REGINA - Ryan Dinwiddie took a big step forward in assuring he will be Saskatchewan's back-up quarterback this season in the Roughriders' 19-17 pre-season loss to the BC Lions on Sunday.
Dinwiddie led Saskatchewan to both of its touchdowns while completing 13-of-19 passes for 141 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
"It felt awesome," said Dinwiddie, who came into the game late in the first quarter. "I thought I'd be a bit rustier but it felt good commanding the offence and running the show. I wasn't happy with my game, but I thought I played okay."
The third-year quarterback, who missed most of last season after being released by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, came out firing during his first series late in the first quarter.
Down 10-0, Dinwiddie connected with Chris Getzlaf twice and Andy Fantuz before missing Prechae Rodriguez twice to set up a 45-yard field goal attempt, which was missed by Luca Congi.
After Saskatchewan's defence stuffed BC quarterback Casey Printers on a third-and-inches gamble, Dinwiddie led the Riders to a four-play, 29-yard touchdown drive that was capped by a nine-yard pass to Jason Clermont.
During his next series, the Riders quarterback found Rob Bagg for a nine-yard scoring play that was highlighted by a crushing block by Getzlaf on Hamid Mahmoudi that sprung Bagg to the end zone.
Dinwiddie brought Saskatchewan inside BC's 20-yard line again during Saskatchewan's final drive of the half, but that ended after he was picked off by Tad Crawford at the eight-yard line.
BC quarterback Travis Lulay then led the Lions downfield and set up a 43-yard Paul McCallum field goal that cut Saskatchewan's lead to 14-13 at halftime.
The first-year Rider said he will learn from his last drive to improve in next week's pre-season game in Calgary.
"I just have to go out there and take care of the football a bit better," said Dinwiddie, who had a touchdown pass to Clermont called back because of an offside penalty on Cary Koch.
"Obviously next week we're going to see some more coverages and see some more stars, so we just have to go out there and protect the football. We always say we want to end every drive with a kick here. I have to do better than that."
Although Dinwiddie didn't finish the game the way he wanted to, he did enough to grab the attention of head coach Ken Miller.
"I thought Ryan Dinwiddie was pretty special when he operated there in the second quarter," said Miller. "I think what we saw today would certainly solidify Ryan as the number two guy."
Cole Berquist, who is also competing for the No. 2 position in Saskatchewan, completed 7-of-9 passes for 102 yards during his two series.
The second-year Rider led Saskatchewan on a 16-play, 56-yard drive that was capped by a 36-yard Congi field goal, which put the Riders up 17-16.
Sean Whyte kicked a 30-yard field goal on the previous possession to give BC the lead. Whyte also kicked the 33-yard game-winning field goal three minutes into the fourth quarter to give the Lions a 19-17 lead.
Kent Smith, Saskatchewan's other quarterback, failed to move the Riders' offence in the fourth quarter. Despite having four series that started around midfield, Smith failed to move Saskatchewan into field-goal range while completing only two of his 12 passes for 32 yards.
Darian Durant, who started the game for Saskatchewan, finished the game 5-of-7 for 54 yards.
Lulay, who played most of the game for BC, completed 13-of-24 passes for 142 yards while leading the Lions to three drives that ended in field goals.
Printers started the game for BC and connected with Steven Black for a 15-yard touchdown. Paul McCallum also kicked a 43-yard field goal in the first quarter.
BC will wrap up its pre-season schedule at home against Edmonton on June 20. Saskatchewan will finish it's exhibition season in Calgary, where Miller said to expect a lot more of Durant and Dinwiddie on the field.
"It's likely that Darian and Ryan will play a little more next week, so the opportunity to play for those other two will be a little less," he said.
