2012 Saskatchewan Roughriders season

The 2012 Saskatchewan Roughriders season was the 55th season for the team in the Canadian Football League. The Roughriders finished the season in 3rd place in the West Division with an 8–10 record, improving upon their 5–13 record from 2011. The Roughriders qualified for the playoffs and lost to the Calgary Stampeders in the Western Semi-Final.

During the off-season, the Roughriders hired Corey Chamblin as their head coach after Ken Miller had retired.

Offseason

On December 15, 2011, Riders hired new head coach Corey Chamblin. On March 22, 2012, Riders traded their 2nd and 4th round picks in the Canadian College Draft to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for Odell Willis. The Roughriders also signed soon-to-be all star and former National Football League running back Kory Sheets while also signing three quarterbacks in February.

CFL Draft

The 2012 CFL Draft took place on May 3, 2012 live at 1:00 PM CST. The Roughriders had the first overall draft pick and four selections total in the six-round draft, after trading away their second, fourth, and fifth round picks and acquiring Calgary's fifth round pick.^[1]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	1	Ben Heenan	OL	Saskatchewan
3	12	Samuel Hurl	LB	Calgary
5	35	Kevin Régimbald-Gagné	LB	Sherbrooke
6	39	Ismaël Bamba	WR	Sherbrooke

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Attendance	Record
A	Wed, June 13	at BC Lions	44–10	Loss	24,871	0–1
B	Fri, June 22	vs. Calgary Stampeders	33–31	Loss	30,998	0–2

Regular season

Under the direction of Corey Chamblin, the Roughriders were leading 3-0 going into their game against Calgary, having beaten Hamilton, Edmonton and BC. Kory Sheets had already scored three touchdowns in consecutive games, and Weston Dressler was starting off strong. Roughriders kick returner Tristan Jackson even returned a missed field goal by Paul McCallum, the first Rider to return a kick return since 2007.

The Roughriders then began losing close games, losing in overtime in Calgary and losing by one point to Hamilton, both games in which they held double digit leads in the fourth quarter. Following the bye week, the team lost their next three, extending their losing streak to five games after opening the season 3-0.

The Riders were heading into the Labour Day Classic needing to find a way to win against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. They didn't know it would be this easy, crushing the Blue Bombers 52-0, which was the first time that Winnipeg was shutout in a game since 1969.^[2] The Roughriders would then defeat Winnipeg again in the Banjo Bowl, winning it by a field goal by Sandro DeAngelis in the last minute, led by backup quarterback Drew Willy after Darian Durant was injured early in the game.

Willy would then start in Montreal, but unfortunately couldn't find a way to win. But Calgary was in Regina the next game, with Durant starting, and this time Chamblin "challenged" the defense to keep Jon Cornish away from the 100 yard mark, or "someone would lose their job". The defense was successful, and so was the offence, as the Roughriders got redemption from the Stampeders, winning 30-25.

The next game was against the defending champion BC Lions, with the season series tied one game apiece. The Roughriders got a huge win at home, with Greg Carr scoring a touchdown, and Weston Dressler, already having the greatest season of his career, snagging two. The team continued their winning streak against Toronto, dominating the Argoanuts 36-10. The Roughriders RB Kory Sheets was going for the 1000 yard mark in rushing, in his first season in the CFL. He soon accomplished that, becoming the first Saskatchewan rookie running back to gain 1000 rushing yards since Darren Davis in 2000.

While the Roughriders would lose their next two games, they nonetheless qualified for the playoffs after 16 games. A Calgary win over Hamilton gave the Riders a spot in the playoffs, as they would be back to the playoffs under Chamblin control. Weston Dressler would get his first career punt return touchdown, against Montreal on October 20.

Season standings

West Division
Team	GP	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pts
Y-BC Lions	18	13	5	0	481	354	26	Details
X-Calgary Stampeders	18	12	6	0	534	431	24	Details
X-Saskatchewan Roughriders	18	8	10	0	457	409	16	Details
X-Edmonton Eskimos	18	7	11	0	422	450	14	Details

Season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Attendance	Record
1	Fri, June 29	at Hamilton Tiger-Cats	43–16	Win	25,682	1–0
2	Sun, July 8	vs. Edmonton Eskimos	17–1	Win	31,459	2–0
3	Sat, July 14	vs. BC Lions	23–20	Win	32,080	3–0
4	Thurs, July 19	at Calgary Stampeders	41–38 (OT)	Loss	32,228	3–1
5	Sat, July 28	vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats	35–34	Loss	32,898	3–2
6	Bye					3–2
7	Fri, Aug 10	at Edmonton Eskimos	28–20	Loss	43,178	3–3
8	Sun, Aug 19	at BC Lions	24–5	Loss	34,343	3–4
9	Sat, Aug 25	vs. Calgary Stampeders	17–10	Loss	33,427	3–5
10	Sun, Sept 2	vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers	52–0	Win	33,427	4–5
11	Sun, Sept 9	at Winnipeg Blue Bombers	25–24	Win	30,077	5–5
12	Sun, Sept 16	at Montreal Alouettes	28–17	Loss	23,147	5–6
13	Sun, Sept 23	vs. Calgary Stampeders	30–25	Win	33,427	6–6
14	Sat, Sept 29	vs. BC Lions	27–21	Win	32,360	7–6
15	Mon, Oct 8	at Toronto Argonauts	36–10	Win	25,176	8–6
16	Sat, Oct 13	at Edmonton Eskimos	37–20	Loss	38,678	8–7
17	Sat, Oct 20	vs. Montreal Alouettes	34–28	Loss	32,003	8–8
18	Sat, Oct 27	vs. Toronto Argonauts	31–26	Loss	29,747	8–9
19	Sat, Nov 3	at BC Lions	17–6	Loss	36,357	8–10

Team

Roster

Saskatchewan Roughriders roster

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

84 Greg Carr
87 Aaron Hargreaves
77 Kierrie Johnson
18 Scott McHenry
88 Taj Smith

Slotbacks

7 Weston Dressler
89 Chris Getzlaf

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

91 Jay Alford DT
92 Zach Evans DT
93 Tearrius George DE
90 Brent Hawkins DE
74 Keith Shologan DT
11 Odell Willis DE

Linebackers

41 Tyron Brackenridge LB
22 Diamond Ferri LB
31 Samuel Hurl LB
52 Abraham Kromah LB
8 Joe Lobendahn MLB
45 Mike McCullough MLB
42 Graig Newman LB
99 Shomari Williams LB

Defensive Backs

28 Craig Butler S
30 Terrell Maze DB
39 Chris McKenzie DB
14 James Patrick S
16 Eddie Russ DB
21 Paul Woldu CB
3 Macho Harris DB

Special Teams

Injured List

6 Rob Bagg WR (9 Game)
86 Dallas Baker WR (1 Game)
10 Levi Brown QB (1 Game)
15 Milton Collins DB (9 Game)
49 Chris Ellis DL (9 Game)
17 Brooks Foster WR (1 Game)
64 Dan Goodspeed T (1 Game)
27 Stephfon Green RB (1 Game)
82 Justin Harper SB (9 Game)
19 Christopher Milo K (1 Game)
83 Sinorice Moss SB (9 Game)
96 Kenny Rowe DE (1 Game)
29 Jock Sanders RB (9 Game)
12 Jordan Sisco WR (9 Game)
24 Woodny Turenne CB (1 Game)
94 David Veikune DT (1 Game)
95 Mick Williams DT (1 Game)

Practice Roster

63 Johan Asiata T
85 Ismael Bamba WR
67 Dan Clark G
76 Clayton Cooke WR
80 Philip Livas WR
25 Ramzee Robinson DB
81 Limas Sweed WR

Italics indicate Import player
Roster updated 2012-11-11
Depth Chart • Transactions
46 Active

→ More rosters

Coaching staff

Saskatchewan Roughriders Staff

Front Office

President and CEO – Jim Hopson
General Manager – Brendan Taman
Assistant General Manager – Jeremy O'Day
Director of Player Personnel – Craig Smith
Director of U.S. Scouting – Vacant

Head Coaches

Head Coach – Corey Chamblin
Assistant to Head Coach – Alex Smith

Offensive Coaches

Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs – Bob Dyce
Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line – Kris Sweet
Quarterbacks – Khari Jones
Receivers – Jason Tucker

Defensive Coaches

Defensive Coordinator – Richie Hall
Defensive Line – Mike Walker
Linebackers – Alex Smith
Defensive Backs – Barron Miles

Special Teams Coaches

Special Teams Coordinator – Craig Dickenson

Strength and Conditioning

Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – Dan Farthing

→ Coaching Staff
→ More CFL staffs

Playoffs

Schedule

Week	Game	Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Result	Attendance
20	West Semi-Final	Nov 11	3:30 PM CST	at Calgary Stampeders	36–30	Loss	30,027

West Semi-Final

Saskatchewan at Calgary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Roughriders	3	13	0	14	30
• Stampeders	0	19	7	10	36

Date: November 11
Location: McMahon Stadium
Calgary, AB
Game start: 2:30 PM MST
Game attendance: 30,027
Referee: Al Bradbury
TV announcers (TSN): Rod Black (Play by Play), Duane Forde (Colour), Lee Jones (Sideline)

References

2012 CFL season by team

Western	BC Calgary Edmonton Saskatchewan

Eastern	Hamilton Montreal Toronto Winnipeg

See also	2012 CFL Draft 100th Grey Cup

Saskatchewan Roughriders

Founded in 1910 Based in Regina, Saskatchewan

The Franchise	Franchise Records Players Seasons Head Coaches

Stadiums	Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field Mosaic Stadium (2017)

Culture	Labour Day Classic Banjo Bowl Gainer the Gopher

Important Figures	Ron Atchison Roger Aldag Bill Baker Al Benecick "Gluey" Hugh Campbell Ken Charlton Bill Clarke Ray Elgaard Edwin "Eddie" "Dynamite" James Bobby Jurasin Ron Lancaster Ed McQuarters George Reed Dave Ridgway Martin Ruby N. J. "Piffles" Taylor Ted Urness

Retired Numbers	23 Ron Lancaster 34 George Reed 36 Dave Ridgway 40 Mel Becket 44 Roger Aldag 55 Mario DeMarco 56 Ray Syrnyk 73 Gordon Sturtridge

Key Personnel	Owners: "Community" owned General Manager: Brendan Taman Head Coach: Corey Chamblin

Grey Cup Championships (4)	1966 1989 2007 2013

Western Division Championships (19)	1923 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1934 1951 1966 1967 1969 1972 1976 1989 1997 2007 2009 2010 2013

Current League Affiliations	League: Canadian Football League Division: West

Saskatchewan Roughriders seasons

1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Bold indicates Grey Cup victory