Crum and the REDBLACKS head to Montreal on Thanksgiving Monday

The Ottawa REDBLACKS head to Montreal for a Thanksgiving Monday matchup, the first of a home and home series with the Alouettes.

Dustin Crum leads the REDBLACKS into Percival Molson Stadium for his sixth start of the season, after starter Dru Brown was shut down for the season following a re-injuring of his knee last week.

In his two most recent starts, Crum led the REDBLACKS to a 34-33 Crumback against the BC Lions at TD place before dropping the rematch on the west coast a week later. His athleticism and playmaking ability is always a challenge for opposing defences and Ottawa will look to lean into that in Montreal.

Crum took over for Brown in last weeks game and completed 12 of 16 passes for 99 yards, including a 9-yard touchdown pass to Justin Hardy. On the defensive side, Adarius Pickett, C.J. Coldon and Adrian Frye led the way with six tackles each, while Frye added a sack and Davion Taylor forced a fumble that was recovered by Bryce Carter and nearly returned to the house but ultimately led to a Lewis Ward field goal.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION

The Alouettes still have plenty to play for as the eye top spot in the east division, they got help from Calgary earlier this weekend and will need more from Ottawa in the final week of the season but must focus on the task at hand this week and next.

Montreal took the previous meeting between these two clubs way back in June, riding Davis Alexander’s 344-passing yards to a 39-18 victory. Tyler Snead and Austin Mack each surpassed 100-yards receiving and James Letcher Jr. caught the only Al’s touchdown pass of the game.

Alexander made his return to the Montreal lineup last week, throwing for 350 yards and a touchdown in a 38-20 victory over the Stampeders at McGill. Tyrice Beverette led the way for the Al’s defence with nine tackles, a sack and an interception, while Lwal Uguak and Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund each added a sack.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

Coach Dyce on Dustin Crum taking the reigns at quarterback: “When you look at those last couple of games that he played, he just continued to get better and were looking for continuation of that progress. I told him back then he was playing like a CFL starter, his mobility adds another element that Montreal has to prepare for and he continues to grow as a throwing quarterback so I’m excited to see him play.”

Dustin Crum on Montreal’s defence: “They’re very multiple and they have a lot of guys who’ve been there for a long time. They’re pretty cohesive as a unit and they can do a lot of things to make it hard for you to execute and make mistakes on offence. It’s just a matter of taking it a play at a time and just trying to treat each play as it’s own game and take advantage of what they give us.

Click here to read article