Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Zach CollarosThe Canadian Press
It was just over a year ago when the buzz about Zach Collaros first began.
The 25-year-old quarterback had helped save the Toronto Argonauts from the jaws of disaster. Star pivot Ricky Ray, unquestionably the Argos' best player, was out for some seven weeks with a shoulder injury, and the team's 2013 season could have crumbled. The youngster with little CFL experience took the team to a 5-2 record in Ray's absence and kept the Double Blue in the hunt. It was then that pundits saw in Collaros that special fleet-footed something that resonates in the Canadian game, a fire, fearlessness, a kid who seizes opportunity.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats thought so highly of the six-foot, 216-pound youngster that they released veteran Henry Burris and signed Collaros to his first starting job. The rivalry between the two Ontario teams got a little more fuel.
"I took real notice of Zach when we were trying to catch the Argos last year for first place and all they did was go on the road and win against tough opponents," Ticats coach and general manager Kent Austin said. "That's when I realized the guy was a real winner."
Friday, the 6-7 first-place Ticats face the Argos, nipping at their heels in the East at 5-8. The Tabbies, winners of four in a row, are on the longest winning streak in four years. Collaros has won five of his six appearances since returning from an early season concussion, averaging 302 yards a game in that stretch. The last time these two teams met, Collaros wasn't himself, just off that concussion, yet the Ticats won a 13-12 clunker on Labour Day. With Toronto now riding a two-game winning high, the table is set for a much more intriguing matchup this time between Collaros and his old squad.
"Are people really saying I'm one up on Ricky now? Well, let's try to make it two," said now-26-year-old Collaros with a laugh.
It doesn't surprise Ray in the least to see Collaros leading a team so young.
"He's got that good moxie as a quarterback and he gives his team a lot of confidence," Ray said.. "He's got a style where he can sit in the pocket and make the throws and beat you that way, or if you're going to get a free rusher in, he's able to make the guy miss and turn a negative play into something positive."
The Ticats stumbled to a 1-6 start on the year as Collaros missed five starts with concussion-like symptoms following an illegal hit versus the Edmonton Eskimos in Week 2. But now, Collaros appears to be making up for lost time and helping lead Hamilton's turnaround.
Collaros has a history of making good on opportunities. He played to a 41-1 record and two state titles in his three-year opportunity as a starter at Steubenville High School in Ohio. As a sophomore in the NCAA, he preserved Cincinnati's undefeated 2009 season and then won the starting job in his last two seasons. Then he seized his chance in Toronto and has never forgotten how that propelled him.
"I had a good team around me in Toronto when we went 5-2; what if I had the same stats but we went 2-5 in that opportunity?" Collaros said. "I wouldn't be sitting where I am right now."
Rachel Brady