Ticats are focused on details of their own game ahead of Saturday’s Matchup with Montreal

The primary concern of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats is the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. It was that way through some extra workouts and practices last week, and in regular practice this week, and it has been that way all season. A mantra that lasts from weighing in at May’s training camp to the final snap of November: whatever it takes to go 1-0 on the weekend, prepare for it then deliver. If they do what they know they can do, and be the team they know they are, they firmly believe that by Saturday evening they will have earned their way into the Grey Cup.

But they are also, like all elite athletes, professional students of the game, watching more film than a movie critics’ convention so they are not unaware of the Montréal Alouettes, their opponents in Saturday’s (2:30 p.m.) East Final at Hamilton Stadium.

So, they recognize and do not ignore that they will see quarterback Davis Alexander for the first time this season. And if advancing into the post-season hadn’t already altered the landscape—which it automatically, and always, does—from when the Ticats beat the Als twice earlier this year, at home in late June and in a September statement game in Montréal, the Als regaining their No. 1 quarterback from the injury list underlines it in bright ink.

The Alouettes have been quite up-front that they think they’re a different team when they have Alexander at the helm and the stats back that up. He’s gone 12-0 as a starter in his CFL career, and in the seven regular-season games he played this year—he missed 10 weeks, including both games against Hamilton when McLeod Bethel-Thompson and James Morgan were at quarterback—Alexander completed 72 per cent of his passes and the Als have averaged 14 plus points and nearly 100 more offensive yards per game than when he didn’t play.

“He opens up a lot in terms of the scramble game,” says Ticats middle linebacker Devin Veresuk, “He can use his legs and also be almost like a second running back. So it’s something us (the linebackers) and the whole defence have to keep an eye on, not letting him ruin the game with his legs. Get on your guy in coverage, watch his eyes and chase him down.”

Alexander won his first CFL playoff start last Saturday, 42-33 over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Zach Collaros. It was the Alouettes’ sixth win in seven games and the one loss was in the final game of the regular season, against Winnipeg, when several starters including Alexander did not play.

In his two wins over Hamilton eight days apart in August of 2024—the second and third starts, and wins, of his pro career—Alexander combined for 509 passing yards, completing 36 of his 51 attempts and tossing three TDs and an interception. He also had five runs for 43 yards.

The Ticats know this, and respect what his potential is, but are focusing mostly on making sure they come ready to play their own full 60 minutes—or more if that’s what’s required—with even more attention to detail than during the regular season.

“He’s a good quarterback, he’s got a 12-0 record for a reason,” says All-CFL East safety Stavros Katsantonis. “He knows how to be a field general out there. I don’t think it’s about taking things away (from the Montréal quarterback and offence), it’s about us playing our style of football.”

And head coach Scott Milanovich said, “Their quarterback is obviously playing at a very high level and the new running back (Stevie Scott III) showed what he can do last week.

“They’re a good football team. We know what they’re capable of, they know what we’re capable of.”

But Milanovich, like his players, is focused on every aspect, no matter how minute, of the Ticats’ own preparation and performance. In the playoffs, he says, “you certainly don’t want to leave any stone unturned. If it takes an extra hour, two hours, so be it. You’re not going to leave anything to chance.”

Bo Levi Mitchell, the Eastern representative for the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player Award, ignited his professional career a dozen years ago with a then-record 12 wins in his first 13 starts. He was asked Tuesday whether such an auspicious opening run brings confidence to a developing starter or overloads him with pressure.

“I think it’s confidence,” he answered. “You know at some point you’re going to lose; you’re not going to go your entire career undefeated. I don’t think you feel the pressure of the possibility of losing; he’s got the record, it’s his. If you’re a pitcher and you’re 13-0 I don’t think you’re worrying about a loss coming up. You’re just going out to try to do stuff.”

And Mitchell has certainly done stuff, with some of the best statistics of his career this season and his first back-to-back seasons of 5,000-plus passing yards. In late June’s 35-17 victory over the Als in Hamilton he was 25-for-31 for 247 disciplined yards and two TDs. In early September at Montréal he threw for only 191 yards and was intercepted once on a rainy, slippery afternoon, but Greg Bell was outstanding with 151 rushing yards as the Ticats ran for more yards than they passed, an infrequent occurrence for the Ticats, and for the CFL as a whole.

Also infrequent is that the Ticats are currently slight underdogs going into this game, despite hosting an East Final for the first time in five years. Their collective reaction is “odds, schmodds”. They couldn’t care less about who’s favoured and are preparing their own keys on defence.

“Use our physicality, run to the football, do the job,” Katsantonis said.

And if they force Alexander into the first loss of his CFL career?

“We want to get to the Grey Cup at the end of the day. If that’s part of it, it’s cool, but I think every team’s goal right now is getting to the big one and right now our focus in on trying to win this football game.”