Manziel Gets First CFL Start for Alouettes

New Alouettes QB Faces Former Team on ESPN2

The fans at Percival Molson Stadium will see the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Montreal Alouettes when they take their seats on Friday Night.

Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. ET and can be seen on TSN, RDS, and ESNP2. Oddsmakers have the Tiger-Cats as 7-point favorites. The total is at 50.5.

Johnny Manziel will make his much anticipated CFL debut tonight. Adding more intrigue to the matchup? It was just over one week ago that Hamilton shipped Manziel to Montreal in a blockbuster deal.

The 1-5 Als are in need of a spark.They hope that starting "Johnny Football" will be that catalyst. Sports fans across north America tuned in last week. The Als take on the Edmonton Eskimos and it was reported the former Heisman trophy winner may see the field at some point. It didn't happen.

Alouettes Had to Make the Change

The Alouettes were a 44-23 loser in their most recent outing at home against the Edmonton Eskimos. They failed to cover the +10-point spread as underdogs, while the total score (67) made winners of OVER bettors.

Montreal decided to keep Vernon Adams Jr. in for the game’s entirety in the blowout. The Als defense could not hold off the offensive prowess of Mike Reilly and company. They didn't want Manziel in a impossible situation.

It would have been difficult for Manziel to excel in a game situation after just a couple days at practice. The starting pivot says he feels prepared to take the field on Friday night.

I feel like the thing I’ve been missing even over the course of this year and a couple years is reps,” said Manziel. “As you guys have seen the past couple days the chance to get with the ones [first team offence] and get some reps is what I feel like I really need and what I’ve talked to a lot of people about. I feel very blessed to be in this position, to be back in a situation where I’m starting a game. source

The Als rank in the basement in a lot of categories heading into Week 8. Montreal’s offense is averaging a league low 15.3 points per game. The defense is giving up a league worst 420.3 yards per game. Something had to change.

The good news? The East Division is still up for grabs. A win against the 2-4 Ticats would put the Als in good position heading into the midway point of the season.

Tiger-Cats Look to End 3-Game Skid

The Ticats are looking to get back on track as well after starting the season 2-1. They have dropped their last three games.

Hamilton was a 21-15 loser in its last match at home against the Ottawa RedBlacks. They failed to cover the -6-point spread as favorites, while the total score of 36 sent UNDER bettors to the payout window.

Ticats QB Jeremiah Masoli completed 26 of 38 attempts. He threw for 352 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Masoli found Jalen Saunders with less than two minutes to go for the game’s only major (TD). That closed in on the REDBLACKS’ lead. It was too little too late.

Saunders finished the day with 154 yards on eight catches. Brandon Banks had nine receptions for 113 yards.

The TiCats will get a boost on offense with Alex Green slated to make his season debut on Friday night. He had been out after breaking his hand in the preseason.

Luke Tasker is also back in the lineup after missing the last two games with a lower body injury, as is Terrence Toliver.

 

Recent Form

Name	Record	ATS	Offense	Defense	Diff	ATS Home	ATS Away	OU Record	OU Home	OU Away
Hamilton	2-4	2-4	21.83	22.67	-0.84	1-2	1-2	2-4	1-2	1-2
Montreal	1-5	2-4	15.33	32.00	-16.67	0-3	2-1	2-4	2-1	0-3

Power Stats

Yards Per Point

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
HAM	18.96	15.36	3.6
MON	19.05	13.14	5.91

Yards Per Pass

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
HAM	12.70	11.50	1.2
MON	10.59	12.23	-1.64

Yards Per Rush

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
HAM	5.69	5.99	-0.3
MON	4.80	4.70	0.1

Team Records

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Name	Record	Home	Away	ATS	ATS Home	ATS Away	Offense	Defense	Diff
Overall	2-4	1-2	1-2	2-4	1-2	1-2	21.83	22.67	-0.84
vs Conf	0-1	0-1	0-0	0-1	0-1	0-0	15.00	21.00	-6.00
Last 3	0-3	0-2	0-1	0-3	0-2	0-1	16.00	23.33	-7.33

Montreal Alouettes

Name	Record	Home	Away	ATS	ATS Home	ATS Away	Offense	Defense	Diff
Overall	1-5	0-3	1-2	2-4	0-3	2-1	15.33	32.00	-16.67
vs Conf	0-1	0-1	0-0	0-1	0-1	0-0	18.00	28.00	-10.00
Last 3	0-3	0-2	0-1	1-2	0-2	1-0	16.33	32.33	-16.00

Supergrid

Title	Stat	Rank	Stat	Rank
Away Team Overall Scoring vs Home Team Overall Defense	21.83	6	32.00	9
Away Team Road Passing vs Home Team Home Passing Defense	326.67	2	364.00	9
Away Team Road Rushing vs Home Team Home Rushing Defense	116.00	4	160.67	9
Home Team Overall Scoring vs Away Team Overall Defense	15.33	9	22.67	4
Home Team Home Passing vs Away Team Road Passing Defense	179.33	8	230.33	4
Home Team Home Rushing vs Away Team Road Rushing Defense	80.33	7	114.67	7

Head To Head Summary

Name	Record	ATS	OU	Score	Rush	YPR	PA	CP	PY	TY	TO +/-
Hamilton	7-3	6-4	3-7	28.00	98.70	5.11	32.70	70.34	260.90	375.10	1.70
Montreal	3-7	4-6	3-7	16.50	67.60	3.84	32.80	60.06	219.00	301.40	2.30

Head To Head Detail

Date	Away	Home	Score	Line	Total	OU Result	ARY	APY	ATY	ATT	HRY	HPY	HTY	HTT	Away Team Attempts	Home Team Attempts	Away Team Completions	Home Team Completions
Nov 3, 2017	MON	HAM	0-33	79	90	189	3	173	313	502	1
Oct 22, 2017	HAM	MON	43-16	73	349	431	0	51	221	310	2
Nov 5, 2016	MON	HAM	32-25	65	256	322	2	55	309	390	1
Sep 16, 2016	MON	HAM	17-20	89	141	257	3	93	278	384	3
Jul 15, 2016	HAM	MON	31-7	84	183	292	1	64	182	302	2
Oct 18, 2015	HAM	MON	23-11	113	229	354	1	53	226	279	4
Aug 27, 2015	MON	HAM	26-23	130	208	344	2	29	248	322	3
Jul 16, 2015	HAM	MON	13-17	87	294	390	4	55	264	319	0
Nov 23, 2014	MON	HAM	24-40	73	318	391	3	149	199	348	1
Nov 8, 2014	MON	HAM	15-29	17	284	301	2	131	207	338	2

CFL Betting Odds and Trends

Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Hamilton is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games
Hamilton is 8-17 SU in its last 25 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Hamilton's last 7 games
Hamilton is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games on the road
Hamilton is 6-12 SU in its last 18 games on the road
Hamilton is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Montreal
Hamilton is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Montreal
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Hamilton's last 8 games when playing Montreal
Hamilton is 17-8 ATS in its last 25 games when playing on the road against Montreal
Hamilton is 4-18 SU in its last 22 games when playing on the road against Montreal
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Hamilton's last 11 games when playing on the road against Montreal

Montreal Alouettes
Montreal is 2-15 ATS in its last 17 games
Montreal is 1-16 SU in its last 17 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Montreal's last 8 games
Montreal is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games at home
Montreal is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Montreal's last 5 games at home
Montreal is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Hamilton
Montreal is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing Hamilton
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Montreal's last 8 games when playing Hamilton
Montreal is 8-17 ATS in its last 25 games when playing at home against Hamilton
Montreal is 18-4 SU in its last 22 games when playing at home against Hamilton
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Montreal's last 11 games when playing at home against Hamilton

Team Last 5 Games

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Date	Opponent	score	Result	line	ATS Result	offensive rush yards	offensive passing yards	offensive total yards	defensive rush yards	defensive passing yards	defensive total yards	turnovers	Location
Jul 28, 2018	OTT	15-21	L	-6/55	L/U	31	310	383	65	268	338	1	H
Jul 19, 2018	SAS	20-31	L	-10/50.5	L/O	79	180	263	218	178	396	3	H
Jul 5, 2018	SAS	13-18	L	-6/51	L/U	96	322	429	150	128	298	1	A
Jun 29, 2018	WIN	31-17	W	-4.5/59	W/U	111	359	480	134	139	280	1	H
Jun 22, 2018	EDM	38-21	W	6.5/56.5	W/O	196	325	528	62	278	348	-1	A

Montreal Alouettes

Date	Opponent	score	Result	line	ATS Result	offensive rush yards	offensive passing yards	offensive total yards	defensive rush yards	defensive passing yards	defensive total yards	turnovers	Location
Jul 26, 2018	EDM	23-44	L	10/48	L/O	132	171	349	98	415	513	1	H
Jul 21, 2018	CAL	8-25	L	19.5/49	W/U	62	157	239	69	281	361	1	A
Jul 6, 2018	OTT	18-28	L	7.5/49	L/U	43	265	323	139	334	481	0	H
Jun 30, 2018	SAS	23-17	W	10.5/45	W/U	32	232	287	60	218	279	-2	A
Jun 22, 2018	WIN	10-56	L	3/47	L/O	66	102	195	245	343	588	2	H

Next up:
Hamilton at Winnipeg Friday, August 10
Montreal at Ottawa Saturday, August 11

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