Saskatchewan Roughriders full of praise for TD Place: ‘It was beautiful — hats off to Ottawa’s organization’

Who better to rate a football crowd than those who enjoy the CFL's most raucous home-field atmosphere in Regina?

The Saskatchewan Roughriders came away with an easy 38-14 win over the Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday, scoring 32 consecutive first-half points in front of a sellout of 24,303 at TD Place. The rout only somewhat curbed the crowd enthusiasm — reality is kind of setting in that this is an expansion team —. The competing "North side sucks!" / "South side sucks more!" chants were ever-present. Crowd noise also appeared to factor into a time-count violation when the 'Riders were on the Redblacks 12-yard line in the third quarter — and already leading 32-7.

"It was beautiful — hats off to Ottawa's organization," said 'Riders wideout Rob Bagg, who had a happy homecoming with a game-high 123 receiving yards on six catches. "They put a great facility together and the crowd was terrific. I still laugh at the north side and south side yelling at each other. This is a stadium that I used to go to watch Renegades games. It always cracks me up that they're kind of fighting with each other. It was a great environment. The crowd was live. It was a good team win on our side.

"Just to see football popular in Eastern Ontario is awesome," said Bagg, who grew up in Kingston, Ont., less than a two-hour drive from the nation's capital. "It's great for our league to have another great atmosphere to come play football. I think as their team improves this place will get even better."

As far as the second clause goes, well, and welp. Saskatchewan (3-2 ahead Thursday's tilt at Winnipeg) pounced on the banged-up Redblacks for 24 first-quarter points. Yet there was no mass exodus as the fourth quarter played out, with Ottawa finally getting its first offensive TD on home turf after wideout Jamill Smith hauled in a six-yard scoring pass from mop-up man Thomas DeMarco with 6:06 left.

Durant: 'Thinking about what ours is going to be like one day'

The setting led 'Riders QB Darian Durant to think ahead three years to 2017, when Saskatchewan's new stadium is slated to open.

"This is a wonderful environment," said Durant, who was 19-of-25 for 294 yards with one touchdown pass and no interceptions. "It just gives me chills to come into a new stadium like this, thinking about what ours is going to be like one day. Great experience, great fans here."

Ottawa, playing without two big-name defensive signings, defensive end Justin Phillips and cornerback Jovon Johnson, managed to keep Saskatchewan out of the end zone for the final 2 1/2 quarters, so there was that. Two early Henry Burris interceptions and a slew of dropped passes, along with Tristan Jackson's 112-yard touchdown on a missed field goal return, settled the issue early.

It raised the question of what the place could be like with a contender.

"They have a lot there," 'Riders coach Corey Chamblin said of Ottawa. "There were some times where they had some big plays. They weren't consistent in making them. DeMarco came in, Hank [starting QB Henry Burris] did some good things and they have a home-run hitter in Chevon Walker [who had 103 receiving-rushing yards]. We did a good job of limiting their explosive players.

"It was an awesome experience, awesome energy," Chamblin added. "Great place and I look forward to playing here for many years."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.