11 points in two minutes: how Lulay and the Lions fought back to down the Riders

There are regular comebacks, and then there are the CFL's special brand of #noleadissafe comebacks. The latter was what the B.C. Lions pulled off Friday night, recovering from an 11-point deficit with just over two minutes left to come up with a 35-32 overtime victory. Quarterback Travis Lulay and kicker Richie Leone were the key figures in the comeback, which gave the Lions their first victory of the year and showed that there might be plenty of hope for their offence yet.

Lulay had a great night overall, completing 34 of 44 passes (77.3 per cent) for 404 yards and three touchdowns, but he was especially effective with the game on the line. B.C. trailed 29-18 with just over two minutes left following Riders' RB Anthony Allen's 10-yard touchdown run and K Paul McCallum's convert, but Lulay put together a great touchdown drive that he capped with a 46-yard strike to Austin Collie (who did very well to stay in bounds after making a sideline catch) and a two-point conversion (also to Collie, who had six catches for 84 yards on the night). That left the Lions down by just three, and they opted to kick deep and bet on their defence. It paid off, as they came up with a crucial third-and-inches stop near midfield. After a few further plays, Leone nailed a club-record 56-yard field goal (one of the five he made on the day, on five attempts) with 15 seconds on the clock to send the game to overtime.

Overtime also saw both the B.C. offence and defence shine. The defence forced the Riders into a third-and-one situation on their first possession, and perhaps inspired by thoughts of what happened the last time they went for it, head coach Corey Chamblin elected to kick a field goal. McCallum made that from 33 yards out, but that meant the Lions could win with a touchdown, and Lulay pulled that off with a long strike to Shawn Gore and then a clinching TD pass to Emmanuel Arceneaux. Lulay wasn't the only offensive star on the day, as Collie had a great game, as did Andrew Harris (who had 70 rushing yards on 12 carries and 74 receiving yards on six catches), but his orchestration of the Lions' late success was remarkable.

The B.C. passing offence wasn't working quite as effectively early on in the game, particularly in the red zone, but Lulay's overall performance was very impressive. That's particularly true when you consider that he threw for just 254 yards with one touchdown, one interception and 56.3 per cent completion mark in last week's loss to Ottawa. The improvement suggests Lulay's starting to adjust to the offence of new head coach Jeff Tedford and new offensive coordinator George Cortez. The level he hit with the game on the line was particularly remarkable. If the Lions can keep that up going forward, this win might be the first of many.