1993 - US Expansion
Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 9:08 pm
1993
The new B.C. Lions, under the guidance of Head Coach Dave Ritchie and General Manager Eric Tillman signed a number of proven CFL veterans including James “Wild” West, Danny McManus, Rob Smith, Less Browne, Tyrone Jones and Sean Foudy. Then exciting rookies such as Cory Philpot, draft pick Tom Europe, Derek Grier and a few others were added to the roster. A contract dispute with Jon Volpe kept him from training camp but by the time the second game rolled around against Toronto he was in the lineup. The team struck quickly with wins over Saskatchewan and Toronto before grinding to a stop in Winnipeg after only three days between road games. However, they would only lose two more through July, August, and midway through September cruising to an 8-3 record for the best start since 1987. Danny Barrett broke one of the most prestigious of all records – single-game passing yards – tossing 30 completions for 601 yards eclipsing a mark of 586 set back in 1954 by Sam “The Rifle” Etcheverry. The team entered the September 18 game in Calgary in a battle for first place. However, that night at McMahon Stadium Doug Flutie and the Stamps took a 24-11 halftime lead to go on to a 40-21 victory. That marked the turning point and the Lions would win only two of the next seven games, sliding to a 64-27 pounding against Sacramento in the regular season finale. Nevertheless, they made the playoffs and faced Calgary in the Western Semi-Final on November 14. Despite outplaying the Stampeders, generating twice as much offense, the team could not score a touchdown and fell 17-9 to the Stamps. However, the 10-8 record was a huge turnaround and gave promise for good things to come in 1994.
West Division Team GP W L T PF PA Pts
Calgary Stampeders 18 15 3 0 646 418 30
Edmonton Eskimos 18 12 6 0 507 372 24
Saskatchewan Roughriders 18 11 7 0 511 495 22
British Columbia Lions 18 10 8 0 574 583 20
Sacramento Gold Miners 18 6 12 0 498 509 12
East Division Team GP W L T PF PA Pts
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 18 14 4 0 646 421 28
Hamilton Tiger-Cats 18 6 12 0 316 567 12
Ottawa Rough Riders 18 4 14 0 387 517 8
Toronto Argonauts 18 3 15 0 390 593 6
Semi-Finals - Saskatchewan 13 - Edmonton 51
Semi-Finals - B.C. 9 - Calgary 17
Semi-Finals - Ottawa 10 - Hamilton 21
Finals - Hamilton 19 - Winnipeg 20
Finals - Edmonton 29 - Calgary 15
Grey Cup - Edmonton 33 - Winnipeg 23
The new B.C. Lions, under the guidance of Head Coach Dave Ritchie and General Manager Eric Tillman signed a number of proven CFL veterans including James “Wild” West, Danny McManus, Rob Smith, Less Browne, Tyrone Jones and Sean Foudy. Then exciting rookies such as Cory Philpot, draft pick Tom Europe, Derek Grier and a few others were added to the roster. A contract dispute with Jon Volpe kept him from training camp but by the time the second game rolled around against Toronto he was in the lineup. The team struck quickly with wins over Saskatchewan and Toronto before grinding to a stop in Winnipeg after only three days between road games. However, they would only lose two more through July, August, and midway through September cruising to an 8-3 record for the best start since 1987. Danny Barrett broke one of the most prestigious of all records – single-game passing yards – tossing 30 completions for 601 yards eclipsing a mark of 586 set back in 1954 by Sam “The Rifle” Etcheverry. The team entered the September 18 game in Calgary in a battle for first place. However, that night at McMahon Stadium Doug Flutie and the Stamps took a 24-11 halftime lead to go on to a 40-21 victory. That marked the turning point and the Lions would win only two of the next seven games, sliding to a 64-27 pounding against Sacramento in the regular season finale. Nevertheless, they made the playoffs and faced Calgary in the Western Semi-Final on November 14. Despite outplaying the Stampeders, generating twice as much offense, the team could not score a touchdown and fell 17-9 to the Stamps. However, the 10-8 record was a huge turnaround and gave promise for good things to come in 1994.
West Division Team GP W L T PF PA Pts
Calgary Stampeders 18 15 3 0 646 418 30
Edmonton Eskimos 18 12 6 0 507 372 24
Saskatchewan Roughriders 18 11 7 0 511 495 22
British Columbia Lions 18 10 8 0 574 583 20
Sacramento Gold Miners 18 6 12 0 498 509 12
East Division Team GP W L T PF PA Pts
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 18 14 4 0 646 421 28
Hamilton Tiger-Cats 18 6 12 0 316 567 12
Ottawa Rough Riders 18 4 14 0 387 517 8
Toronto Argonauts 18 3 15 0 390 593 6
Semi-Finals - Saskatchewan 13 - Edmonton 51
Semi-Finals - B.C. 9 - Calgary 17
Semi-Finals - Ottawa 10 - Hamilton 21
Finals - Hamilton 19 - Winnipeg 20
Finals - Edmonton 29 - Calgary 15
Grey Cup - Edmonton 33 - Winnipeg 23