OTTAWA

There weren’t many missteps for Logan Kilgore in his CFL debut as a starting quarterback Sunday night in Ottawa, and certainly none that cost him much of anything.

But with the clock running down and the Argos lining up a 53-yard field goal that would eventually win Toronto the game, the first-time CFL starter let his youth show a little bit, even if he was following orders.

As Kilgore trotted out on the field to serve as holder for the game-deciding kick, head coach Scott Milanovich was barking in the young man’s ear (through his headset) to remind everyone around him to get downfield and cover in the event the field goal was wide. A single point at that stage of the game would be huge.

Kilgore, eager to please as any young player would be in that situation, immediately relayed the message, but did so with kicker Lirim Hajrullahu well within earshot.

“He’s telling the guys, “Hey, get down there and cover. Every point counts,” Hajrullahu said. “I’m like ‘Logan! Hey! I’m going to make this.”

And, true to his word, Hajrullahu did, his fifth consecutive make of the night, none shorter than 37 yards in his best night as an Argo.

Ironically, Kilgore’s last time in the position of starting for the first time came in his freshman year at Middle Tennessee State in a game very similar to the one played Sunday night in Ottawa. In that game, he handled himself quite well taking the favoured Minnesota Golden Gophers right down to a final play in which Kilgore’s Blue Raiders lost on a made Minnesota field goal.

“I’m glad he didn’t tell me about that before the game,” Hajrullahu said laughing.

It was that kind of night for the Argos where nothing could take the shine off a well-deserved win.

Coming into the game, much was made of the matchup between first-time starter and grizzled veteran of 243 career starts, Henry Burris.

But as Kilgore himself pointed out afterwards, that was just one of many obstacles the Argos had to overcome.

“You consider everything that happens,” Kilgore began, sounding much wiser than his 26 years. “We have our starting centre (Greg Van Roten) at home (with a bum ankle) so we have a rookie starting at centre. We have numerous receivers, even during the game, out and guys being plugged in to different situations. There were a lot of guys who had to step up. The quarterback situation is obviously going to get a lot of attention, but if you look team-wide there were a lot of guys who stepped up and I’m just proud we were able to do that.”

‘Proud’ was a word that got a lot of use in the aftermath of the win that would vault the Argos past the Redblacks into first place. But most of it was directed at the young signal-caller whose poise and calm helped make a win possible.

“Logan kept us on the field in a lot of instances where we needed to stay on the field and the game plan was executed pretty well,” veteran offensive lineman Chris Van Zeyl said. “You know what? I can’t say enough good things about him. He played his butt off … He did an incredible job just keeping everybody under control and calm. I can’t say enough about his work and the way he played.”

Milanovich almost laughed out loud when he was asked if this was the perfect game for a young quarterback to experience.

“On the road against a team that was in the Grey Cup last year against a Hall of Fame quarterback, a good defence?” Milanovich said stifling the laugh. “Yeah, he did a nice job.”

Overshadowed, though, by a surprisingly super-efficient performance by a first-time starting quarterback and a perfect night from the team’s kicker was another solid night by the Toronto defence.

The defence made sure the Argos won the game-telling turnover battle, picking off Burris twice and backup Dan O’Brien another time as the Redblacks’ fake field-goal attempt blew up in their faces.

A.J. Jefferson had two of those picks including a game-sealing theft with 52 seconds left in the game and Burris and the Redblacks mounting one last comeback attempt.

But perhaps best of all was the way the Toronto defence began the game when Kilgore and the offence came out of the gate slowly.

They held Burris and the Redblacks off the scoreboard right up until Ottawa’s final series of the first half, allowing their young quarterback to get his feet under him and preventing him from having to play catchup, which is often disastrous for an inexperienced pivot.

Ottawa came into the game as the top-scoring team in the league and holding them to just 20 points speaks volumes to where the Toronto’s defence is right now.

And with Kilgore showing signs of being fully capable of holding down the the fort until Ricky Ray returns from injury, the bye week for the Argos and the remainder of the schedule looks that much brighter this morning.

mganter@postmedia.com

@Mike_Ganter