5 THINGS: Turnovers trip up Edmonton Elks in inaugural outing

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After spending the past 20 months without any Canadian Football League games, the fact that the lights were switched back on at Commonwealth Stadium and fans were welcomed into the stands once again should count as a win in itself.

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Right?

Well, after watching their new look Green and Gold come up one yard shy in their rebranding party to usher in the era of the Edmonton Elks, many of them left wanting more. A 16-12 loss to the Ottawa Redblacks to open the season wasn’t exactly the result the pundits expected from the reunion between Jaime Elizondo, making his head-coaching debut, quarterback Trevor Harris and star receiver Greg Ellingson, who all won a Grey Cup together with Ottawa in 2018. Instead, here’s what we learned in Saturday’s opener:

INTERCEPTION HAT-TRICK

Remember that time Harris threw three interceptions and no touchdowns in a game? No?

That’s probably because it’s never happened before. Three is the most he’s thrown in a game, and he’s only done that three times in his 133 previous games played, but always with at least a touchdown pass. On Saturday, Harris completed an impressive 75 per cent of his 44 passes.

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But of the 11 that didn’t connect, three were intercepted. And of those three, one ended up going 102 yards the other way for the game’s only touchdown. And then, only after having bounced off receiver Shai Ross’s fingers first.

With Harris’s track record as one of the most accurate passers to play the game, we’re apt to chalk this one up to rust more than anything.

SAME OLD SITUATION?

They may be calling themselves by a different name and under the guidance of a new head coach, but it didn’t take very long for Edmonton’s football team to get back up to its old trick of leading the way in net offence, only to leave something desirable when it comes to the standings.

It’s the same problem that haunted the team for the past four seasons under Elizondo’s predecessor, former head coach Jason Maas. When the dust settled on opening weekend, the Elks found themselves at the top of the heap with 423 yards of net offence, first out of nine teams.

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Yet, at the same time, they were the only one of the eight teams in action in Week 1 to not score a touchdown.

PRE-SEASON IMPORTANCE?

Just how much do those two piddly pre-season games mean to the finished product that takes when the regular season rolls around? The 2021 season might make for an interesting case study.

Across the league, the Saskatchewan Roughriders showed they were ready to play half a game, while the Hamilton Tiger-Cats would have loved to be able to boast as much.

Toronto apparently found some rust on Calgary, while, in Edmonton, the home team started out on a tremendous drive, only to end up a foot out of bounds with the would-be touchdown toss.

And it was downhill, offensively, from there, with no fewer than 15 two-and-outs between the two sides. Forget pass, pass, punt, that’s enough to make you want to pass, pass, puke.

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DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE

Edmonton’s defence didn’t surrender a touchdown.

They gave up barely more than a field’s worth of offensive yards to the Redblacks, hauling Matt Nichols down for five sacks and holding him to just 71 passing yards. Seventy-one!

His longest was 15, while Edmonton’s front seven allowed just 56 yards on 16 rushes for an average of just 3.5 yards per carry.

Thanks to two apiece from Kwaku Boateng and Mike Moore, and another from rookie middle linebacker Keishaw Bierria, the Elks have picked up right where they left off the last season, standing right at the top of sack mountain after opening week.

BIG PENALTY

David Beard knows better. The six-year centre out of the University of Alberta and the reigning team nominee for most outstanding offensive lineman certainly didn’t mean to unleash the chop block that led to the biggest offensive play of the game — a fantastic 49-yard reception by Canadian wideout Mike Jones in the red zone — getting negated by penalty.

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In all, the Elks wound up dead even with Ottawa at 55 penalized yards apiece. But it was the yards that didn’t make it onto the stats sheet that stung.

HONOURABLE MENTION

The logo looks great. They made the old Fight Song still work. Heck, even the shaggy new mascot, Spike, might grow on us. But why the elk call?

Sure, it’s keeping with the theme. But if you thought vuvuzelas were annoying, try sitting in the stands and imagine walking through the forest only to hear what sounds like a small, wounded creature screaming in terror.

Or you could save yourself a trip and run a nail down a chalkboard … or just hammer one right into your eardrum. It might be less painful.

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge