1983 Ottawa Rough Riders season

1983 Ottawa Rough Riders season
Head coach	George Brancato
Home field	Lansdowne Park
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	2nd, East
Playoff finish	Lost in East Semi-Final
Uniform

The 1983 Ottawa Rough Riders finished the season in 2nd place in the East Division with an 8–8 record. This season marked the last time an Ottawa football team hosted a playoff game until 2015 when the second-year Ottawa Redblacks hosted the East Final, where the Rough Riders lost the East-Semi Final game to Hamilton by a score of 33–31.

Offseason

CFL Draft

Rd	Pick	Player	Position	School
1	2	Steve Harrison	LB	British Columbia
2	11	Junior Robinson	DB	Guelph
3	20	Sam Benincasa	LB	Guelph
4	29	John Kane	OL	Michigan Tech
5	38	Courtney Taylor	DB	Wilfrid Laurier
6	47	Francois Payer	DE	Bishop's
7	56	Chris Rhora	DE	Acadia
8	65	Don Clow	WR	Acadia

Preseason

Date	Opponent	Final Score	Result	Attendance	Record
June 10	at Montreal Concordes	14–4	Loss	10,100	0–1
June 16	vs. Montreal Concordes	34–13	Loss	12,803	0–2
June 24	at Toronto Argonauts	31–15	Loss	28,107	0–3
June 29	vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats	47–40	Win	13,331	1–3

Regular season

Standings

East Division

Team	GP	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pts
Toronto Argonauts	16	12	4	0	452	328	24
Ottawa Rough Riders	16	8	8	0	384	424	16
Hamilton Tiger-Cats	16	5	10	1	389	498	11
Montreal Concordes	16	5	10	1	367	447	11

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Attendance	Record
1	July 8	at Winnipeg Blue Bombers	26–25	Win	18,995	1–0
2	July 16	at Montreal Concordes	36–28	Loss	15,621	1–1
3	July 21	vs. Calgary Stampeders	27–16	Loss	18,621	1–2
4	July 28	vs. Edmonton Eskimos	44–4	Loss	18,622	1–3
5	Bye
6	Aug 13	at Hamilton Tiger-Cats	24–22	Loss	14,729	1–4
7	Aug 19	vs. Toronto Argonauts	27–17	Loss	30,006	1–5
8	Aug 26	at Edmonton Eskimos	17–14	Win	49,880	2–5
9	Sept 2	vs. BC Lions	49–19	Win	22,234	3–5
10	Sept 9	vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders	29–28	Loss	23,475	3–6
11	Bye
12	Sept 25	vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats	29–25	Win	26,014	4–6
13	Oct 1	at Saskatchewan Roughriders	24–23	Win	24,404	5–6
14	Oct 8	at Calgary Stampeders	29–24	Win	24,167	6–6
15	Oct 16	vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers	42–23	Win	25,642	7–6
16	Oct 23	at Toronto Argonauts	20–19	Win	36,526	8–6
17	Oct 29	vs. Montreal Concordes	25–20	Loss	20,959	8–7
18	Nov 5	at BC Lions	40–13	Loss	42,901	8–8

Postseason

Round	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Attendance
East Semi-Final	Nov 13	vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats	33–31	Loss	28,524

Awards and honours

CFL Awards

• CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award – Greg Marshall (DE)
• CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award – Rudy Phillips (OG)

CFL All-Stars

• RB – Alvin "Skip" Walker
• OG – Rudy Phillips
• OT – Kevin Powell
• DT – Gary Dulin
• DE – Greg Marshall