Redblacks' Dyce complimentary of first half against Alouettes, critical of team's finish in loss

Coming off a dramatic 25-24 loss to the Montreal Alouettes in Week 11, Ottawa Redblacks head coach Bob Dyce talked Monday about his team’s strong first half and how the second got away from them.

"Obviously, our defence has done a fantastic job all year in creating turnovers and taking the ball away from offences, and they did that in the first half," Dyce said to TSN1200 Ottawa.

The Redblacks entered halftime leading 17-3, thanks to a pair of rushing touchdowns from backup quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome.

Pigrome finished the game with nine carries for 30 yards and completed one pass for eight yards. Starter Dustin Crum completed 14 passes for 130 yards and an interception while adding 42 yards on the ground.

The Redblacks' offence (173) combined for nearly 100 more rushing yards than the Alouettes' offence (83).

"I think you saw really what we envisioned with regards to the run game," Dyce said on his offence. "Both backs [Devonte Williams and Jackson Bennett] were doing an outstanding job, and the offensive line was creating holes for them."

New to the Redblacks' offensive line on Saturday was the debut of rookie right tackle Dontae Bull.

Bull, who was drafted with the first-overall pick in the 2023 CFL Draft, had dressed in the Redblacks' previous game but did not start.

While Dyce was complimentary of the 24-year-old's debut, he didn't commit to Bull becoming a regular among the front five going forward.

"[I was] very happy to see Dontae get his opportunity," he said. “First thing I'm going to say is Zack Pelehos has done a great job and will continue to do a great job at that right tackle position going forward.

"But it was great to see Dontae get his feet wet and have an opportunity. The young man hadn't played in a game in over a year and we, obviously, liked a lot of what he had put on film and what we saw in practice."

Zeroing in on the play of his quarterback, Dyce talked about the need to be able to stretch the field after Crum's longest completion of the night was for 13 yards.

"To be successful as an offence in the CFL and as a team in the CFL, to score points, you do need those chunk plays... If you have one of those within a drive, it moves your chances up to 50 per cent," said Dyce. "We know that's something we have to evolve into, whether it's through the schematics or telling Dusty to let it fly."

Though the Redblacks put together a strong first half, they could not hold on in the second as the Alouettes' offence came to life, outscoring them 22-7.

Having now had the opportunity to look back on that deciding 30 minutes of film, Dyce talked about how the game slipped away from them.

"[The] turnover at the start of the second half was crucial," said Dyce. "When you get a turnover, you want to make a big play and they did. We've got to anticipate and make sure we have stuff covered down (field). They hit the big play up the middle of the field, got down to about the five-yard line and scored." 

"You ask me how it slipped away and that's part of it," Dyce concluded.

Noting that the Alouettes' big play came as a result of a missed assignment, Dyce spoke candidly, saying changes on the defensive side of the ball could be on the horizon.

"The challenge we have right now, in some regards you wish it was one guy," he said. "In that regard, it's easy to replace someone if they keep making the same mistake more than once.

"There's always going to be change, but if it's two different people, it's our jobs as coaches to correct it and stop those things."

As the Redblacks approach the unofficial halfway mark of the season with Labour Day weekend around the corner, Dyce knows his team (3-7-0) still controls its destiny in the East Division.

"We've still got a couple games versus Montreal left, couple games against Toronto left, another one versus Hamilton," he said, before turning his focus to this week’s matchup with the Elks.

"We have to take care of our immediate future and our immediate future is here in Edmonton. "We're locked in and focused to take care of that."