By Chad Klassen

Lions offense looking for a rebound in 2018 under new coordinator

May 24, 2018 | 4:22 PM

KAMLOOPS — Like their entire 2017 season, the B.C. Lions offense started off hot, scoring an average of 31 points a game during the 5-2 start. 

That stretch included time with Travis Lulay, who took over when Jonathon Jennings was injured in a Week 4 win over Hamilton. But beyond the explosive start, the wheels came off. 

“It was frustrating,” said Jennings, who’s coming back healthy. “We were inconsistent last year. I think that was one of the biggest things that we need to improve on this year. Something we learned is, we can’t be inconsistent. You’ve got to stay on the field. We didn’t do a good job of staying on the field and didn’t do a good job of closing out games.”

Jennings had 16 touchdowns to 19 interceptions in 15 games played, during which he battled through the injury to his throwing shoulder. The biggest takeaway from 2017 was patience and not forcing throws that just aren’t there. 

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“You make smarter decisions. If it’s not there, don’t force anything. I think that’s one of the biggest things I did last year is, sometimes I was uncomfortable and I still tried to force it in there, and that obviously didn’t pan out,” he noted. “Knowing when to be aggressive is another thing, making sure we’re not too aggressive all the time, making sure we’re utilizing our match-ups.” 

The struggles, especially late in the season, meant the Lions were only scoring an average 22 points. It’s not a bad number, but missing was that killing instinct, putting teams away. In three of the last six games, the Lions blew sizeable leads. 

All of it led to missing the playoffs for the first time in 20 years, and was followed by changes, namely the hiring of new GM Ed Hervey. Now former Leos quarterback Jarious Jackson is the offensive coordinator. 

“Jarious, he does a great job of utilizing all receivers and using their strengths,” said Jennings. “I think that’s what we’re going to do this year is, we’re going to make sure we’re utilizing everyone, getting people moved around, getting the ball out of our hands quickly, and getting the ball into playmakers’ hands.”

For coach Wally Buono, he feels the Jennings will bounce back after a few sophomore struggles.

“Young quarterbacks go through stages,” said Buono. “He got the injury, the offensive line we had to make changes because of injuries, we were not as good as we could’ve or should’ve been. A lot of things fall into play and you start struggling yourself personally, then all of a sudden things start to cave in on you.”

For Lulay, who comes into the year after knee surgery, he’s excited about what the offense will bring. 

“I’ve been to a lot of training camps and there is just no question that we have a lot of really good talent here, particularly on the offensive side of the ball,” he said. “We have some explosive players, we have some big boys up front, some guys with some veteran experience up front, so we really have a good mix. Once we start to figure out Jarious’ deal, I think we’ll get a little better sense of the flow of our offense. But I’m really optimistic.”