海角社区官网

While he聽would have loved for any of them to be in the stands at BMO Field, the quick trip from Lubbock, Texas, to 海角社区官网just wasn’t possible. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to stick at home and watch it on TV.鈥�

The 27-year-old made his first career start with Edmonton as a rookie in 2023, but Friday will be his first start with Toronto. It couldn鈥檛 come at a more significant time.

The Argos, riding a three-game winning streak heading into Friday, are fighting for their post-season lives after spending the early parts of the season in the basement of the CFL standings.

Doege is the team’s third-string quarterback but gets the start following Nick Arbuckle鈥檚 calf injury during last Saturday鈥檚 home game against the Edmonton Elks. First-string quarterback Chad Kelly, who hasn’t played since suffering a fractured right tibia and fibula during last season’s East Division Final against the Alouettes, teased a comeback on his Instagram two weeks ago but has yet to be declared ready by the team.

After two full practices behind centre, Doege is confident he can hold the fort and help extend the winning streak.

鈥淵ou鈥檝e kind of got to trust your preparation and really trust your eyes and your reads,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen I was in college, some of my coaches would say that reads are sacred. So if you go through your reads and trust what you are reading, you will be fine.鈥�

Doege spent his college years at Bowling Green University (where he was teammates with current Argos鈥� offensive lineman Ryan Hunter) and shared the starting job with James Morgan (who is now the backup quarterback for Montreal). He would be the full-time starter in his sophomore year and led the Mid-American Conference with 2,660 passing yards to go with 27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

In 2019, he transferred to West Virginia where he played for three seasons, and was second in the Big 12 Conference with 3,048 passing yards in 2021. Doege also played a season at Troy University before signing his first professional contract with Edmonton in 2023.

With the Alouettes rolling into town, led by former Argos quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson,聽Toronto鈥檚 head coach Ryan Dinwiddie understands that his team must avoid overloading the plate of his new quarterback.

Dinwiddie was especially happy with how Doege, despite being 鈥渃old off the bench鈥� last Saturday, managed to control Toronto鈥檚 crucial final drive that led to the winning field goal. That鈥檚 just one of many traits he admires about his quarterback.

鈥淚 think he鈥檚 got the confidence, and you鈥檝e got to have the confidence to play that position,鈥� the coach said. 鈥淗e can create with his legs, he spanned out last week before getting the ball out of his hands to not take the sack, which was a good play for us 鈥� We feel like we can get some stuff done with him in the game.鈥�

Montreal (6-7) is a game ahead of 海角社区官网(5-8) in the standings but owns the tiebreaker, having won the two first meetings earlier this season. For a team that wants to be playing football into November, Friday鈥檚 game is as pivotal as any.

鈥淏ig game. They are all going to be big games moving forward but this is a big one,鈥� Dinwiddie said. 鈥淚 told the guys, don鈥檛 let the magnitude of it get in the way. It鈥檚 another football game but at the same time we understand how important it is.鈥�

That was going to be one of Doege鈥檚 strategies as well 鈥� just feeling the flow of the game and taking what the opponent鈥檚 defence gives him.

鈥淵ou go out and play free, just like in college where you play like you are in your backyard,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e very confident. When I got here it was very clear to me that the standard around here was winning, so we鈥檙e going to go out there and expect to win the game.鈥�