Henry Burris and Chris Milo lead the Redblacks to victory over their old team

Henry Burris and Chris Milo are both former Saskatchewan Roughriders, and both were crucial to the Ottawa Redblacks' 30-27 win over their old team Saturday night. Burris, who played for the Roughriders in 2000 and again from 2003 to 2004 after returning from the NFL and NFL Europe, threw for 477 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Milo, who the Roughriders cut earlier this year, iced the game with a field goal with six seconds left, one of three field goals and two extra points he made on the day. The win was Ottawa's third in a row, and it improved their record to 7-4 and boosted them to second in the East Division. Meanwhile, the loss dropped Saskatchewan to 1-11, and further confirmed that their issues haven't been solved merely by firing their head coach and general manager. A couple of old Riders got to twist the knife further Saturday, which had to bring extra pain to Saskatchewan fans.

Burris in particular had a dazzling day Saturday, and his performance was notable for its efficiency as well as his yardage total. He completed 35 of 45 passes on the day, an impressive 77.8 per cent completion rate. He also got the ball down the field and avoided interceptions, and he spread the ball around. Chris Williams led the way with eight catches for 137 yards and a touchdown, Ernest Jackson had six for 101, Maurice Price hauled in seven for 91, Greg Ellingson made four for 45 and a touchdown, Jeremiah Johnson had six for 40, Patrick Lavoie had two for 36 and Brad Sinopoli had two for 27. Getting that many receivers involved speaks well for Burris' field vision. It wasn't a perfect day, as he did lose two fumbles, but in just about every other respect, he was fantastic Saturday. Burris has had a very strong year, posting 2,821 yards and a 68.3 per cent completion mark before this game, and his improvement (aided by a much better receiving corps) has been key to the Redblacks' turnaround from a 2-16 season last year to a 7-4 mark so far. As Sportsnet's Arash Madani noted after the game, Burris might even be a viable Most Outstanding Player nominee this year, especially if Hamilton's Zach Collaros (injured earlier Saturday) is gone for a while:

Meanwhile, the Roughriders weren't so great. Getting veteran quarterback Kevin Glenn back from injury should have given them a boost, considering how impressive Glenn was before he got hurt, but he only threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns on the night. That was with an interception, too, and it wasn't an efficient performance; Glenn completed just 16 of his 27 attempts, 59.3 per cent. Jerome Messam was effective on the ground, collecting 53 rushing yards on just 10 carries, but the passing game just wasn't clicking Saturday, further proof that Saskatchewan still has a ways to go. They have shown some improvement under interim head coach Bob Dyce, and at least they were in this game, but a lot of the Riders' problems may take more time to fix. Saturday's loss was a painful one, especially with Burris and Milo playing critical roles in it.