WINNIPEG - Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Doug Berry wanted to shake up his winless squad this week by starting quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie instead of Kevin Glenn.
It worked. Dinwiddie completed 24 of 39 pass attempts for 450 yards and one touchdown as the Bombers finally got in the win column with a 32-28 victory over the 3-2 Calgary Stampeders Thursday night in front of 26,882 screaming fans at Canad Inns Stadium.
Dinwiddie's lone TD was a 35-yard pass to Romby Bryant with 12 seconds left in the game. Bryant finished with six catches for 152 yards.
While Dinwiddie was enjoying a victory in his first CFL regular-season start, he wasn't planning a long celebration.
"I'm excited, but at the same time right now I'm like, shoot, it's over with. I'm thinking about Toronto," said Dinwiddie, whose first pro start was last year's Grey Cup loss to Saskatchewan.
"We've got to do it again next week, so it was good to get a win and get some smiles around here in the locker-room on everybody's faces, things like that, but at the same time it's over and done with now."
And he expects to start next Friday on the road against the Argonauts.
"I do. I'm looking forward to it," said Dinwiddie, who also ran six times for 26 yards. "I'm excited about it. "It's time to go back to work, go back to the drawing board and get another win."
Bomber receiver Terrence Edwards, who had seven catches for 143 yards, said having Dinwiddie in the huddle was a great experience.
"He expected to win tonight," Edwards said. "It was very different. "His demeanour was different, his leadership in the huddle was different. Everything was different about him. He came out and made great plays and got us a victory."
It almost looked as though the Bombers (1-4) would be denied after Stampeder Jermaine Copeland caught a six-yard TD pass from Henry Burris with 48 seconds left for their first lead of the game, until Dinwiddie's perfect last-minute drive pulled them out of the fire.
Burris finished 31-of-44 for 386 yards, three TDs and one interception.
It was the second time in the fourth quarter that Calgary put a scare into the Bombers.
Calgary receiver Nik Lewis notched his second TD of the night at 7:21 of the fourth quarter to tie the game 21-21. Bomber kicker Alexis Serna then missed his third field goal of the game, but the 55-yard single gave his team the 22-21 edge.
He soon had a chance to redeem himself after Winnipeg defensive back Kelly Malveaux intercepted Burris on Calgary's next possession.
Serna lined up and booted a 45-yard field goal for the 25-21 lead with 2:46 left in the game. Serna was good on five field goals and had three singles.
Burris then marched his team down the field in an 11-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Copeland's TD at 14:12.
"When we were 0-4, we found ways to lose," Malveaux said. "But this week we dug down deep and found a way to win".
"It feels good to get the monkey off our back, to right the ship for at least one week. Now we just have to continue to work hard in practice." Bombers fullback Graeme Bell scored a TD on a one-yard run at 3:55 of the second quarter.
Sandro DeAngelis booted a pair of field goals from 45 and 23 yards and punter Burke Dales notched a single for Calgary's other points.
Stampeders head coach John Hufnagel said his team was able to once again re-group and re-load, but one big thing was missing.
"We need to finish it and we didn't do that," Hufnagel said.