Hamilton Quarterback Puts Up Fight to Save Job
If there’s anything we learned from Saturday night’s Ticat-Stampeder game, it was that Hamilton quarterback Jeremiah Masoli isn’t going down without a fight.
The Manziel Mania which has gripped twitter for the better part of a year has morphed into downright hysteria at times and Masoli has worn the brunt of it.
Playing for a head coach waiting for you to fail is usually a recipe for disaster in any league.
If Saturday night’s 344-yard passing performance from Jeremiah is any indication, he plans to douse the Johnny Football flames with cold water.
Masoli impressively distributed the ball to 6 different receivers in a well-executed game plan which had Tabbies even enter the 4th quarter with the lead in a stadium the Tiger-Cats haven’t celebrated victory in since 2004.
So what if he threw a costly interception in the final 3 minutes? Jeremiah Masoli gave Hamilton a chance in a park the Stamps hung a 60-burger on them a year ago.
Outplayed Collaros Too
Masoli not only put up a gutsy effort on the road in week one but he also outshone the man he replaced to win the Ticats starting job to begin with.
Zach Collaros got the win in Saskatchewan’s victory over the Argos, but he was hardly the star of the show.
Stifling Defense with a pick-six and strong running game led the way for the Riders.
Not Zach, his 203-yard passing night or reported $430 thousand-dollar-a-year salary made much difference in that win.
Collaros gets a “W” in week one but it’s Masoli who brought the goods in a time of incredible scrutiny.
Should Quiet Social Media but Won’t
Such a display should quell the naysayers and twitter-talk but that won’t happen either.
Expect another week of Head Coach June Jones answering questions about Johnny Manziel’s progress, how Johnny saw the game from the sideline, what Johnny thought about his first visit to southern Alberta, and when we should expect to see Johnny play.
Expect more of that than any questions or comments about how well Jeremiah Masoli played or of their upcoming game Friday night in Edmonton.
Winning the Only Solution
The Johnny this and Johnny that will only start to quiet down when the Masoli-led Ticats do one thing, and that’s win a football game.
It doesn’t matter how well Jeremiah performs against who until the fans see a victory and even that might not be enough to do it either.
Masoli has to block all this out on his Alberta road trip.
He has to focus on an Edmonton Defense with holes glaring enough that even a rookie put up good numbers against just a few days ago.
Nothing short of a win at Commonwealth to avoid a nothing-and-2 start on the road will be enough to cool down the Manziel Mania.
But as we found out Saturday night in Calgary, if Jeremiah Masoli is going down, he’s going down with a fight.
If that doesn’t earn the admiration of his coaches, teammates, and fans, then why on earth would he want to stay in Steel Town anyways?
