Lirim Hajrullahu’s 45-yard field goal had just given the Toronto Argonauts a 45-42 lead over Ottawa with just under three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
The fans at BMO Field erupted, then prayed. They were hoping the defence would be able to keep Ottawa out of the end zone or at least hold them to a field goal. All eyes were on the playing surface – well, not all eyes.
Quarterback Nick Arbuckle went through his normal routine, looking at an iPad from the previous series, and talking things over with quarterback coach Mike Miller.
“We had just gone on a 5 or 6 play drive to get into field goal range to take the lead,” the QB told Argonauts.ca. “I was watching film, seeing what they were doing from a bird’s eye view in case we needed to go back on the field again.”
After the Redblacks made a couple of first downs, and with Arbuckle comfortable with what he had seen from the all-24 video, he snuck a peek to check what was going on, to see the clock and gauge what the situation might be should they get the ball back in regulation.
The visitors scored a touchdown, and after the ensuing kickoff the Argos needed 71 yards in 33 seconds to reach the end zone as a field goal would leave them a point short. A desperation pass toward Damonte Coxie was picked off, an unfair ending for a quarterback who had just played his butt off, throwing for 317 yards, a trio of TDs, and leading the Boatmen to 35 offensive points.
Since a slow start in the first two games of the season, the Argos have averaged 32.6 points per game over their last seven outings, which would rank them first in the CFL when compared to the seasonal average of the other eight teams.
But wins and losses, not points scored, are a team’s touchstone. By that standard the Argos have been disappointing, winning just two of nine games, with five of those losses coming in games decided in the last three minutes.
While the quarterback seemed uncomfortable focusing on the offensive results with the overall record not being great, he did answer Argonauts.ca’s question about where the greatest improvements have been since the beginning of the season.
“I think overall, just chemistry,” explained last season’s Grey Cup MVP. “Understanding who we are and what we can do well and being able to play into that. A lot of things that we’re building chemistry wise early in the season are just starting to get rolling now. We’ve got to continue to keep growing and continue to get better.”
The offense has been getting better, as has the QB. One person who has watched the growth of Arbuckle more closely than anyone is quarterbacks coach Mike Miller.
“He continues to see the field well,” Miller told Argonauts.ca. “He’s a good communicator, he helps guys at all positions, and he’s good on the sidelines, good in the meeting room. He’s taken this role and done a really nice job with it.”
Miller knows a thing or two about quarterbacking. He was the passing game coordinator for Kurt Warner in Arizona, was Anthony Calvillo’s quarterback coach and offensive coordinator in Montreal and mentored Chad Kelly in his MOP season with the Argos.
“He’s got a really professional approach to everything,” Miller said of Arbuckle. “It matters that he brings everyone with him, which is the sign of a good leader. He communicates that well on the sidelines. Nick is usually not a guy that makes the same mistake twice and I think that’s what separates him. He’s an incredibly hard worker.”
As with anyone playing his position, there are mistakes, evidenced by Arbuckle’s league leading interception total, but it’s much tougher for a quarterback to complete passes when the opposition knows he’s going to throw. The Argos haven’t been able to establish any sort of running attack, and astonishingly, at the midway point of the season, the 31-year-old QB leads the Argos with just 124 rushing yards.
“One of the biggest things you’ve got to do is you’ve got to keep hope up,” said the Georgia State product. “You’ve got to make sure that people still believe, rightfully so, that you can turn the season around. Just because you went 2-7 in the first nine doesn’t mean you can’t go 7-2 or something similar in the last nine.”
The Argos mantra under head coach Ryan Dinwiddie is a simple one, to go 1-0 every week. Arbuckle has latched on to that concept and it making sure the newer Argos buy in.
“At the same time, you have to fight human nature of feeling down and out,” he explained. “Especially the new guys coming from college football where they have 12-game seasons. If you’re 2-7 in a 12-game season it’s pretty much over for you. They have to get used to 66 percent of the (CFL) teams make the playoffs and you have 18 games. We’re only halfway there, so there’s a lot you can do to turn around the season.
“You look at the way we’ve lost, it’s not like we have to make drastic changes to have a different record,” the QB continued. “It’s a few plays here or there that could have made a big difference in a lot of these games, and we could have been sitting at a much different record. It’s just finding a way to make those plays.”
If Arbuckle continues to play as well as he has, turning things around is certainly a possibility. A turnaround starts by going 1-0 this week with a Friday night game in Edmonton.