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Home History News THE SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS WIN THE 95TH GREY CUP
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THE SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS WIN THE 95TH GREY CUP |
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 27 November 2007 |
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TORONTO, ON (November 25, 2007) -- The Saskatchewan Roughriders have won their third Grey Cup, defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 23-19 in front of 52,230 at the 95th Grey Cup at Rogers Centre in Toronto. The Roughriders last won the Grey Cup in 1989 in a 43-40 thriller over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The Most Valuable Player of the 95th Grey Cup was Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive back James Johnson. Johnson set a Grey Cup record with three interceptions, and also added five tackles, one special teams tackle and three pass knockdowns.
The Most Valuable Canadian was Saskatchewan Roughriders slotback Andy Fantuz. Fantuz caught four passes for 70 yards and a touchdown.
Quotes:
Saskatchewan Roughriders
Head Coach Kent Austin
On his players and staff:
"I’m proud of my guys, I’m proud of my staff and words are inadequate to describe how I feel about those guys."
"Our guys were resilient for the whole year. They went through a lot of turmoil like all teams do and it bonded closer together as a result."
On turnovers in the game:
"The turnover battle went our way and I think that was the difference. We played outstanding defence today and so did they. They came to play. I give them a lot of credit. They really played hard."
On James Johnson:
"I’m so proud of him, the way he stepped up and played today, as I am of all the guys."
On Winnipeg:
"The good things were few and far between today and that’s a credit to Winnipeg. They played really well."
"What’s the point of playing if you don’t believe? There’s a difference in faith and belief. Belief requires action. And if you’re gonna play to win, you need to talk differently, walk differently, act differently, practice differently, prepare differently. And you gotta back it up with your actions."
On the fans of Saskatchewan:
"The fans have supported us from the very first preseason game that we sold out and all the way through the season. They’ve been there the whole year as they always are. I know what it means to win a Grey Cup in Saskatchewan and I know what it means to the fans."
On winning in Saskatchewan as both a player and coach:
"I guess I was just meant to win championships with the Saskatchewan Roughriders."
WR – D.J. FLICK – Saskatchewan Roughriders
"The defence has played great all season and they had that stretch where they needed to fine tune because Eddie was out. They stepped up their play tonight. Championship football!"
General Manager Eric Tillman
"Our fans are absolutely incredible. I’m so happy for our coaches and players and I know how hard they work, and everyone in our organization. I’m thrilled beyond words. We have the best fans in the league. They’ve been starved for success for so long. It’s a thrill. I’m so happy us right now. They deserve this. They’ve been behind this franchise through thick and thin, they bleed green and they deserve this."
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Head Coach Doug Berry
"I thought he (Dinwiddie) would play within the offence. A couple of times he took a couple of risks but they didn’t result in the turnovers. Ultimately that’s what kills you in a close football game."
"I still believe Ryan Dinwiddie is going to be a fine quarterback in this league. Again, we’ll continue to work with him."
On the Running Game
"Well, you gotta give a lot of credit to the Saskatchewan defence. They did a lot early and knew what we wanted to do in terms of establishing Roberts and they did a good job initially of taking him out of the game as much as they could. When you’re trying to take away the run game, they make you wanan throw the ball and that’s not exactly the way we wanted to come into this."
"I asked the sideline official to have the referee come to me and that wouldn’t happen so I threw a challenge flag. All I wanted to know was did you hear the whistle blow when the whistle blew?"
What he said to Dinwiddie in the final two minutes down seven points
"I told him we didn’t have a timeout and he was gonna be calling his own plays unless we got out of bounds or an incompletion. We’re in three down football and you don’t have to get it all in one play."
Ryan Dinwiddie
"You’ve gotta credit the Saskatchewan defence, it’s one of the best in the league. But our defence was great, too. I made some mistakes, though. I was excited, I didn’t have any nerves and I went in wanting to win the game. The guys were excited and ready to make plays; we just didn’t make enough."
On his 50-yard touchdown pass:
"I was excited. We needed to make a play and that brought us back into the game when we had started to fall behind."
Troy Westwood
On losing to Saskatchewan:
"My reaction to losing this game? It doesn’t get any easier losing Grey Cups, it just stinks. It’s a terrible feeling, but I’d like to congratulate the Saskatchewan Roughriders. There are a lot of guys on that team that once played with us and Kent Austin’s a first-class guy. Eric Tillman’s a first-class guy and we have a lot of respect for that organization. I feel happy for the people of Saskatchewan."
"If you’re gonna lose to someone in the Grey Cup – as tough as it is to swallow, I’m happy that Saskatchewan had the opportunity to win. I wish them well."
On losing his fourth Grey Cup:
"I’m not looking at it at all like it’s ‘near the end’ for me. I know I can still make a very positive contribution to this team or any team. We’ll just see what happens in the next few days."
On Ryan Dinwiddie:
"It sure felt like we had the opportunity to win, but we just came up short. Ryan Dinwiddie played his heart out tonight and all three phases of the team came together and gelled over the last few games. We just came up that little bit short. But it’s a great learning lesson for Dinwiddie. He gave everything he could."
Charles Roberts:
"You know it came down to a couple of calls on some challenges we didn’t get. It could have gone either way. If we get that we could be out there celebrating.
"We felt good at halftime with the score 10-7. We’re a better team in the second half anyway, so we felt really confident we could go out there and pull off the victory. It just didn’t go our way."
On Ryan Dinwiddie:
"I think he played well. Interceptions are interceptions – everyone throws ‘em. Kerry Joseph even throws them and he’s the league MVP. (Joseph) only threw one I think, but he threw up some others we coulda had. But that’s the game, turnovers are gonna happen. (Dinwiddie) should hold his head high, he didn’t lose the game for us. Some guys might put it that way, but I think he played real well."
On Kevin Glenn:
"Perhaps he could have made a difference, but who knows? It’s two quality teams playing each other and it’s a 50-50 chance either way."
Doug Brown:
On Dinwiddie playing instead of Glenn:
"I don’t think I need to answer that question. You guys are smart enough to figure that out yourself."
On losing in 2001 and 2007:
"It’s worse man. Seriously. You know a lot of us aren’t gonna be here for Round 3 if there is one. That’s just the way it works in the CFL. Who knows, I’m 33 myself and if these opportunities come only once every six years for us, we need to do better to get back here."
Derick Armstrong
On Dinwiddie:
"I don’t wanna talk about it. I’ll talk about myself, but I don’t want to talk about other players."
On Saskatchewan’s defence:
"You’ve gotta give them credit. They played real, real good. You’ve gotta tip your hat to them."
Dan Goodspeed
On Dinwiddie:
"You’ve gotta be proud of his effort. Coming in just for the Grey Cup? It was a hostile environment here just like in Saskatchewan and Dinwiddie did his best, he did a good job." |
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