Reality check in B.C.: Riders prep for rematch

It was an historic night for Kevin Glenn.

He had passed Roughrider legend Ron Lancaster to move into sixth spot on the CFL's all-time passing yardage list.

But it was also a night Glenn would rather forget, as the offence under his direction was shutout in B.C.

It was 30-0 for the Lions in the fourth quarter last Saturday when Glenn took a seat and made way for backup Brandon Bridge.

The Ontario-born Bridge quickly threw two touchdown passes, a 46-yard Hail Mary to Duron Carter followed by a 45 yarder to Naaman Roosevelt to at least make the final score respectable.

Glenn has been around the game long enough to know what would come next, which he correctly deduced when a TSN cameraman started following him around on the sideline.

"They're talking about that on the panel right now — Kevin Glenn's getting old, there's a quarterback controversy right now." Glenn joked with teammates on national TV while the final seconds ticked off the clock.

The Riders lost 30-15, dropping their record to two and four.

Any promise the Riders showed in the win over Toronto was quickly washed away with a reality check at B.C. Place. They are further away from the rest of the west than they boasted.

Throughout Riders' history, when the most cynical of fans feel all is lost, they immediately start talk of a quarterback controversy.

During his time here, Ron Lancaster heard it. So did Kent Austin, Henry Burris, Kerry Joseph and Darian Durant. 

"The backup quarterback is the most popular guy," Glenn said when the Riders returned to practice on Wednesday.

"They [the fans and media] correlate someone at my age playing bad as he's getting too old; or, someone at a younger age, he's not ready."

But any notion of Bridge starting Sunday's rematch against the Lions was quickly put to rest by the head coach.

"Well, he made two plays, he made two plays." Chris Jones smirked on Bridge's brief performance.

"He threw the ball to two guys and one of them was a circus catch, so I mean Kevin Glenn is Kevin Glenn, he's our starter and if there's an opportunity to play Brandon Bridge or if we decide to play Brandon Bridge then that's the decision we will make at that point."

Jones has bigger problems this week than who starts at quarterback.

They say it's never as bad as it seemed, well it was. The game tape confirmed it for Jones.

There's no sugar coating a defence that surrenders 547 yards, or excusing a defender who runs into a goal post, or being dominated in time of possession by eighteen minutes.

"Not a lot to say other than do your job," Jones said. "If we call man [coverage] then we expect to play good, solid man coverage. And if we play zone we expect people to be in the right zone."

And it doesn't get any easier after the Riders lost two more players to the six-man-injured list.

Defensive lineman Zach Minter (hamstring) and centre Dan Clark (elbow) are "done for quite some time," Jones confirmed.

Clark's absence forces the entire offensive line to be re-shuffled, with left guard Brendon LaBatte sliding over to the middle.

"In a game, probably 2011 would have been the last time I've thrown one back," Labatte laughed on moving to the snapper spot.

That's the only thing LaBatte can joke about this week as the loss to the Lions was a jolt.

"Just the vibe, the optimism that we did have have, and to go out and really lay an egg like that in back-to-back road games against division opponents, it's a humbling experience."

After losing 27-10 in Calgary and 30-15 in Vancouver, confidence in achieving a playoff spot seems to be fading fast.

"You know we haven't even been close," LaBatte said, "and that's been the most disappointing thing."