# 1978 Ottawa Rough Riders season

The 1978 Ottawa Rough Riders finished in first place in the Eastern Conference with a 12–4 record.
In 1978, Tony Gabriel was named the Outstanding Player in the CFL. He was the first Canadian to win that honour since Russ Jackson in 1969. No other Canadian has won the award since Gabriel. By 1978, Condredge Holloway's interception totals had dropped from 9, 6 and 5 in his first three years to just 2 on 214 attempts in 1978. Holloway's share of Ottawa's passing yards was between 25.7 – 32.8 percent over the first three years. In 1978, it soared to 49.7 percent. Holloway's higher profile and obvious improvement would be factors in Clements' May, 1979 trade to Saskatchewan.

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record |
| A | June 14 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 24–16 | 1–0 |
| B | June 21 | vs. BC Lions | L 20–21 | 1–1 |
| C | June 28 | vs. Montreal Alouettes | L 4–25 | 1–2 |
| D | July 4 | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 27–28 | 1–3 |

## Regular season
### Standings

Eastern Football Conference :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
| Ottawa Rough Riders | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 395 | 261 | 22 |
| Montreal Alouettes | 16 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 331 | 295 | 17 |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 16 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 225 | 403 | 11 |
| Toronto Argonauts | 16 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 234 | 389 | 8 |

### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record |
| 1 | July 11 | vs. Montreal Alouettes | W 17–10 | 1–0 |
| 2 | July 26 | at Toronto Argonauts | L 16–20 | 1–1 |
| 3 | Aug 1 | at Edmonton Eskimos | W 24–23 | 2–1 |
| 4 | Aug 8 | vs. Toronto Argonauts | W 37–18 | 3–1 |
| 5 | Aug 15 | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 32–6 | 4–1 |
| 6 | Aug 23 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 36–8 | 5–1 |
| 7 | Aug 30 | vs. Calgary Stampeders | W 27–16 | 6–1 |
| 8 | Sept 5 | at Montreal Alouettes | W 23–18 | 7–1 |
| 8 | Sept 9 | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | L 29–31 | 7–2 |
| 9 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 10 | Sept 24 | vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders | W 53–18 | 8–2 |
| 11 | Sept 30 | at Toronto Argonauts | W 24–3 | 9–2 |
| 12 | Oct 9 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 5–25 | 9–3 |
| 13 | Oct 15 | vs. Montreal Alouettes | W 13–10 | 10–3 |
| 14 | Oct 21 | at BC Lions | L 17–20 | 10–4 |
| 15 | Oct 28 | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 34–9 | 11–4 |
| 16 | Nov 4 | at Montreal Alouettes | W 34–9 | 12–4 |

## Postseason

| Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Record |
| East Final | Nov 19 | vs. Montreal Alouettes | L 16–21 | 0–1 |

## Player stats
### Passing

| Player | Attempts | Completions | Percentage | Yards | Touchdowns | Interceptions |
| Tom Clements | 239 | 152 | 63.6 | 1990 | 17 | 12 |
| Condredge Holloway | 214 | 132 | 61.7 | 1970 | 12 | 2 |

### Receiving

| Player | Games Played | Receptions | Yards | Average | Long | Touchdowns |
| Jeff Avery | 16 | 50 | 767 | 15.3 | 68 | 3 |
| Tony Gabriel | 16 | 67 | 1070 | 16.0 | 80 | 11 |
| Art Green | 16 | 40 | 580 | 14.5 | 47 | 6 |

### Rushing

| Player | Rushes | Yards | Average | Touchdowns | Long |
| Art Green | 58 | 238 | 4.1 | 3 | 64 |

## Awards and honours

* CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award – Tony Gabriel (TE)
* CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Tony Gabriel (TE)
* CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award – Jim Coode (OT)