2012 Saskatchewan Roughriders season

The 2012 Saskatchewan Roughriders season was the 55th season for the team in the Canadian Football League. The Roughriders finished the season in third place in the West Division with an 8–10 record, improving upon their 5–13 record from 2011. The Roughriders qualified for the playoffs and lost to the Calgary Stampeders in the Western Semi-Final.

2012 Saskatchewan Roughriders season
General manager	Brendan Taman
Head coach	Corey Chamblin
Home field	Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field
Results
Record	8–10
Division place	3rd, West
Playoff finish	Lost West Semi-Final
Team MOP	Weston Dressler
Team MOC	Dominic Picard
Team MOR	Xavier Fulton
Uniform

During the off-season, the Roughriders hired Corey Chamblin as their head coach after Ken Miller had retired.

Offseason

On December 15, 2011, Riders hired new head coach Corey Chamblin. On March 22, 2012, Riders traded their 2nd and 4th round picks in the Canadian College Draft to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for Odell Willis. The Roughriders also signed soon-to-be all star and former National Football League running back Kory Sheets while also signing three quarterbacks in February.

CFL draft

The 2012 CFL Draft took place on May 3, 2012 live at 1:00 PM CST. The Roughriders had the first overall draft pick and four selections total in the six-round draft, after trading away their second, fourth, and fifth round picks and acquiring Calgary's fifth round pick.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	1	Ben Heenan	OL	Saskatchewan
3	12	Samuel Hurl	LB	Calgary
5	35	Kevin Régimbald-Gagné	LB	Sherbrooke
6	39	Ismaël Bamba	WR	Sherbrooke

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Attendance	Record
A	Wed, June 13	at BC Lions	44–10	Loss	24,871	0–1
B	Fri, June 22	vs. Calgary Stampeders	33–31	Loss	30,998	0–2

 #  Games played with white uniforms.

Regular season

Under the direction of Corey Chamblin, the Roughriders were leading 3–0 going into their game against Calgary, having beaten Hamilton, Edmonton and BC. Kory Sheets had already scored three touchdowns in consecutive games, and Weston Dressler was starting off strong. Roughriders kick returner Tristan Jackson returned a missed field goal by Paul McCallum, the first Rider to return a kick return since 2007.

The Roughriders then began losing close games, losing in overtime in Calgary and losing by one point to Hamilton, both games in which they held double-digit leads in the fourth quarter. Following the bye week, the team lost their next three, extending their losing streak to five games after opening the season 3-0.

The Riders were heading into the Labour Day Classic needing to find a way to win against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. They defeated the Blue Bombers 52–0, which was the first time that Winnipeg was shut out in a game since 1969. The Roughriders then defeated Winnipeg again in the Banjo Bowl, winning it by a field goal by Sandro DeAngelis in the last minute, led by backup quarterback Drew Willy after Darian Durant was injured early in the game.

Willy then started in Montreal, but couldn't find a way to win. But Calgary was in Regina the next game, with Durant starting, and this time Chamblin "challenged" the defense to keep Jon Cornish away from the 100-yard mark, or "someone would lose their job". The defense was successful, and so was the offence, as the Roughriders got redemption from the Stampeders, winning 30–25.

The next game was against the defending champion BC Lions, with the season series tied one game apiece. The Roughriders got a huge win at home, with Greg Carr scoring a touchdown, and Weston Dressler, already having the greatest season of his career, snagging two. The team continued their winning streak against Toronto, dominating the Argonauts 36–10. The Roughriders RB Kory Sheets was going for the 1000 yard mark in rushing, in his first season in the CFL. He soon accomplished that, becoming the first Saskatchewan rookie running back to gain 1000 rushing yards since Darren Davis in 2000.

While the Roughriders lost their next two games, they nonetheless qualified for the playoffs after 16 games. A Calgary win over Hamilton gave the Riders a spot in the playoffs, as they were back to the playoffs under Chamblin control. Weston Dressler got his first career punt return touchdown, against Montreal on October 20.

Season standings

West Division
Team	GP	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pts
BC Lions	18	13	5	0	481	354	26	Details
Calgary Stampeders	18	12	6	0	534	431	24	Details
Saskatchewan Roughriders	18	8	10	0	457	409	16	Details
Edmonton Eskimos	18	7	11	0	422	450	14	Details

Season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Attendance	Record
1	Fri, June 29	at Hamilton Tiger-Cats	43–16	Win	25,682	1–0
2	Sun, July 8	vs. Edmonton Eskimos	17–1	Win	31,459	2–0
3	Sat, July 14	vs. BC Lions	23–20	Win	32,080	3–0
4	Thurs, July 19	at Calgary Stampeders	41–38 (OT)	Loss	32,228	3–1
5	Sat, July 28	vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats	35–34	Loss	32,898	3–2
6	Bye					3–2
7	Fri, Aug 10	at Edmonton Eskimos	28–20	Loss	43,178	3–3
8	Sun, Aug 19	at BC Lions	24–5	Loss	34,343	3–4
9	Sat, Aug 25	vs. Calgary Stampeders	17–10	Loss	33,427	3–5
ǁ 10 ǁ	Sun, Sept 2	vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers	52–0	Win	33,427	4–5
11	Sun, Sept 9	at Winnipeg Blue Bombers	25–24	Win	30,077	5–5
12	Sun, Sept 16	at Montreal Alouettes	28–17	Loss	23,147	5–6
ǁ 13 ǁ	Sun, Sept 23	vs. Calgary Stampeders	30–25	Win	33,427	6–6
14	Sat, Sept 29	vs. BC Lions	27–21	Win	32,360	7–6
15	Mon, Oct 8	at Toronto Argonauts	36–10	Win	25,176	8–6
16	Sat, Oct 13	at Edmonton Eskimos	37–20	Loss	38,678	8–7
17	Sat, Oct 20	vs. Montreal Alouettes	34–28	Loss	32,003	8–8
18	Sat, Oct 27	vs. Toronto Argonauts	31–26	Loss	29,747	8–9
19	Sat, Nov 3	at BC Lions	17–6	Loss	36,357	8–10

Team

Roster

2012 Saskatchewan Roughriders roster
Quarterbacks  4 Darian Durant  0 J. T. O'Sullivan  5 Drew Willy Running backs 26 Graeme Bell FB 32 Neal Hughes FB  1 Kory Sheets  9 Brandon West Wide receivers 84 Greg Carr 87 Aaron Hargreaves 77 Kierrie Johnson 18 Scott McHenry 88 Taj Smith Slotbacks  7 Weston Dressler 89 Chris Getzlaf		Offensive linemen 66 Chris Best G 65 Ben Heenan G 58 Xavier Fulton T 51 Alexander Krausnick-Groh C 57 Brendon LaBatte G 53 Patrick Neufeld G 68 Dominic Picard C Defensive linemen 91 Jay Alford DT 92 Zack Evans DT 93 Tearrius George DE 90 Brent Hawkins DE 74 Keith Shologan DT 11 Odell Willis DE		Linebackers 41 Tyron Brackenridge LB 22 Diamond Ferri LB 31 Samuel Hurl LB 52 Abraham Kromah LB  8 Joe Lobendahn MLB 45 Mike McCullough MLB 42 Graig Newman LB 99 Shomari Williams LB Defensive backs 28 Craig Butler S 30 Terrell Maze DB 39 Chris McKenzie DB 14 James Patrick S 16 Eddie Russ DB 21 Paul Woldu CB  3 Macho Harris DB Special teams  2 Sandro DeAngelis K 33 Ricky Schmitt P 47 Cory Huclack LS/LB 38 Tristan Jackson KR/CB		Injured List  6 Rob Bagg WR (9 Game) 86 Dallas Baker WR (1 Game) 10 Levi Brown QB (1 Game) 15 Milton Collins DB (9 Game) 49 Chris Ellis DL (9 Game) 17 Brooks Foster WR (1 Game) 64 Dan Goodspeed T (1 Game) 27 Stephfon Green RB (1 Game) 82 Justin Harper SB (9 Game) 19 Christopher Milo K (1 Game) 83 Sinorice Moss SB (9 Game) 96 Kenny Rowe DE (1 Game) 29 Jock Sanders RB (9 Game) 12 Jordan Sisco WR (9 Game) 24 Woodny Turenne CB (1 Game) 94 David Veikune DT (1 Game) 95 Mick Williams DT (1 Game) Practice Roster 63 Johan Asiata T 85 Ismael Bamba WR 67 Dan Clark G 76 Clayton Cooke WR 80 Philip Livas WR 25 Ramzee Robinson DB 81 Limas Sweed WR Italics indicate Import player Roster updated 2012-11-11 Depth Chart • Transactions 46 Active → More rosters

Coaching staff

2012 Saskatchewan Roughriders staff
	Front office President and ceo – Jim Hopson General manager – Brendan Taman Assistant general manager – Jeremy O'Day Director of player personnel – Craig Smith Director of U.S. Scouting – Vacant Manager of Video Systems – David Dunster Head coaches Head coach – Corey Chamblin Assistant to head coach – Alex Smith Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/running backs – Bob Dyce Run game coordinator/offensive line – Kris Sweet Quarterbacks – Khari Jones Receivers – Jason Tucker			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Richie Hall Defensive line – Mike Walker Linebackers – Alex Smith Defensive backs – Barron Miles Special teams coaches Special teams coordinator – Craig Dickenson Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning coordinator – Dan Farthing → Coaching Staff → More CFL staffs

Playoffs

Schedule

Week	Game	Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Result	Attendance
20	‖ West Semi-Final ‖	Nov 11	3:30 PM CST	at Calgary Stampeders	36–30	Loss	30,027

 ‖ # ‖  Games played with white retro alternate uniforms.

West Semi-Final

Saskatchewan at Calgary

1 2 3 4 Total Roughriders 3 13 0 14 30 • Stampeders 0 19 7 10 36 Date: November 11 Location: McMahon Stadium Calgary, AB Game start: 2:30 PM MST Game attendance: 30,027 Referee: Al Bradbury TV announcers (TSN): Rod Black (Play by Play), Duane Forde (Colour), Lee Jones (Sideline)