Steve Milton: Blue Bomber quarterback Zach Collaros finds ways to win — the Ticats don’t

Since they last met at Tim Hortons Field, when only that rare Grey Cup overtime separated them from each other, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Winnipeg Blue Bombers have been teams heading in completely different directions.

And you could say roughly the same of their starting quarterbacks.

The Bombers arrive Saturday (4 p.m.) for their first regular-season visit to Hamilton since July 2019. Zach Collaros wasn't even with the Bombers at the time but he certainly has been there, really been there, in the four games since: regular season Bomber wins in Winnipeg to open last season (19-6) and earlier this year (26-12); and in the two Grey Cups that Ticat fans would love to forget, but simply cannot; the 2019 wipeout in Calgary and last December's 33-25 nail-biter at Tim Hortons Field that Hamilton, coulda/shoulda won.

Dane Evans, who returns as the starter after being in uniform but essentially unavailable in the Ticats' last game two weeks ago, was the starter in all four of those losses to Winnipeg. However, it was Jeremiah Masoli who came into to replace him in the hometown Grey Cup game and almost rally the Ticats to a victory. The Ticats chose Evans over Masoli in the off-season to be their long-term starter but have never lifted off the tarmac in 2022. Instead, they're almost out of runway and are far more likely to miss the playoffs than make them. Evans has struggled with ball control, throwing more interceptions than touchdowns, and has turned over six key fumbles. He has also battled a shoulder injury for several weeks. The Ticats have won only three times in a dozen games, and are coming off two humiliating losses to their archrivals, the Toronto Argonauts.

In contrast, the Blue Bombers beat their own archrivals from Saskatchewan the last two games, have won three in a row and, at 12-1, are just two victories shy of tying the all-time franchise record. Ticat head coach Orlondo Steinauer calls them a team full of the self-belief that comes from being champions; winning by holding early leads or coming from behind, on the road and at home."

And while the Bombers are deeply talented all over the field, particularly in the unglamorous trenches where wins and losses originate, it's having Collaros at quarterback that solidifies their confidence that they are always in the game, always on the path to winning it.

Collaros, the reigning CFL Most Outstanding Player (MOP), is among the favourites for the league's top award again this year as he continues to add to his mystique of finding and using anything he can to get it done. He is the fuel pump of the Blue Bombers' reputation as a 60-minute team, a description you could never apply to the 2022 Tiger-Cats.

The 34-year-old, who led the Ticats into the 2014 Grey Cup and was the MOP front-runner the following season before he tore his ACL and was done for the year, was named the CFL Performer of the Week for his four touchdowns in last weekend's 54-20 Banjo Bowl win. It was the second time this year and fourth time in his career that he has had four touchdown passes and no interceptions in a game.

The two-time defending champions scored on their first eight possessions and nine of 10 overall.

I think it's special," he said afterward of his team's surgical performance. It was really efficient."

Workhorse Brady Oliveira has replaced future Hall of Famer Andrew Harris at running back, star receiver Greg Ellingson, another former Ticat, has been down since mid-August and the Bomber line has given up multiple sacks in some games - Hamilton got to him four times in their June loss. But Collaros almost always comes through at the most critical moments, scrambling and battling to escape the rush, and has a supernatural nose for the end zone: Dalton Schoen leads the league in touchdown receptions with 10, and Nic Demski is fourth with six. He also knits Drew Wolitarsky and Rasheed Bailey into the reception fabric.

Collaros has already established a career high with 26 touchdown passes (he had 25 for Hamilton in 2015). He needs just 141 yards of completions Saturday to surpass his career-high and, sometime during Saturday's first quarter, will move into the CFL's all-time top 25 in passing yards.

I think what's best about him is extending plays and finding the open guys," says Ticat safety Tunde Adeleke. We've played against him in enough big games to understand who he is and who the team is."

Understanding Zach Collaros is one thing. Keeping him in check is entirely another. And unless the Ticats can do that with sustained pressure, for a full hour of play, they will have little chance of narrowing the gulf that has widened between these two teams since they last saw each other in Hamilton's east end.

Steve Milton is a Hamilton-based sports columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: smilton@thespec.com