Photo: Winnipeg Blue Bombers

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers lost to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the annual Labour Day Classic by a score of 34-30 in front of 34,243 fans at Mosaic Stadium in Regina on Sunday night. Below are my thoughts on the game.

Sacks and scores

His critics will focus on the late-game interception to Tevaughn Campbell — more on that in a moment — but Zach Collaros played a damn fine football game on Sunday. The veteran completed 26-of-37 pass attempts for 326 yards, three touchdowns, and one pick in the loss, spreading the ball relatively evenly amongst his receiving corps.

The corner shot to Nic Demski was great (more on that in a moment) and the deep shot to Keric Wheatfall was gorgeous. The latter was a great example of how well Collaros can climb the pocket to avoid pressure when he’s at his best.

WINNIPEG ANSWERS!

Zach Collaros connects with Keric Wheatfall to narrow the Saskatchewan lead!

We’ve got ANOTHER @oktire #LDWeekend classic going down!

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Saskatchewan generates arguably the CFL’s best pass rush on a consistent basis, so it was interesting to see how the Blue Bombers planned to combat that on Sunday. The results weren’t pretty as Winnipeg allowed five sacks.

Collaros was sacked on Winnipeg’s second possession when defensive lineman Malik Carney, who typically rushes off the edge, moved inside to beat right guard Patrick Neufeld with a speed move. It looked like Neufeld expected help from centre Chris Kolankowski on the play, but it never came.

SASKATCHEWAN FOOTBALL! @oktire #LDWeekend

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Carney struck again in the second quarter on a similar look — only this time, he was lined up opposite left guard Gabe Wallace. The first-year starter barely got a hand on the defender and he stripped Collaros of the ball before recovering the fumble himself, giving Saskatchewan possession at Winnipeg’s seven-yard line. A.J. Ouellette ran for a touchdown on the following play, giving the home team its first points on the day.

Late in the second quarter, Winnipeg made the questionable decision to throw the ball on second-and-one and Collaros was unable to break contain on rookie defensive tackle Ali Saad, who recorded his first career sack. The play was a disaster as it turned what would have been a 43-yard field goal into a 50-yard field goal, which Sergio Castillo missed.

Micah Johnson records the FOURTH sack of the day for Saskatchewan! @oktire #LDWeekend

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— CFL (@CFL) September 1, 2025

Early in the third quarter, the Roughriders got a classic coverage sack as Collaros went through his reads, couldn’t find anybody open, and tried to flee the pocket. Micah Johnson, working opposite centre Chris Kolankowski, was waiting for the quarterback to take off and wrapped him up effortlessly.

The fifth sack occurred late in the fourth quarter when linebacker Jameer Thurman came on a blitz and swallowed the veteran passer.

Protection isn’t just about the offensive line: it’s about scheme, the quarterback, extra protectors — everyone. There were some positive moments — in the third quarter, Winnipeg kept more players in to help protect and let Collaros roll out of the pocket multiple times — but they clearly failed the main test. They’ll get two more tries at a passing grade against Saskatchewan later this season.

On the plus side, this marked the first time since 2021 that Zach Collaros wasn’t the recipient of a dirty hit in the Labour Day Classic.

The 37-year-old was knocked out of last year’s game by Miles Brown, who was flagged for roughing the passer and later administered a fine. In 2023, Pete Robertson inexplicably headbutted Collaros long after the play was over and eventually received a one-game suspension. In 2022, Garrett Marino decleated Collaros after he’d pitched the ball to Brady Oliveira and the Roughriders, apparently done with his dirty play, cut him two days later.

Making mistakes

The Blue Bombers didn’t seem ready for a quick punt from Trevor Harris on third-and-six late in the fourth quarter, which forced Deatrick Nichols to awkwardly field the ball near the goal line. The play was initially ruled a safety after the defensive back was tackled in-zone, though it was ruled a single point upon review. This point proved massive as it forced Winnipeg to go for two after a late would-be game-tying touchdown from Dalton Schoen.

TREVOR HARRIS WITH THE PUNT!

It leads to a rouge for Saskatchewan in a WILD sequence! @oktire #LDWeekend

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— CFL (@CFL) September 1, 2025

This wasn’t the only error Winnipeg made on Sunday. Brady Oliveira, who was given only five total carries, fumbled his lone attempt in the second half. Jamieson Sheahan shanked a punt out of bounds after the team’s opening possession. Willie Jefferson was charged with offside on third-and-five, giving Saskatchewan a fresh set of downs. The defence had too many players on the field early in the third quarter. Early in the fourth quarter, the visitors were charged with an illegal procedure that negated a 14-yard run by Oliveira.

Head coach Mike O’Shea talks all the time about playing “clean football.” Penalties — many of them preventable mental errors — are killers when you play in hostile territory on the road. Had the Blue Bombers limited their mistakes, they likely would have won this game.

One could also argue that O’Shea made a mistake having Sergio Castillo kick a 10-yard field goal on third-and-goal from Saskatchewan’s two-yard line early in the second quarter. All the momentum was on Winnipeg’s side. It might not have paid off, but leaving the offence out on the field to try to make it 14-0 may have been the right call.

One deep shot

Veteran defensive back Redha Kramdi missed Sunday’s game due to an ankle injury, allowing Cam Allen to start at safety and Michael Griffin II to start at strong-side linebacker.

After a strong start to the game, Winnipeg’s secondary gave up a 69-yard touchdown pass from Trevor Harris to Tommy Nield. The native of Guelph, Ont. ran a skinny post with inside leverage on halfback Deatrick Nichols and it didn’t look like Allen had enough depth on the play as Nield got behind him for the score.

TOUCHDOWN TOMMY!!!

Trevor Harris finds Tommy Nield (@TommyNield10) for a 69-yard major to break this Labour Day Classic wide open.#CFL #Riders #RiderNation #LDWeekend
pic.twitter.com/2cZqSg1HsP

— 3DownNation (@3DownNation) September 1, 2025

Following the Nield touchdown, there was chatter on social media speculating that the receiver was offside. If you freeze the above video at the snap of the ball, it’s clear that Nield is not offside. The officials were correct not to throw the flag.

Even dating back to his days at the U Sports level, Kramdi has drawn rave reviews for his high football IQ and how well he communicates with teammates. The 28-year-old has plenty of football left in him but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him get a coaching job once his playing days are done.

Fans in Winnipeg were probably justified in feeling concerned about the secondary heading into Sunday’s game. Trevor Harris is having an excellent year and the Blue Bombers entered this week ranked second-last in the league in passes allowed of 30 yards or more.

On the whole, however, the defence was solid — not spectacular, but solid. Harris was limited to 219 passing yards with one touchdown, while A.J. Ouellette managed 89 yards and a score on 18 carries. Strangely, Winnipeg’s biggest problem seemed to be rookie running back Mario Anderson, who shed multiple tackles to finish the game with 34 yards and two scores off just three carries.

Danke-Schoen

Dalton Schoen made his much-anticipated return to the lineup after missing six games due to a knee injury, replacing Jerreth Sterns, who is out for the foreseeable future with a shoulder problem.

DALTON SCHOEN WITH THE SCORE!

Winnipeg is within two in absolutely INSANE finish to @oktire #LDWeekend!

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The 28-year-old native of Overland Park, Kan. finished the game with five catches for 58 yards and a touchdown, which almost tied the game in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter. On the ensuing two-point convert, he was targeted on an out route that got jumped by cornerback Tevaughn Campbell and returned for a Saskatchewan score.

I’m not a professional quarterback — I don’t even get to play one on TV — but this looked like the right read by Collaros from the broadcast angle. The reason the pass got picked off was that the ball was thrown too late and too far behind the receiver.

Friendly foes

Veteran offensive lineman Jermarcus Hardrick made his long-anticipated debut against his former team as he missed all three meetings between the clubs last season due to injury. The 35-year-old blocker played 117 regular-season games over seven seasons with the Blue Bombers and became a close off-field friend of edge rusher Willie Jefferson.

Sunday’s game marked the first time the two stalwarts played against each other since 2018 when they were on opposite sides of the CFL’s prairie rivalry — Jefferson in Saskatchewan and Hardrick in Winnipeg.

Hardrick’s having a great season — according to Pro Football Focus, he’s allowed the second-lowest pressure rate of any CFL offensive tackle with more than 25 snaps — but he had a play to forget in the second quarter.

LOOSE BALL! TONY JONES IS ON IT! @oktire #LDWeekend

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Winnipeg rushed only three defenders and Cameron Lawson bull-rushed Hardrick back into Trevor Harris, causing a fumble. Tony Jones secured the loose ball, giving the Blue Bombers possession deep in Saskatchewan territory. It’s not often that Hardrick gets beaten by an opposing defender — especially with power. This ended up being the only sack the Roughriders allowed all game.

It also wasn’t a perfect game from Jefferson as he took an offside penalty on what would have been a third-down punt from Saskatchewan, giving the Roughriders a first down. The six-time All-CFL selection was held off the stat sheet and didn’t flash in the pass rush like we’ve grown accustomed to seeing.

Who ya gonna call?

Officiating will unfortunately be a topic of conversation this week given some errors that occurred on Sunday night.

Saskatchewan successfully challenged for offensive pass interference on Nic Demski early in the fourth quarter when, upon review, it was clear he started to block a split-second before Dillon Mitchell caught a pass behind him.

This is an example of a play that, in my opinion, doesn’t need to be overturned. Was it a penalty? Technically, yes, but it was a bang-bang play that could have gone either way. You can find holding or pass interference on virtually every play if you look for it, so calling a borderline penalty on an arbitrary play seems a little silly.

Late in the fourth quarter, however, Cameron Lawson ripped A.J. Ouellette’s helmet off by the facemask and there was no penalty. The CFL has an eye in the sky that’s tasked with fixing egregious errors and this was one of them. There was no correction.

If the eye in the sky can’t fix a missed penalty that egregious, you may as well scrap the whole thing. If coaches challenges are going to be used to find ticky-tack calls that didn’t really affect the outcome of the game, you may as well scrap those, too.

What a grab

Kevens Clercius made arguably Winnipeg’s catch of the year late in the first quarter when he beat cornerback Marcus Sayles for a contested ball down the sideline. The receiver was only one step behind the defender but a perfectly-timed jump from Clercius allowed him to make the grab as he fell backward, resembling the type of reception we’ve grown used to seeing from Kenny Lawler or Damonte Coxie.

I can watch this catch all day pic.twitter.com/mBFetCSkbL

— Robert Dalton (@RougeDalts) August 31, 2025

The play occurred two snaps after Zach Collaros underthrew what should have been a 92-yard touchdown to Keric Wheatfall up the sideline. The veteran quarterback made up for the miss on the following play when he hit Nic Demski for a 33-yard catch up the seam, though Winnipeg still needed another big gain to get into scoring range.

Clercius didn’t put up star-like production at the University of Connecticut — he was a second-round pick because he’s big, fast, and physical enough to compete on special teams. Funnily enough, he has now recorded more receiving yardage — 695 yards — over 29 career regular-season CFL games than he did during his 37-game collegiate career with the Huskies.

Milestones

Zach Collaros surpassed Michael Reilly and Dieter Brock to become one of the CFL’s top 15 all-time leading passers on Sunday.

The two-time league M.O.P. now has 35,067 passing yards on his career and could move further up the list this year with Kent Austin at 36,030 yards and Trevor Harris at 36,062. Obviously, Harris will be tougher to catch as he remains an active player and is increasing his career numbers with each passing week.

Nic Demski hauls in the over-the-shoulder catch for the Blue Bombers’ TD! 🔥#CFL pic.twitter.com/jncbjFIAQz

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) September 1, 2025

Nic Demski also broke the 6,000-yard receiving mark on his career on a strong day against the team that drafted him. He finished the game with seven catches for 89 yards and a touchdown, continuing to be Winnipeg’s top target.

Logan’s run

Peyton Logan played his second game as a member of the Blue Bombers in the Labour Day Classic and wasn’t all that effective for the second straight week.

The 26-year-old rushed once for minus-two yards, wasn’t able to catch his lone target, and averaged 20.6 yards on five kickoff returns.

Logan is still working back from a thigh injury that forced him to miss three months of action but he doesn’t look as explosive as he did with the Stampeders in years past, at least in a limited sample size. For his sake, hopefully he’s just getting used to game speed again and hasn’t lost a step.

Special tackle

Based on his remarkable tackle in the dying seconds of the first half, it appears veteran special teamer Tanner Cadwallader hasn’t forgotten about Kalil Pimpleton returning a missed field goal for a touchdown against Winnipeg two weeks ago.

Sergio Castillo missed a 50-yard field goal attempt seconds before halftime and Dohnte Meyers took it out of the end zone with a full head of steam. The returner tried to bounce outside after crossing the goal line but didn’t appear to notice that Cadwallader was bearing down on him until the last possible second.

Meyers was awarded the two-yard line based on forward progress but Cadwallader’s crushing tackle drove him all the way back into the end zone. It’s the type of play that not only snuffed out some of Saskatchewan’s momentum heading into halftime but will also get the Wilfrid Laurier product some love in the film room this week.

Standings update

Winnipeg still has a chance to finish atop the West Division standings but their odds of doing so have gone from long to extreme following Sunday’s loss. The Roughriders now sit six points ahead of the Blue Bombers with a 1-0 lead in the season series.

The Blue Bombers and Roughriders have two meetings left this season — next week’s Banjo Bowl and another matchup in Week 20 — both of which will be played at Princess Auto Stadium. If Winnipeg sweeps those two games and gets a little bit of help, first place is still a possibility. If they drop either game, it’s not.

Walking wounded

Defensive lineman Tanner Schmekel left Sunday’s game with what appeared to be a leg injury and did not return. Winnipeg dressed only three defensive tackles, leaving them a little shorthanded in the run game for the second half.

If the injury to Schmekel is serious, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Blue Bombers brought back University of Manitoba product and Winnipeg native Collin Kornelson after he was released from the practice roster two weeks ago.

Rookie defensive back Ethan Ball also suffered an injury and didn’t return. The University of Calgary product made two special teams tackles prior to getting hurt and has made four since entering the lineup partway through the season.

You never like seeing a player go down under any circumstance but especially when they’re in their hometown. Schmekel and Ball are both originally from Regina with the former also playing collegiately for the Rams.

‘S’ marks the spot

I say this every year and will continue to do so until they heed my unsolicited advice: the Roughriders should switch to their retro uniforms full-time. The team’s current uniforms are fine but their retro look is one of the best in all of football — CFL, NFL, college, anywhere. Wearing those beauties once per year isn’t enough.

Next up

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers (6-5) will host the Saskatchewan Roughriders (9-2) for the Banjo Bowl on Saturday, September 6 at Princess Auto Stadium with kickoff slated for 4:00 p.m. EDT. The Blue Bombers hold a 13-7 all-time record in the annual rivalry game and have won the last five and eight of the last nine.

Last year’s Banjo Bowl — a 26-21 win for Winnipeg — was the first close game in many years as both offences sputtered, generating only 612 combined net yards. Defensive back Tyrell Ford, who is now a member of the Edmonton Elks, clinched the game late for the Blue Bombers when he recorded a second interception off Trevor Harris.