Argos seek revenge in rematch with Ticats after Labour Day rout

The Toronto Argonauts will be looking for redemption Friday following their Labour Day drubbing at the hands of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

There's no two ways about it: the Ti-Cats laid the smack down on the Argos in Week 13. Hamilton jumped out to a 27-1 lead in the first half before walking away with a 42-12 win.

Leading the way for Hamilton was former Argos quarterback Zach Collaros, who tossed for 400 yards and four touchdowns in Monday's landslide victory. Collaros is enjoying a breakout season, as the 27-year-old leads the league in total yards (3,032), and touchdowns (22).

Collaros' dominance was not lost on his former head coach.

"He’s playing at a phenomenally high level," Argos head coach Scott Milanovich told CFL.ca. "Anybody would tell you that ... for the past seven or eight games Zach has been playing as well as anybody in this game."

And that's the task before the Argos: Stop the league's best offense, captained by the likely MVP.

Hamilton's strength is the passing game, which also happens to be Toronto's biggest weakness. The Ticats lead the league in passing yards, while the Argos rank dead last in passing yards allowed per game.

Aside from shutting down Hamilton's potent passing game, the Argos will also need to improve their performance in second-down scenarios. The Ticats converted on 70 percent of their second downs in Monday's contest.

If Toronto has any shot at taking the rematch, its defense - which has allowed 80 points in its last two contests - needs to step up.

The Argos' offense isn't guiltless, either, having mustered just 27 points as they've dropped their last two games. Quarterback Trevor Harris received some tough love from Milanovich after his lackluster performance on Labour Day.

"Trevor had his share of the blame," said Milanovich. "We talked. He played OK. In a game where their quarterback played great, we needed our quarterback to play great. Trevor didn’t play bad but he didn't play great."

The Argonauts will at least have the advantage of playing at home, where they're 3-0 this season. The Ticats are 4-2 on the road.

The stakes are high for both squads. If the Argos win, they'll move back into a tie with Hamilton atop the East. However, if Hamilton wins, they'll stretch their lead to two games over the reeling Argos.

The bitter rivals will butt heads once more on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.