Ottawa beat Toronto 40-39 on Friday, October 16 at TD Place Stadium, with a touchdown six seconds from time.
It was Ottawa first win of the season after an 0-16 start, ending a 22 game losing streak, in the first CFL start of rookie quarterback Barnes.
A 67 Yard Drive In 24 Seconds
The finish was as compressed as football gets. Toronto had just gone ahead 39-33 on Isaiah Smith four yard touchdown run with 30 seconds left, a score that looked like the final word in a game Toronto had controlled late. Barnes instead drove Ottawa 67 yards in 24 seconds and found Eberhardt for a 24 yard touchdown with six seconds remaining. The extra point made it 40-39. A rookie in his first start, with no timeouts to waste and a winless season on his shoulders, produced the most composed drive of the night when the game allowed no mistakes at all.
Eberhardt finished with nine catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns, and his second score was the winner. Barnes threw for 339 yards on 27 of 37 passing with two touchdowns and ran seven times for 62 yards, for 401 combined yards and no interception on the winning drive stat line that defined the game. Daniel Adeboboye added two rushing touchdowns against his former team, giving Ottawa a goal line finisher to complement Barnes and Eberhardt. Ottawa needed all of it, because Toronto kept scoring until the final minute.
“I don’t think it’s fully settled in yet. I’m just grateful for the opportunity that I was able to have to go out with the guys.” Bryson Barnes, Ottawa Redblacks quarterback, postgame, published by 3DownNation
That gratitude is understandable. Ottawa last win was September 5, 2025 against BC, more than a calendar year before Friday night. A 22 game losing streak is not only a standings problem. It becomes a weekly question every player has to answer in public. Barnes answered it in his first start, at home, in the final home chance of the season, and he did it by throwing the winning touchdown with six seconds left rather than by managing a safe field goal attempt. The Redblacks did not stumble into a win. Their rookie quarterback took it.
Toronto Loses Kelly And Then The Lead
Toronto arrived having already clinched second place in the East, and its night changed in the opening quarter when starter Chad Kelly left with a lower body injury. Backup Nick Arbuckle threw for 315 yards with two touchdowns, both to Kevin Mital, and one interception, a strong relief performance that very nearly won the game. Toronto scored late through Smith to lead by six with 30 seconds left, and on most nights that is enough. The Argonauts problem was not Arbuckle. It was that they left Barnes 30 seconds, and he only needed 24.
The Kelly injury is now the Toronto story heading toward the playoffs, more than the one point loss itself. The Argonauts have been in this position with Arbuckle before, including earlier in the launch window when Arbuckle started against BC at BMO Field in Week 18. For the wider East picture, Montreal Thanksgiving win over Saskatchewan shows the standard Toronto is chasing, with the Alouettes already first in the East. Ottawa, at 1-16, is not part of that playoff race. Friday was about something simpler and, for one night, bigger. A team that had not won in over a year finally did.
There is also a coaching decision Toronto will revisit. Leading late and close to the Ottawa goal line, Toronto scored a touchdown to go up six rather than draining the clock toward a smaller lead with almost no time left. That choice is defensible in real time, because six points and 30 seconds is normally safe in the CFL. Barnes made it look wrong in 24 seconds. Football punishes normally safe math a few times a season, and Friday in Ottawa was one of those times, with a rookie quarterback doing the punishing.
Why This Win Matters Beyond One Night
Ottawa avoided becoming a trivia answer. An 0-16 start had already set a record for the worst start in CFL history in the coverage of this game, and a winless full season would have followed this roster and coaching staff for years. Instead the Redblacks have a night their fans can point to, a quarterback performance they can build an offseason conversation around, and proof that the effort level never dropped in a lost season. Teams that quit do not produce 67 yard winning drives in the final half minute. They produce turnovers and short fields. Ottawa produced its best drive of the year.
Three details will last from Friday. First, Barnes 401 combined yards in a debut start is a real audition tape for 2027, whatever Ottawa decides at quarterback. Second, Eberhardt nine catches and two touchdowns, including the winner, gives Ottawa a receiver performance to match the quarterback story. Third, Adeboboye scoring twice against his former team adds a personal edge that Ottawa fans will remember. None of that changes the standings. All of it changes how a painful season gets remembered in the capital, because it now ends, at home at least, with a win that felt impossible for five months.
By The Numbers
- Final score: Ottawa Redblacks 40, Toronto Argonauts 39, CFL Week 20, October 16
- Bryson Barnes: 27 of 37 for 339 yards and two touchdowns, plus 62 rushing yards, 401 combined
- Ayden Eberhardt: nine catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns, including the winner with six seconds left
- Nick Arbuckle: 315 passing yards and two touchdowns for Toronto after Chad Kelly left in the first quarter
- Ottawa streaks ended: 0-16 start to 2026 and a 22 game losing streak dating to last year
- Daniel Adeboboye: two rushing touchdowns against his former team
Ottawa closes its season October 24 on the road against Hamilton, and Toronto moves on with second place in the East already secured and a quarterback injury to monitor. Those are the practical next steps. The emotional result is already settled. On a Friday night in the capital, the last winless team in the CFL won a 40-39 game on a rookie first start and a touchdown with six seconds left. Some wins are worth one in the standings. This one was worth a season of relief.
