So, the Riders had an ugly game last night, but they pulled it out on a rouge.
Score in the 3rd quarter was 17-0 for Ottawa. But then the Riders found some zip, and by late in the fourth, the score was tied 17-17 (one kickoff return of 97 yards for a TD, an offensive TD, and a field goal).
But then they sputtered late in the 4th quarter and on 3rd down, had to kick the ball away. Looked like OT coming up.
Except, the Riders’ punter kicked it into the end-zone. The Ottawa player didn’t make the catch and had to scramble for it. By the time he had the ball, two Riders were in the end-zone and tackled him. One point for the Riders on the rouge.
Ottawa got the ball back, but a Rider interception and the game was done.
Final score: 18-17 for the Riders.
That Ottawa player is going to have an awkward week: “you just had to catch the ball and run it out 5 yards!”
The ending of this 2010 Montreal / Toronto game is one of my favorite CFL plays. It’s a tie game, and Montreal attempts a game-winning field goal. They miss the kick, and a Toronto player punts the ball back out of the end zone to deny the single (rouge) point. The Montreal kicker recovers the punt, and punts it back into the end zone. Toronto muffs recovering the punt, and a Montreal player recovers the ball for a touchdown.
Fans of the Chicago Bears may recognize the Montreal coach – yes, it’s Marc Trestman.
There was a Grey Cup game no less a long time ago that ended in a similar way except that it was punted out the end zone a second time and when the original kicking team’s player fielded it the opposing was called for no yards. A second field goal attempt was successful, so it wasn’t a rouge and the margin was 3 points.
OK, that’s three people with that spelling. To be clear here, is this something named after reddish cosmetics, or after someone or something that breaks the usual rules?
Rouge (like the color), not rogue (like the scoundrel), though the term, in Canadian football, is used interchangeably with “single,” which seems to be what’s more commonly used, IME.
One also gets a single if a kickoff (or, punt, I think) isn’t returned out of the end zone.
Looking at the current season’s stats, the CFL kicker with the most singles is Ottawa’s Brett Maher. He’s played in 15 games, and has 8 singles (7 on missed field goals, one on a kickoff). So, it doesn’t happen with great frequency.
Rather than talking about scoring on a missed field goal, the better way to put it is that the entire end zone is a goal. If you kick it through the goal post, it’s automatically three points. If you kick it anywhere else in the goal area, you get a point, unless the defenders run it out.
