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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRUTH BONNEVILLE \/ FREE PRESS FILES
\nWinnipeg Blue Bombers offensive co-ordinator Jason Hogan’s unit was booed off the field several times Friday night.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Consider the drive result from Winnipeg\u2019s final 12 possessions: punt, punt, punt, turnover on downs, field goal (after the Riders fumbled in their own territory), punt, punt, punt, punt, punt, interception, field goal.<\/p>\n
This was a prime opportunity for the offence, which has underperformed for most of the season, to find its footing against a Riders defence that was missing three of its best players. Instead, they were booed off the field by their home crowd several times throughout the night.<\/p>\n
Frustration boils over<\/p>\n
There have been a lot of uncharacteristic happenings for this once-dominant Bombers team this season, and Friday was another instance.<\/p>\n
It was early in the fourth quarter and Collaros\u2019 reaction after another incomplete pass said it all.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The quarterback, who appeared to short-arm a throw into the left flat, was demonstrative while yelling in the direction of Kevens Clericus, who had stopped in the general vicinity but had no chance to catch the ball.<\/p>\n Like he normally does, Collaros shouldered the blame for the play after the game, saying \u201cI just have to make a better decision,\u201d but it was clear that his receiver was not where Collaros expected him to be.<\/p>\n In any case, it\u2019s rare to see the even-keeled pivot so visibly upset, which further illustrated how frustrating the night was on offence.<\/p>\n What\u2019s with the game plan?<\/p>\n It\u2019s a tale as old as, well, since Hogan became the offensive co-ordinator of the Bombers.<\/p>\n The first-year play-caller continues to neglect one of his most important offensive weapons, Brady Oliveria, when things go south.<\/p>\n Consider this: After logging 12 touches in the first half, Oliveria only touched the ball twice in the third quarter, the second of which came with 8:48 remaining in the frame. After that, the league\u2019s reigning Most Outstanding Player didn\u2019t touch the ball again until Winnipeg\u2019s final drive of the game.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t In fact, during that dry spell, which saw just 44 net yards of offence for Winnipeg, Hogan even dialled up a play for offensive lineman Tui Eli, who ran a 12-yard corner route on first down from midfield \u2014 a perplexing play-call in itself. Collaros, who was almost immediately under pressure, overthrew the lineman.<\/p>\n It seemed as though Hogan had no answer for his struggling unit and was throwing a trick play at the wall to see if it would stick.<\/p>\n When Oliveira finally touched the ball again, he picked up 16 yards on a rush up the middle, and two plays later, caught a screen for 12 yards to set the Bombers up in position for the game-winning field goal.<\/p>\n Hogan\u2019s game-plan was particularly confusing, given the situation for the Bombers \u2014 facing a depleted Riders team that had their own troubles moving the ball on offence. For a team that has made its hay controlling the ball, it was the perfect script to feature the bell cow running back.<\/p>\n It appears that Hogan continues to lack a feel for the game, which has rarely allowed the Bombers offence to get in a rhythm.<\/p>\n Decisions, decisions<\/p>\n Ironically, head coach Mike O\u2019Shea has been criticized more for being too aggressive in big moments this season.<\/p>\n That wasn\u2019t the case on the Bombers second drive of the game, when the bench boss trotted out Castillo for a short field goal despite his offence moving the ball to Saskatchewan\u2019s four-yard line. Instead of playing for a touchdown, O\u2019Shea settled to tie the game at 10-10.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t It was an ultra-conservative and head-scratching decision, with the Roughriders down so many starters. It looked like a great opportunity for O\u2019Shea to not only show trust in his defence \u2014 which would\u2019ve had the visitor\u2019s pinned deep in their own end had Winnipeg not scored \u2014 but also possibly build some momentum for his offence.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way the two previous plays went, it just felt like, just take the points,\u201d O\u2019Shea said. \u201cIt just didn\u2019t feel like we had any kind of momentum or rhythm right there. So I\u2019m good with taking the points there. Just the gut feel, the flow of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Shea went back to his aggressive ways in a critical situation, with the Bombers facing third-and-a-long-two at Saskatchewan\u2019s 47-yard line with less than a minute until halftime. Instead of punting to pin the visitor\u2019s deep or even attempting a long field goal, O\u2019Shea went with Chris Streveler on a quarterback sneak, which fell a yard short of the line to gain.<\/p>\n That decision proved costly, as the Riders took advantage of the field position and Brett Lauther connected on a 42-yard field goal as time expired.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause the one prior to that we got three-and-a-half or four,\u201d O\u2019Shea said. \u201cSo seemed like we were going to move them.\u201d<\/p>\n Two-phase game<\/p>\n The silver lining for Winnipeg continues to be its defence, which has held opponents to under 20 points in three out of the last four games.<\/p>\n The Bombers as a collective haven\u2019t given fans many reasons to believe this is a team that can reach \u2014 let alone win \u2014 a Grey Cup this year, but if they\u2019re going to make a run, it might have to be on the back of the defence and special teams in a low-scoring affair.<\/p>\n A down week on offence was expected from the Riders, who were without their heavy hitters, but it didn\u2019t take away from how the Bombers defence and special teams responded after an ugly start.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Rookie returner Trey Vaval fumbled the ball on the opening kickoff, setting Saskatchewan up in plus territory. From there, the visitors dialled up a flea-flicker on their first play, which was badly under thrown by Jake Maier but drew a pass-interference penalty on Demerio Houston in the end zone.<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t On the third play from scrimmage \u2014 and 27 seconds into the game \u2014 the Roughriders were up 7-0.<\/p>\n From there, the defence only allowed 169 yards of net offence the rest of the night.<\/p>\n The special teams also cleaned up their act, limiting the always-dangerous Mario Alford to 63 yards on seven punt returns (nine yards per return), while Vaval averaged 17.2 yards across six returns and took a missed field goal back 62 yards to set up Winnipeg near midfield in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n X:@jfreysam<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Joshua Frey-Sam Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n \t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS
\nWinnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros (8) hands off to Brady Oliveira (20) during first half CFL action against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Winnipeg on Friday.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS Winnipeg Blue Bombers\u2019 Brady Oliveira (20) runs for the first down against the Saskatchewan Roughriders during first half CFL action in Winnipeg, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS
\nWinnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said he ‘went with his gut’ in deciding to take a four-yard field goal on the second drive of the game.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS
\nWinnipeg Blue Bombers\u2019 Trey Vaval (23) fumbles the ball as he is tackled on the opening kick return by Saskatchewan Roughriders\u2019 Kerfalla Exum\u00e9 (20) during first half CFL action in Winnipeg on Friday.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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