Ricky Ray and the Argonauts soar against Saskatchewan, swamping the Riders 48-15

What do you do when your high-expectations team, coming off a season where they had the best record in the East Division and hosted the East Final, falls 45-21 to last year's cellar-dwellers in their opener? Go out and beat the reigning Grey Cup champions 48-15, obviously. Saturday's home win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders marked a heck of a rebound from the Toronto Argonauts, and one that suggests they could be in for the great year many expected after all.

Interestingly, the star of this showing was one of the few players who did perform well in the opener against Winnipeg, quarterback Ricky Ray. Ray completed 27 of 38 passes (71.1 per cent) for 283 yards and two touchdowns without an interception against the Bombers, and he was even better against the Roughriders Saturday, completing 29 of 37 attempts (78.4 per cent) for 407 yards and three touchdowns without a pick. His dissection of the Riders' defence (which itself looked incredible in a 31-10 home win over Hamilton last week) was superb, and it involved him hitting multiple receivers; Chad Owens led the way with 159 receiving yards and a touchdown on 11 catches, but Andre Durie had five receptions for 77 yards, Jason Barnes had four for 39 yards and a touchdown, Spencer Watt had three for 53 and John Chiles collected 46 yards on two catches. That ability to quickly analyze defensive coverage and spot the open receiver is a key part of what's made Ray such an accurate and dominant CFL passer, and it showed Saturday.

Despite Ray's performance, though, the win might actually have come from other units stepping up; after all, Ray played well last week and the Argos still got killed. This time around, he received substantial support. The defence, heavily victimized in that 45-21 thumping from the Bombers, was great from a points perspective this time around, only conceding 15 against the Riders. They weren't as effective from a yardage perspective, allowing Saskatchewan quarterback Darian Durant to throw for 295 yards and two touchdowns, but they did pick him off twice, and while they didn't look great on the ground (the Riders wound up with 116 rushing yards on 16 carries, an average of 7.3 yards per carry), they were able to keep Saskatchewan from finishing drives. Linebacker Antwaun Molden led the way with six tackles and two interceptions, while DB Jalil Carter had four tackles and two sacks.

The Toronto rushing game was also much better this week. Last week, the Argos got just 42 yards on the ground on eight carries (5.3 yards per carry), but against the Riders, they collected 161 rushing yards on 20 carries (8.1 yards per carry). Curtis Steele (eight carries for 59 yards and two touchdowns) and Anthony Coombs (six for 52) were the biggest contributors, but Ray (four carries for 32) and Durie (two for 18) also stepped up. The Toronto special teams were good this time around as well, with Owens netting 89 yards on six punt returns, Branden Smith adding 34 on two kick returns and Swayze Waters doing a great job punting (six punts with an average of 44.8 yards) and hitting field goals (two for two). Perhaps most importantly, the Argonauts were more disciplined; last week, they committed 22 penalties for 163 yards, and things were nowhere near that bad this time around. Ray may have been the best Toronto player again this week, and he deserves a lot of credit, but it's notable that he played well when they struggled too. This time, the rest of the team rose to his level, and that led to a big Argonauts win.