offensive rhythm as they head into Toronto for Saturday’s winner-take-all division semifinal. Quarterback Dru Brown threw for 445 yards and directed his offence to 534 net yards as the Ticat defence struggled top to bottom most of the night.

And the Ticats, with some staggering offence of their own—Mitchell passed for 425 yards and the Cats ran for 119 more—finished at 7-11, tied for the most wins ever for a fourth-place East Division team. But they had wanted to win the game to finish with six wins in seven games from Labour Day on, after starting the year at 2-9.

The Ticats trailed 20-13 at the half, with the defence forcing only one two-and-out and Ottawa mounting five impressive drives of 50 or more yards. Hamilton did limit the scoring damage with a fumble recovery, an interception and forcing two field goals instead of surrendering touchdowns.

“It’s tough,” head coach Scott Milanovich said. “Especially the way it ended. We didn’t play well enough in the first half. We fought hard and came back in the second half. You get three shots from the one you have to score.”

Milanovich said that he was happy that Mitchell set a franchise record with 5,451 yards passing this year, the most of his Hall of Fame career, and 84 better than Henry Burris’s previous team mark set in 2012, another non-playoff season, but said that personal milestones weren’t “top of mind right now” because the Cats had wanted to win for the organization, the fans, and the city.

After they’d met in a post-game locker room for the final time many of the Ticats, including Milanovich and Mitchell, showed slightly puffy faces and traces of tears, evidence of the emotionally draining effects of the playoff-like push they’d had to make since late August because of their poor start. Many of the faults from earlier in the year—several dropped passes, the failure to capitalize at opportune moments, missed tackles, too many long, tiring drives by the opponents, crossed wires in the secondary, an interception and a fumble—resurfaced last night but there were also some glittering moments in a game that was tremendously entertaining if ultimately unfulfilling for the Ticats.

Running back Greg Bell was a force with 91 yards and a touchdown on the ground, fleet returner Isaiah Wooden showed well with 80 yards on three kickoff returns, Litre had 76 yards from scrimmage including 48 on pass receptions, Steven Dunbar Jr. nearly caught Tim White for the team receiving lead with a stupendous 181 yards, and falling just five yards short of White’s 1,164.

White had only two catches for 38 yards and owned up to a couple of dropped balls—“I’m going back into the lab and working on it in the off-season”—but still became the first Ticat ever to lead the franchise for four straight years in receiving yardage.

“I didn’t know that, that’s amazing,” he said. “I just want to get into the off-season and become a way better receiver. I’ll work on every detail, knowing how the system is called and understanding the offence even more to put myself in a position to catch the ball.”

Dunbar’s first reception in the opening quarter went for 22 yards, one more than he needed to surpass 1,000 and he just kept on getting open, and Mitchell kept on finding him. He’s a pending free agent and, presumably, one the Ticats will want to re-up as soon as possible.

“It felt great,” said Dunbar of his second 1000-yard season, the first also coming with the Ticats in 2022 before he left for a year in Edmonton. “There’s been a lot of adversity for me and a lot of ups and downs. This year was very revitalizing for me, just finding my niche and just being back with the Ticats, being with such a great organization, great guys and great coaches. Credit to the O-line and the running backs, and to Bo.”

Kiondré Smith had two catches for 52 yards and a touchdown to finish the season at 933 yards, 67 short of giving the Ticats three 1,000-yarders for just the second time in franchise history.

“It doesn’t go unsaid what that guy does for this offence,” Mitchell said of Smith’s pass-catching and blocking skills. “I wanted him to get it.”

Which brings us around to Mitchell himself.

In the first half, he had only nine completions for 133 yards—although there were a couple of drops— a touchdown and an interception. But in the third quarter alone he connected on eight of his 10 passes for 174 yards and his first four drives covered 45, 79, 58 and 70 yards resulting in two touchdowns and a field goal, with the other drive blunted by Dunbar’s fumble after a long completion.

Overall, he threw for 425 yards with one touchdown pass and it could have been two but a huge 44-yard pass and run in the final seconds to Brendan O’Leary-Orange came up just inches short of a major as O’Leary-Orange wisely decided to protect the ball from the tackler rather than lunge forward with one hand and risk a fumble. There was time for three more plays anyway. Who’d have suspected all three would be unsuccessful?

In the final two games of the season, Mitchell passed for a combined 875 yards and six touchdowns to eclipse Burris’s record.

“It means the world to me,” Mitchell said afterward. “I look back on the career there are going to be things you smile about. Just super proud of this team and our guys. Scott putting together a super roster and just trusting me.

“This is an amazing and historic organization. Obviously, I spent the majority of my career in an amazing organization (Calgary).  I’d have to say the Ticat organization from top down, they take care of the players, they take care of the families. Nicest staff in the world. They just wanted it so bad, and so did the city. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do it this year.

“I told the guys, ‘I don’t know where I’m going to be, I don’t know where you’re going to be, but if you have the opportunity to be here…be here.’ Because this organization is going to do some great things.’”

So the Ticats end the season with some optimism, but also some upgrading to do. Seven wins, even eight, doesn’t cut it. Parts of the roster will need to be improved, while parts should improve themselves because of the experience gained by a team which had the league’s youngest average age after a couple of years of having one of the oldest.

They started the season brutally on special teams, altered some personnel and changed the coordinator, and they started brutally on defence, solidified some personnel and changed the coordinator. Those are major in-season moves, which required adjustment time that the early losses meant they didn’t really have. They have to show a marked improvement in how prepared they are, right from Game 1, next season.

There’s some precedent for that, however. Milanovich took over the offence on Labour Day last season and, despite turnover problems, that offence had an outstanding season this year. Perhaps the special teams and defence can have the same kind of reaction to a previous-year change.

Meanwhile, the Ticats will spend November on the outside looking in for the first time since 2017.

“It’s going to be tough,” Mitchell conceded. “We feel like we can play with anybody but we understand the position we put ourselves in. Obviously, if we win this game, we’re a tie away.

“It’s one of those things that’s bittersweet. It was very close and you just know it took another team to score a touchdown or miss a field goal and you’re in the dance. It’s a good lesson for all the young guys on this team. We have a lot of good young players and we had to learn how to win and how to be coached the right way.

“It’ll hurt to watch the playoffs.”

CATS CLAUSES: Marc Liegghio was 4-for-4 on field goals to finish the year with 15 straight makes. He did push a convert wide … Casey Sayles had the Ticats’ only sack and Destin Talbert the only interception … Ray Wilborn forced a fumble recovered by Kyle Wilson … the Ticats’ failure to score on three Ante Litre runs at the end of the game was reminiscent of the Ticats having five shots at a short-yardage touchdown and not making it last month in Toronto. Otherwise, Litre was brilliant on short yardage this season. Last night he also had five special teams tackles, 28 yards rushing, with a touchdown and 44 yards in receiving … Ottawa QB Dru Brown was 26-for-38 for 445 yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception … short-yardage Redblack QB Dustin Crum’s only carry was for 44 yards … former Ticat WR Bralon Addison started at running back, rushed for 38 yards and caught six passes for 44 yards and a touchdown … Kalil Pimpleton got open deep and often, catching six passes for 167 yards and a touchdown … Dominique Rhymes surpassed 1,000 yards for the third time in his career with 115 yards on six catches … former Ticat Jaelon Acklin had a touchdown and a two-point convert … Lewis Ward made all five of his convert attempts.