BC Lions Notebook: A battle between CFL's best tailbacks

Photo from CFL.ca

After putting down the Montreal Alouettes 41-5, the BC Lions have surged back to an even .500 record and will look to keep the momentum going when they host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who are coming off of their first loss of the season.

Quarterback Kevin Glenn is starting to look comfortable under center. The fill-in for Travis Lulay completed 23 out of 31 passes for 301 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Alouettes beatdown, an efficient night with zero turnovers. The backfield tandem of Andrew Harris and Stefan Logan reeled in a total of 146 yards on the ground, not making an impact in the endzone but kept the ball in the hands of BC.

Adding in the time former BYU quarterback John Beck put in, BC had 373 total yards in the air. Emmanuel Arceneaux was the leader in the clubhouse with 145 yards on 8 catches with 3 touchdowns. Six different players recorded a multi-catch effort. Arceneaux was sorely missed in the first two weeks of the season and it's shown.

Things are on the uprise for BC. Now they'll have a strong test at home against Winnipeg. Last week's big game saw the Blue Bombers get rocked 26-3 against the Edmonton Eskimos' incredible defense. A well oiled offensive machine early this season was halted and quarterback Drew Willy struggled.

Willy completed just above 50 percent of his passes and rookie running back Nic Grigsby couldn't get anything significant going on the ground. Grigsby has been a great surprise for Winnipeg this season, tied at second in the CFL in rushing with 268 yards, just five yards behind the league leader, Harris.

If Grigsby can be contained and Willy has a similar outing against the BC defense, the Lions will look poised to grab a winning record on Friday night.

>Game 5: Winnipeg (3-1) at BC (2-2) | Kickoff: Friday, July 25th, 10:00 PM ET | Web: ESPN3

Keys to the Game

• All Harris, all the time. The dual-threat tailback had 150 yards by himself in the win last week, including a catch in the endzone. If Harris thrives, the team will be too.
• Carry over the defensive torment from last week. BC would only make this game easier if the effort on defense from last week is duplicated. The Bombers did nothing until the end of the first half, but even when got a little offense going as the game went on, the Eskimos didn't give up anything in the endzone. The Lions don't have to be that stingy, but close.
• Glenn keeps the ball out of the other teams' hands. In the first two losses, Glenn threw six turnovers. Last two victories. None.