Site: Memorial Stadium
Time: 7:30
Line: Baltimore by 8
TV/Radio: No TV/WJFK (1300 AM)
Records: Hamilton 1-4, Baltimore 3-2 in Eastern Division
Last week: Baltimore outlasted Las Vegas, 38-33; Hamilton defeated Shreveport, 38-15.
On the sidelines: John Gregory is 23-32 since becoming Hamilton's coach in 1991. He is 56-73-1 overall, including a Grey Cup championship with Saskatchewan in 1989. Baltimore's Don Matthews (99-61-1 over 10 years) is attempting to become the sixth CFL coach to win 100 games.
What Hamilton has to do to win: Get another big game from QB Timm Rosenbach, who threw for 397 yards in the Tiger-Cats' first victory last week. Hamilton's five-receiver offense got Rosenbach untracked after a slow transition to the CFL. Baltimore ranks last in pass defense, giving up an average of 360 yards a game. But Hamilton ranks eighth in passing yards. Baltimore's big advantage is the turnover. The CFLs have 16 take-aways.
What Baltimore has to do to win: Take advantage of Hamilton's inconsistent offensive line and pressure Rosenbach into mistakes. DT Robert Presbury (five sacks) and O. J. Brigance (three) have eight of the team's 11 sacks. With the exception of the Winnipeg loss, the CFLs have had decent pressure on the opposing quarterback. On offense, Tracy Ham needs to stay away from club sandwiches and turnovers. Recovered from the food poisoning that forced him from the game in the first half last week, Ham needs to generate more second-half offense, and the CFLs have to learn to protect a lead better.
Injury report: amilton -- OLB John Motton (knee), OG Dale Sanderson (ankle), CB Corris Irvin (shoulder), DB Bobby Dawson (biceps), DL Gary Wilkerson (leg) and DE Steve Bates (hand) are out. Baltimore -- PR Stan Petry (neck) is out; WR Walter Wilson (hip), SB Chris Armstrong (knee), DT Robert Presbury (thumb), FB Peter Tuipulotu (hand), and QB Tracy Ham (foot) will play.
Outlook: Its first win of the season and getting the 1996 Grey Cup finally gave Hamilton some relief. But it will take a strong effort by the Tiger-Cats -- or a lot of Baltimore turnovers -- to make it two in a row. Baltimore won under adverse conditions in Las Vegas, beating the heat, the officials and food poisoning. The offense is due for a big game. This could be the one.
Baltimore roster
Coach: Don Matthews
No. ... ... Player ... ... ... ... P ... ... Ht. ... ... Wt. ... Exp.
00 .. .. .. Donald Igwebuike .. .. K ... ... 5-9 ... ... 185 ... R
1 ... .. .. Eddie Britton .. .. .. WR .. ... 5-9 ... ... 165 ... 2
3 ... .. .. Karl Anthony ... .. .. CB .. ... 5-9 ... ... 175 ... 5
7 ... .. .. Tracey Gravely ... ... OLB .. .. 6-3 ... ... 213 ... 4
8 ... .. .. Tracy Ham ... .. .. .. QB ... .. 5-11 .. ... 200 ... 8
9 ... .. .. Charles Anthony ... .. HB ... .. 6-2 ... ... 195 ... 3
10 .. .. .. Shawn Jones ... ... .. QB ... .. 6-1 ... ... 200 ... R
15 .. .. .. John Congemi .. ... .. QB ... .. 5-11 .. ... 188 ... 7
17 .. .. .. Michael Brooks ... ... FS ... .. 6-2 ... ... 190 ... R
20 .. .. .. Sheldon Canley ... ... RB ... .. 5-9 ... ... 200 ... R
21 .. .. .. Irvin Smith ... .. ... CB ... .. 5-10 .. ... 185 ... R
22 .. .. .. Josh Miller ... .. ... P ... ... 6-2 ... ... 215 ... R
27 .. .. .. Mike Pringle .. .. ... RB .. ... 6-0 ... ... 190 ... 2
32 .. .. .. Peter Tuipulotu .. ... FB .. ... 5-11 .. ... 215 ... R
33 .. .. .. Ken Watson ... ... ... HB .. ... 6-2 ... ... 200 ... 6
36 .. .. .. Lester Smith ... .. .. FS .. ... 5-11 .. ... 180 ... R
39 .. .. .. Matt Goodwin ... .. .. HB .. ... 6-2 ... ... 205 ... R
50 .. .. .. Earnest Fields ... ... MLB .. .. 5-11 .. ... 240 ... R
51 .. .. .. Nick Subis ... ... ... OL ... .. 6-5 ... ... 280 ... 2
54 .. .. .. Melendez Byrd .. .. .. MLB .. .. 6-1 ... ... 226 ... R
55 .. .. .. Malcolm Goodwin ... .. RE ... .. 6-2 ... ... 235 ... R
57 .. .. .. O.J. Brigance .. .. .. RE ... .. 6-0 ... ... 220 ... 4
61 .. .. .. O'Neil Glenn ... .. .. OL ... .. 6-2 ... ... 290 ... R
62 .. .. .. Keith Ballard .. .. .. OL ... .. 6-4 ... ... 300 ... R
64 .. .. .. Scott Miller ... .. .. OL ... .. 6-4 ... ... 285 ... R
66 .. .. .. Neal Fort ... .. .. .. OL ... .. 6-7 ... ... 310 ... R
67 .. .. .. Tom Fuhler .. .. .. .. DT ... .. 6-4 ... ... 285 ... R
68 .. .. .. Shahriar Pourdanesh .. OL ... .. 6-6 ... ... 290 ... R
72 .. .. .. Robert Presbury ... .. DT ... .. 6-2 ... ... 285 ... R
80 .. .. .. Joe Washington ... ... WR ... .. 6-3 ... ... 202 ... R
81 .. .. .. Chris Armstrong .. ... SB ... .. 6-2 ... ... 210 ... 3
84 .. .. .. Walter Wilson .. .. .. WR ... .. 5-10 .. ... 180 ... R
85 .. .. .. Shawn Beals ... ... .. SB ... .. 5-10 .. ... 185 ... 4
86 .. .. .. Robert Clark .. ... .. WR ... .. 5-10 .. ... 180 ... R
94 .. .. .. Jesse Becton .. ... .. OLB .. .. 6-0 ... ... 200 ... R
98 .. .. .. Jearld Baylis .. .. .. NT ... .. 6-0 ... ... 280 ... 8
Hamilton roster
Coach: John Gregory
No. ... ... Player ... ... ... ... P ... ... Ht. ... ... Wt. ... Exp.
1 ... .. .. Earl Winfield .. .. .. WR .. ... 5-11 ... .. 185 ... 8
2 ... .. .. Timm Rosenbach ... ... QB .. ... 6-2 ... ... 215 ... 1
3 ... .. .. Paul Osbaldiston .. .. K/P .. .. 6-3 ... ... 225 ... 9
5 ... .. .. Joey Jauch ... ... ... SB ... .. 6-1 ... ... 193 ... 3
6 ... .. .. Todd Wiseman ... .. .. DB ... .. 5-11 .. ... 190 ... 7
7 ... .. .. Terry Wright ... .. .. LB ... .. 6-0 ... ... 195 ... 4
8 ... .. .. Lonzell Hill ... .. .. WR ... .. 5-11 .. ... 190 ... 3
9 ... .. .. Eric Carter ... ... .. DB ... .. 6-0 ... ... 186 ... R
10 .. .. .. Todd Dillon ... ... .. QB ... .. 6-0 ... ... 190 ... 9
12 .. .. .. Dave Dinnall .. ... .. RB ... .. 5-11 .. ... 190 ... 3
13 .. .. .. Greg Eaglin ... ... .. DB ... .. 6-2 ... ... 190 ... 2
14 .. .. .. Adrion Smith .. ... .. CB ... .. 5-11 .. ... 175 ... R
17 .. .. .. Ken Evraire ... ... .. SB ... .. 6-1 ... ... 205 ... 7
21 .. .. .. Wally Zatylny .. .. .. SB ... .. 5-9 ... ... 177 ... 8
24 .. .. .. John Hood ... .. .. .. RB ... .. 6-0 ... ... 200 ... 3
25 .. .. .. Lee Knight .. .. .. .. FB ... .. 6-3 ... ... 230 ... 8
26 .. .. .. Rickey Royal ... .. .. DB ... .. 5-10 .. ... 186 ... 4
28 .. .. .. Don Odegard ... ... .. DB ... .. 5-11 .. ... 185 ... 1
31 .. .. .. P.J. Martin ... ... .. FB ... .. 6-0 ... ... 229 ... 2
44 .. .. .. Jeff Nichol ... ... .. LB ... .. 6-2 ... ... 220 ... R
45 .. .. .. Hassan Bailey .. .. .. LB ... .. 5-11 .. ... 200 ... 1
51 .. .. .. Dave Richardson ... .. T ... ... 6-4 ... ... 275 ... 7
55 .. .. .. Tim Cofield ... ... .. DE .. ... 6-2 ... ... 245 ... 4
57 .. .. .. Val St. Germain ... .. T ... ... 6-3 ... ... 300 ... R
58 .. .. .. Lou Cafazzo ... ... .. DT .. ... 6-3 ... ... 255 ... 6
59 .. .. .. Michael O'Shea ... ... LB .. ... 6-3 ... ... 223 ... 2
62 .. .. .. Pete Giftopoulos .. .. G ... ... 6-3 ... ... 260 ... 7
65 .. .. .. Darrell Harle .. .. .. C ... ... 6-2 ... ... 270 ... 6
67 .. .. .. Pat Mahon ... .. .. .. G ... ... 6-2 ... ... 255 ... 2
68 .. .. .. Scott Douglas .. .. .. G ... ... 6-3 ... ... 275 ... 4
75 .. .. .. Reggie Rogers .. .. .. DT .. ... 6-6 ... ... 285 ... 2
85 .. .. .. Richard Nurse .. .. .. SB .. ... 5-11 .. ... 182 ... 5
89 .. .. .. Cornell Burbage ... .. WR ... .. 5-10 .. ... 185 ... 2
91 .. .. .. Steve McKee ... ... .. LB ... .. 6-2 ... ... 223 ... R
95 .. .. .. Jeff Fields ... ... .. DT ... .. 6-3 ... ... 320 ... 4
99 .. .. .. Michael Philbrick .. .. DT .. .. 6-4 ... ... 275 ... 2
MEET THE TIGER-CATS
History: The Hamilton Tigers were formed in 1869 and played in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union in 1907. In 1948, the Hamilton Wildcats joined the IRFU, replacing the Tigers, who moved to the Ontario Rugby Football Union. In 1950, the Tigers and Wildcats merged to form the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the IRFU. They are celebrating their 125th anniversary this season. The team has won 14 Grey Cups.
Ownership: The Tiger-Cats became a community-owned club in July 1992. Roger Yachetti, senior partner in the law firm of Yachetti, Lanza and Restivo, serves as chairman and John Michaluk as president and chief executive officer. Last October, Toronto businessman David Macdonald assembled a limited partnership that raised $3 million in operating capital for the ownership group.
Key players: n his first CFL season, former NFL QB Timm Rosenbach (Phoenix Cardinals, 1989-1992) has thrown for 1,017 yards in five games, including 397 in last week's 38-15 victory over Shreveport. His go-to receiver is wide-out Earl Winfield, who has three of his club-record 59 touchdowns this season. Defense features CFL All-Star Tim Cofield (five sacks at rush end), DT Reggie Rogers (1987 No. 1 draft pick with Detroit) and FS Todd Wiseman, who had a 65-yard touchdown return last week.