When the Ottawa REDBLACKS visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday night, they’ll be looking forward, not back.

Despite a pair of recent losses that followed a pair of wins to open the season, an up-tempo practice week has left Head Coach Rick Campbell and his team fired up for a chance to even the season series with Winnipeg.

The REDBLACKS will have a somewhat new look for the Week 6 contest, with quarterback Jonathon Jennings getting the start under centre in place of the injured Dominique Davis. A few other injuries to players like Antoine Pruneau, Jonathan Rose and Kevin Brown will give opportunities for the next man up to step in and make a difference.

STORYLINES

Jennings debuts

Due to starting quarterback Dominique Davis’ injury, Jennings will be called on by the REDBLACKS’ coaching staff to lead the team to victory in Week 6 against Winnipeg. Jennings, who as a former BC Lion is no stranger to the Blue Bombers, will get his first start in an Ottawa jersey. In his four-year career, Jennings has put up 12,497 passing yards and 66 passing touchdowns on 980 completions. Keep an eye out not only for his cannon of an arm, but also for his legs, whom he has used for a total of 185 carries in his CFL career, combining for 983 yards and six rushing touchdowns.

Getting back to Ws

Football is a sport that requires a short memory from week to week, whether you win or lose, so that you can always focus on the task at hand. However, both of these teams’ memories, specifically Ottawa’s, may not be short enough to forget about the last contest between these two teams, which took place only two weeks ago. Winnipeg defeated the REDBLACKS 29-14 in a heated battle between two undefeated teams at the time. Ottawa will look to avenge this loss and try to once again take a hold of the second place in the East Division standings.

Scouting the opposition

Lucky no. 7

Probably one of the CFL’s most dynamic rookies since the start of this season, receiver Lucky Whitehead has impressed a lot of people in this start to the season. In four games played, Whitehead has caught 15 of the 20 passes targeted at him, collecting 212 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Last week, Whitehead turned a lot of heads with a 104 yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the opening play of the game against the Toronto Argonauts, and the REDBLACKS will definitely have to keep an eye out for number 7.

The league’s top offense

Leading the league in points per game played with an average of 34.5 points per game (138 points in 4 games) are the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who count on many threatening offensive weapons, such as Matt Nichols, Andrew Harris, Lucky Whitehead and Nic Demski, among others. Ottawa’s defense will have to bring its A-game in order to stop the Bombers’ dynamic offense.

Undefeated

The Bombers are currently the only team in the Canadian Football League that remains undefeated here in Week 6. So far this season, Winnipeg has remained perfect, beating BC 33-23, Edmonton 28-21, Ottawa 29-14 and Toronto 48-21.

GAME INFO

Ottawa REDBLACKS @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Week 6 – July 19th, 2019

Kickoff – 8:30 p.m. ET | IG Field

BROADCAST INFO

8:30 PM ET | EN: TSN | Radio: EN: TSN 1200 | FR: 104,7 FM Outaouais