Bo Levi Mitchell threw for 450 yards and five touchdowns as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeated his former Calgary Stampeders 42-20 at Tim Hortons Field on October 18, 2024. The victory was Mitchell’s first against the club with which he spent his first ten Canadian Football League seasons.
Hamilton’s offence takes control
Mitchell completed 31 of 37 passes and produced season highs in both passing yards and touchdowns. Hamilton scored 30 unanswered points during a decisive stretch and built a lead Calgary could not overcome.
Receivers Tim White and Steven Dunbar Jr. each caught two touchdown passes and surpassed 100 receiving yards. Running back Greg Bell returned to the lineup with 139 rushing yards, preventing Calgary from defending only the passing game.
A personal result without a revenge narrative
Mitchell acknowledged that beating his old team mattered. He had won two Grey Cups and two CFL Most Outstanding Player awards during his years in Calgary before moving to Hamilton in 2023.
Hamilton had faced Calgary while Mitchell was injured in 2023, and the Stampeders beat the Tiger-Cats 32-24 in his return to McMahon Stadium in June 2024. The October win therefore closed an obvious gap in his record without erasing what he achieved with Calgary.
Calgary’s brief response
Tre Roberson returned an interception for a Calgary touchdown before halftime, and the visitors cut Hamilton’s lead to 33-20 during the third quarter. A comeback remained possible entering the fourth.
Hamilton answered with a 35-yard Marc Liegghio field goal and Mitchell’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Dunbar. Calgary did not score in the final quarter, turning a competitive interval into a 22-point defeat.
Mitchell’s season milestones
The performance moved Mitchell past 5,000 passing yards for the third time in his CFL career and the first time since 2018. At that point he led the league in passing yards and touchdown passes, although interceptions remained part of the season’s uneven story.
Volume statistics require context: Hamilton’s offence often asked Mitchell to throw because the team trailed in games, and individual production did not guarantee a playoff place. Against Calgary, however, efficiency and explosive gains aligned with the final result.
Where the teams stood
The Tiger-Cats had already been eliminated from postseason contention despite winning five of six games late in the schedule. Their slow start made the surge insufficient, but the strong finish offered evidence for decisions about the quarterback, coaching and roster.
Calgary entered the game searching for its first victory since Week 9. Defensive problems and turnovers again prevented the team from converting competitive passages into a complete performance.
Team contribution behind the quarterback line
Five touchdown passes naturally put Mitchell at the centre of the result, but pass protection, receiver separation and yards after the catch made the total possible. Bell’s rushing output forced defenders to respect play action and reduced predictable long-yardage situations.
Hamilton’s defence also kept Calgary scoreless in the fourth quarter. The 42-20 score described a team win, even if the former Stampeder’s performance supplied its clearest storyline.
The lasting meaning of the night
Because neither club was headed to the playoffs, the game did not change the championship picture. It still carried professional and personal significance: Hamilton showed the offence it had hoped to build around Mitchell, and he finally defeated the franchise most closely associated with his career.
Official CFL statistics support the central numbers—450 passing yards, five passing touchdowns and a 42-20 final. Those figures make the performance exceptional without needing to turn one late-season game into a claim that Hamilton’s broader problems were solved.
