The remnants of the Saskatchewan Roughriders walloped the winless Ottawa Redblacks 42-20 in a CFL game Friday.

The result revealed more about the winners than the losers.

Playing without six injured starters and trailing 14-13 early in the third quarter, the Roughriders didn’t roll over — like the 0-8 Redblacks did shortly afterwards. The Roughriders are the reigning Grey Cup champions, for crying out loud, and it evidently took some time to start playing like it.

And when they did, there was no comparison between the two teams.

While improving their record to 6-2, the Roughriders deployed a hurry-up offence and scored four straight second-half touchdowns as Trevor Harris passed for 401 yards, making the 40-year-old, 13-year veteran the 12th CFL player to surpass 40,000 passing yards.

“Trevor’s good at football,” said Riders head coach Corey Mace.

For the second straight game short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens scored three rushing touchdowns and was used effectively to run out the clock.

Fast becoming a fan favourite for his exploits, Stevens punctuated his performance with a two-water bottle smash reminiscent of his WWE namesake “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Although Austin uses beer, which he pours everywhere.

The Riders’ defence was astute enough to change its pass-rushing angles against former Saskatchewan QB Jake Maier, who threw for 339 yards on a team that netted just 12 rushing yards and scored only one meaningless touchdown after holding that short-lived, one-point lead.

And the Riders got veteran-like performances from players who were little-known names to the announced crowd of 29,798 inside Mosaic Stadium.

“Credit to the depth, credit to those guys and credit to the coaching,” Mace said during his postgame media conference.

Mace especially lauded Jonathan Edouard, who is replacing all-star DB Rolan Milligan Jr., for becoming the first Saskatchewan DB to intercept a pass this season.

“Those are the ones you love the most,” said Edouard. “In a great team win, there was no specific group that thrived.

“The DBs thrived because of the D-line and the D-line thrives because the DBs started doing better in coverage. It was just a privilege to be out there.”

Mace also noted that offensive linemen Erik Andersen and Jaz Janvier performed well despite being pushed into action late because starting guard Daniel Johnson was a game-time scratch.

Nelson Lokombo, returning from the injury list, filled in competently for injured cornerback Tevaughn Campbell.

And an in-game injury to Quali Conley, who was already replacing tailback A.J. Ouellette, left Thomas Bertrand-Hudon as Saskatchewan’s lone running back on a team so ravaged by injuries that backup linebacker Nick Wiebe had been practising in the offensive backfield.

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The most surprising stars, however, were the Riders who stepped up in the absence of injured receivers Kian Schaffer-Baker and Samuel Emilus. Veteran starter KeeSean Johnson caught 11 passes for 133 yards and Johnny Johnson III had seven catches for 117 yards.

“We feel as an organization that we’ve got depth across the roster,” said Mace. “And I’m just really proud of those guys.”

Little-used D’Sean Mimbs had six receptions for 84 yards and Dylan Djete, a second-round draft choice who started his rookie season on the injury list, caught four passes for 53 yards and a touchdown. It was Djete’s second CFL game, his first start.

“I said I was a playmaker,” said Djete. “So I was just trying to play football, do what I can do and just help the team get touchdowns.

“We just had to see how the defence was playing us and go back to the basics. After that we set ourselves and made sure we ran every play 100 per cent. We were good.”

While the Redblacks have been dumping players and switching coaches amid their losing streak, the biggest concern for the Roughriders — other than injuries — has been rookie kicker Alex Hale.

With an accuracy rate of 70.7 per cent, second last in the CFL, heading into Friday’s game and a new kicker on Saskatchewan’s practice roster, Hale made both field goals and was 4-for-4 in converts. He wasn’t allowed to try a 49-yard field goal when the Roughriders instead chose to punt for field position.

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Mace explained the logic behind his decision, before admittting:

“The way Alex kicked tonight, maybe I should’ve put him out there to do it.”

It looked like Mace was smiling.