The Edmonton Elks defeated the Montreal Alouettes 32-29 in overtime on Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium, handing quarterback Davis Alexander his first regular-season loss as a starter and ending his bid to tie the Canadian Football League record for the best start to a career by a quarterback.
Alexander's record bid falls short
Alexander entered the game with 13 straight regular-season wins, needing one more to tie Bo Levi Mitchell's record of 14 consecutive victories set in 2016. However, the Elks had other plans, improving to 2-0 for the first time since 2019 under then-head coach Jason Maas, who now coaches the Alouettes. Montreal fell to 2-1.
Cody Fajardo completed 19 of 29 passes for 231 yards, a touchdown, and an interception, while adding four carries for 20 yards and the game-winning touchdown in overtime. Justin Rankin led the Elks with 179 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, plus five receptions for a team-high 51 yards.
Turnover battle and offensive stats
Edmonton won the turnover battle 3-2. Montreal earned 481 net yards of offence to Edmonton's 425. Alexander threw 29 of 44 for 356 yards and a touchdown. Travis Theis had 19 carries for 91 yards and a touchdown. Tyson Philpot led all receivers with 120 yards on eight catches.
Scoring summary
Montreal opened the scoring with a 50-yard field goal by Jose Maltos Diaz. They extended their lead to 10-0 with 5:17 left in the first half on a five-yard touchdown run by Travis Theis, capping a seven-play, 78-yard drive. A 38-yard field goal made it 13-0 with 2:13 remaining in the half.
Edmonton responded when former Alouettes receiver Austin Mack caught a nine-yard touchdown pass, finishing a nine-play, 70-yard drive to trail 13-7 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Elks took a 14-13 lead when Rankin rushed 36 yards into the end zone, accounting for half of a four-play, 72-yard drive. Rankin later added a 47-yard touchdown run, spurred by a block in the backfield from Fajardo, capping a five-play, 70-yard drive to go ahead 20-13 after a missed convert kick. A 36-yard field goal by Vincent Blanchard gave Edmonton a 10-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
The teams exchanged field goals before Tyler Snead caught a 34-yard touchdown pass to close the gap to 26-23 inside the three-minute mark. Montreal then forced overtime with a 31-yard field goal.
In the first overtime mini-game, Fajardo scored on a six-yard run on a fake handoff after the Alouettes had kicked a 33-yard field goal.
Injuries and notes
Luc Burton-Krahn had to be helped off the field with four minutes remaining in the first quarter. Alouettes defensive back Lorenzo Burns collided with teammate Micah Awe in the final minute of the third quarter and was helped off the field.
