Ticats suffer first Tim Hortons Field loss, while Jim Popp gets first 2015 win

Thursday night was a great night for Hamilton Tiger-Cats' legend Angelo Mosca, as the team retired his jersey at the half, but it didn't go as well for the team. They fell to the Montreal Alouettes 26-23, suffering their first-ever loss at Tim Hortons Field in the process. That gave Montreal their first win under new head coach Jim Popp and put the Alouettes one step closer to being back in the East Division race. It also had the Tiger-Cats looking as vulnerable as they have in a long while.

This is a remarkable win for Montreal, especially as Hamilton had been so good at home. Since moving to Tim Hortons Field last Labour Day, the Ticats had won all nine of their regular-season games there, plus a preseason game and a playoff game. They weren't just strong at home, though, as they blew out the Edmonton Eskimos 49-20 on the road last week. The Alouettes somehow found a way to beat a Hamilton team that had won its last three games by 30, 30 and 29 points, and to do so in the Ticats' own stadium.

How'd they pull that off? Well, Popp's changes did play a role. He assumed the role of coach in addition to his responsibilities as general manager after owner Robert Wetenhall fired head coach Tom Higgins last week (which came just a day after the Alouettes notched their first win in B.C. Place since 2000, so they've been ending all the streaks recently), and one big change he made was returning veteran defensive end John Bowman to the starting lineup. There had been plenty of criticism of Higgins' benching of Bowman for the last two games, both from Bowman himself and from teammates and observers, and bringing him back into the lineup seemed to help light a fire under Montreal's defence.

The Alouettes' defence did a great job not just of pressuring Hamilton QB Zach Collaros, but also keeping him contained inside the pocket and limiting the damage he could do on the run, holding him to 293 passing yards and 12 rushing yards on the evening. Bowman had three tackles and one of ntreal's six sacks, an impressive showing, but his value may have gone even beyond that, especially with inspiring his teammates to greater effort. The Montreal defence was ferocious Thursday, with Bowman, defensive back Kyries Hebert (five tackles, a sack and the game-clinching interception) and linebacker Kyler Ellsworth (three tackles, two sacks) leading the way. Defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe deserves a lot of the credit there too, but Popp's decision to put Bowman back in did seem to make a difference.

The Alouettes' offence largely came from that same playbook that beat B.C., though, with a heavy focus on the run (particularly after quarterback Rakeem Cato got hurt). Popp kept offensive coordinator Turk Schoenert in place, and Schoenert rewarded his faith, putting together a solid game plan that saw Montreal pick up 123 rushing yards. That wasn't always easy going against Hamilton's solid rushing defence, and primary running back Brandon Rutley needed 17 carries to get 55 yards, but the Alouettes mixed in some more unusual runs, including five from receiver Sam Giguere (a former Ticats) for 27 yards, a 22-yard dash from Stefan Logan and 18 rushing yards from quarterback Tanner Marsh on seven attempts. Cato, and then later Marsh, also took advantage of the opportunites the ground game opened up; Cato completed four of seven passes for 115 yards and a touchdown before he left with an injury, and Marsh completed 11 of 18 for 99 yards (albeit with an interception).

So, it's far too soon to say that Popp was the only factor here, or even that Montreal's going to be able to sustain this kind of success regardless of who deserves credit for it. The Alouettes looked good Thursday, though, and they're now 4-5, not too far out of the East Division race. Meanwhile, the Ticats showed some of their first vulnerability ever at Tim Hortons Field, and perhaps their most vulnerability at any point this year. They're still a great team, but heading into Thursday night's game, they were absolutely unbeatable at home. That's no longer the case.