THE BUZZ: History was made at B.C. Place Saturday night as the B.C. Lions' 23-17 win gave Wally Buono the all-time CFL coaching wins title.
WINNER: After tying Don Matthews mark two weeks ago, Buono finally got the record-setting win by defeating the Toronto Argonauts at home. The B.C. bench boss now sit alone atop the record books with 232 career victories -79 of those coming with the Lions.
For more on Buono, read here.
EARLY TURNOVERS: Despite a fumble recovery on the first possession, B.C. could not get the TD and instead had to settle for a field goal to take an early 3-0 lead. On the next Argo's drive, Korey Banks picked off Cody Pickett, setting up a Lions five-play drive that resulted in a Martell Mallett touchdown. The Argonauts got one back off a Lions turnover late in the second quarter when James Green blocked a Sean Whyte punt -the first blocked punt B.C. has allowed in six years- and Jordan Younger recovers the ball and runs into the endzone for an 18-yard touchdown.
KICKED: B.C. kicker Whyte made five of six field goal attempts on the night, including a 41-yarder, to help the Leos get the W.
PICKS AND SACKS: The Lions D were all over Argonauts quarterback Cody Pickett early, with four sacks and two interceptions in the first half. Korey Banks got both the picks while Ricky Foley had two QB tackles and Aaron Hunt and Nathan McKay Loescher recorded the other sacks. Foley finished the night with three sacks to put him in first place on the CFL sack list this season, while McKay Loescher had another one.
DOMINANT D: On the same note, the Lions defence only allowed 44 passing yards in the first two quarters, while the Argos ran for a total of 73 yards. However, they weren't as effective in the second half as Toronto finished the night with 166 passing yards and 98 yards rushing.
AVERAGE BUCK: Starting for the first time since the Lions' last meeting against Toronto, quarterback Buck Pierce had a decent showing. He completed 20 passes for 171 yards and was sacked twice. As for the ground game, Mallett only ran for 55 yards for a team total of 91 yards. There were also reports that Pierce injured his wrist during the game, which could cause even more quarterback problems for B.C.
HANDSHAKE: Buono was congratulated by Lions' owner David Braley and Dennis Skulsky. Canwest executive Skulsky has been rumoured as the next president of the Lions, filling the void left by the sudden 2008 death of Bob Ackles.
OLYMPIC FEEL: The coin toss was conducted by Canadian Olympic skier Britt Janyk, skicrossers Ashleigh McIvor and Davey Barr, snowboarder Tom Velisek and rower Andrew Byrnes. Byrnes was a Beijing 2008 gold medalist. B.C. Place Stadium hosts the opening ceremony on Feb. 12.
UP NEXT: The CFL's winningest coach of all-time and his B.C. Lions will go on the road next week as they head into Calgary to take on the 6-5 Stampeders.
