Linfield vs Menlo Preview...

     Two seasons ago on Linfield’s march to the semifinals of the NCAA playoffs, Linfield made a regular season pit stop at Menlo that turned out to be a sloppy game.  Despite three missed field goals and Aaron Boehme completing less than 40 percent of his passes on a super-windy day, Linfield pulled out a 31-7 win.

     In the 2011 season, a similar situation presents itself for both schools:  another road bump on the path to a title for one team, and a chance at a major upset for the other.   

     Fifth-ranked Linfield travels to Conner Field to take on Menlo on Saturday in a game that used to be a conference match-up until last season when Menlo went to the NAIA.  Linfield is 6-0 on the season, 4-0 in Northwest Conference play.  Menlo is 5-2 on the season.  Saturday will only be Menlo’s third home game of the season.

     “You always like to be at home,” Menlo coach Fred Guidici said.  “It’s nice to not have to get on a plane, because that’s what we have to do all the time.  It’s nice to be in warm California, and hope the weather’s in your favor.”

     “The grass typically is lousy, the field goals have two sizes to them, they have no locker room; at halftime you’re out underneath an Oak tree with some chairs,” Linfield coach Joseph Smith said.  “Other than it being like a camping trip experience, it’s a regular football game.”

     Linfield brings one of the nation’s most prolific offenses to the table on Saturday.  Using the up-tempo, no-huddle spread offense, Linfield averages 43.8 points and 455 yards per game. 

     The field general for the ‘Cat Attack is quarterback Mickey Inns, who has gone from an unknown coming into the season to being the top-rated passer in the Northwest Conference; Inns has completed 59 percent of his passes for 1411 yards, 14 touchdowns, and only three interceptions so far on the season.

     “You hope that you can get a good pass rush, and put as much as you can on Mickey,” Guidici said.    

     While Inns and Linfield’s passing game gets most of the media and national attention, Linfield’s running game continues to be productive this season despite hardly ever using the zone-read option like they have been the last two seasons.  Josh Hill has had a strong season in place of the often-injured Aaron Williams, rushing for 504 yards and six touchdowns with a 4.8 yard per carry average through six games.

     “You have to load up inside, but then again, if you do that, they can get the ball outside,” Guidici said.  “You’ve got to be mistake-free, and you got to make your assignments; that’s the best opportunity you’re going to have to slow Linfield down.”

     Menlo’s defense should provide a stiff challenge for Linfield’s offense on Saturday.  The Oaks give up 15.4 points and 287.1 yards per game on the season, and have forced 13 turnovers on the season.

     “They’re keeping them in games and creating some turnovers, and they’re hard to sustain drives on,” Smith said.  “They do a lot of man to man coverage, and they’re big and physical up front, very similar to Cal Lutheran.”     

     Menlo’s offense has had their ups and downs on the season, averaging 23.3 points and 276.3 yards per game on the season.  Quarterback Matt Pelasasa leads the way for the Oaks, completing 55 percent of his passes for 1219 yards, 14 touchdowns and six interceptions on the season.  Wide receiver Adan Robert is the big-play threat for Menlo, leading the team with 43 receptions for 617 yards and nine touchdowns.

     “They’re pretty solid at what they do,” Smith said.  “They come out with that West Coast offense, and with all the Stanford-Walsh connections and the Cal connections that they’ve had over the years, It’s a difficult combination to face.”      

     Linfield’s defense enters the game among the nation’s elite, giving up only 7.8 points and 273 yards of offense per game on the season.  Linfield also leads the conference with 17 turnovers forced on the season (12 of them being interceptions).  The Wildcat defense also leads the Northwest Conference in third-down defense, allowing opponents to convert only 18 percent of their opportunities.

     “We just got to keep them off-balance,” Guidici said.  “We just got to play assignment, mistake-free football, and we got to try to keep the defense guessing.  That’s your best bet on a real good, disciplined defense like Linfield.”

     Here are some keys to the game for both teams that will better their chances of winning if they follow them:      

         

Keys to the game for Linfield:

-Play crisp and clean:  Earlier in the season, Linfield looked as sharp as could be in their historic 73-7 win over Puget Sound before they looked dull as a butter knife the following week against a Pacific team similar to Puget Sound.  Menlo’s team has a similar make-up to the Pacific Lutheran team that the Wildcats just trashed:  good defense, mediocre offense.  If Linfield can avoid the temptation to come out flat, we could have another dominant showing on our hands.

-Establish the run:  With all the attention that Linfield’s passing game draws from opposing defensive coordinators, People forget that Linfield can run the ball efficiently.  If Josh Hill can get over 100 yards on Saturday, Menlo’s defense will be in a world of trouble.

Keys to the game for Menlo:

-Establish offensive rhythm:  Menlo has scored a combined 7 points on Linfield’s defense the last two seasons, and this season’s Wildcat defense looks better than the last two seasons’ units.  If Menlo wants to have any chance at scoring, they’re going to have to convert on third-downs, and they’re going to have to find a way to soften up Linfield’s secondary, perhaps by establishing a running game.

-Force turnovers:  The teams that have had success slowing down Linfield’s offense this season (Cal Lutheran, Willamette) have done so by forcing turnovers (Cal Lutheran forced two, and Willamette forced three).  By forcing some turnovers, Menlo might become the first team to hold Linfield’s offense under 400 yards this season.    

                   

What We Learned About Linfield in Week 8...

Linfield’s offense is exploding:  While Linfield’s offense has been producing at a level not seen since 2005, they had trouble putting points on the board against good defenses earlier in the season (24 against Cal Lutheran, 20 against Willamette); in those games, Linfield turned the ball over on multiple drives where they had something going.  On Saturday, Linfield’s offense corrected the miscues of those earlier games, and put a huge hurt on PLU’s defense to the tune of 460 yards and 45 points.  More impressive than the numbers was the fast tempo that Linfield played at; as the game wore on, Pacific Lutheran’s defense just flat-out got worn down and ran over.     

Josh Hill is a gamer:  Against Pacific Lutheran, Josh Hill ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, his third 100-yard game of the season.  Strangely, all three of Hill’s 100-yard games have come against the three best defensive teams that Linfield has played against so far (Cal Lutheran, Willamette, PLU); Hill has rushed for 504 yards and six touchdowns on the season thus far.  While Mickey Inns and the passing game draw most of the attention, Josh Hill continues to go largely unnoticed despite being one of the best backs, if not the best, in the Northwest Conference.

Linfield in a class of their own:  Linfield’s game against Pacific Lutheran on Saturday was supposed to be the game that would decide the Northwest Conference title race.  If the 45-7 score was any indication, nobody in the NWC can even come close to touching the Wildcats this season.  Lewis & Clark may have a slim chance at upsetting Linfield because of their quarterback sensation Keith Welch and all the skill players around him, but their lack of defense and Linfield’s nationally-elite defense will prevent such a thing from occurring.  

Lutes Get PLU'd 45-7...

            It was shaping up to be a game that would decide the Northwest Conference championship, much like last season: Linfield with the potent spread offense and killer defense; Pacific Lutheran with the solid defense and the highest ranking in the Northwest Conference outside of Linfield (23 votes).  A classic game in the Linfield-PLU rivalry seemed inevitable.

            Much to the surprise of everyone, the game was decided by halftime.

            Fifth-ranked Linfield demolished Pacific Lutheran 45-7 at Maxwell Field on a sunny afternoon in McMinnville.  The win upped Linfield’s record to 6-0, 4-0 in NWC play, and gave them their 10th straight win in the series.  The loss dropped the Lutes to 4-2 on the season, 2-1 in conference play.

            “That was probably as focused and as emotional of an effort as we’ve had in a while,” Linfield coach Joseph Smith said.  “You could feel it in the locker room:  the guys were ready, you could kind of cut the air with a knife, so to speak.”

            Having struggled to score points in games against good defenses this season (Cal Lutheran and Willamette), Linfield’s offense turned in arguably their most dominant effort of the season.  Linfield’s up-tempo spread offense was on full display, racking up 460 yards of offense, 326 through the air, and 25 first downs against a Pacific Lutheran defense that was only giving up 11.6 points and 311 yards of offense per game coming in.

            “We thought that if we could protect our quarterback for most of the game, that there was a lot of holes in that zone whenever you blitz like that; you leave yourself vulnerable.  Mickey was able to find those, and so our passing game was pretty productive.” 

            Mickey Inns turned in another dominant day, going 23-33 for 297 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.  Wide receiver Lucas Jepson led the receiving attack with 85 yards and one touchdown on six receptions.  Wide receiver Deidre Wiersma had 68 yards on five receptions, while Buddy Saxon had 60 yards and two touchdowns on five receptions.  Running back Josh Hill led all rushers with 100 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, with 74 of his yards coming in the second half.

            “In the second half, we got that run game going,” Smith said.  “We moved into the pistol for a little bit, and hit it a little more downhill.  I thought we got Josh Hill on track quite nicely in the second half.”

            Pacific Lutheran’s offense, already a struggling unit coming into the game, lived up to their porous reputation, totaling 183 yards and 12 first downs on the day to go with their four turnovers.  Quarterback Zach Halverson went 16-30 for 137 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions.  Running back Brandon James was held to 45 yards on 12 carries.

            “I thought the defense played pretty darn well, but it’s always like the ying and the yang, whether it’s us, Linfield or anybody,” Pacific Lutheran coach Scott Westering said.  “If you’re not getting it done, going three and out and they’re (the defense) running back out there, it wears you down and it wears them down.”  

            The game started off with a bang for the Wildcat defense; Cornerback Nate Dixon picked off a deep throw by Halverson on the first play from scrimmage.  Linfield’s offense immediately capitalized, going 43 yards in 1:37.  Jespon’s 20-yard touchdown reception from Inns made the score 7-0 Linfield not even two minutes into the game.  Pacific Lutheran’s next possession ended like the first one:  an interception of Halverson by Dixon.  After the two teams traded three-and-outs, Linfield put together a seven play, 50 yard drive that was capped by a 5-yard touchdown run by Hill, making it 14-0 Linfield with 4:38 to go in the first quarter.

            “With a great team like Linfield, you can’t do that,“ Westering said.  “You can’t give them short fields, you can’t give them momentum; you can’t turn the ball over like that.”   

            Linfield safety Drew Fisher intercepted a Halverson pass and returned it to the Pacific Lutheran 5-yard line.  Linfield ended up settling for a 32-yard field goal by kicker Josh Kay, making it 17-0 Linfield with 7:29 to go in the second quarter.  It seemed like Linfield would go for another field goal in the final minute of the second quarter, but Linfield ran a fake field goal, with Taylor Skore rushing 23 yards untouched for the touchdown, making it 24-0 Linfield with 31 seconds to go in the first half.

            “That was something that coach Hazenberg had watched on film and thought they were vulnerable if they did a certain look, and so we talked about when we’d want to do that, and coach approached me and said ‘this might be the time’, and I said ‘absolutely, it’s what we wanna do; let’s do it.’  It worked out nice,” Smith said.

            Linfield capitalized on their first possession of the third quarter, going 68 yards in seven plays.  Josh Hill’s 11-yard touchdown scamper made it 31-0 with 12:28 to go in the third quarter.  After a Pacific Lutheran fumble was recovered by Linfield, the ‘Cat Attack drove 60 yards in six plays.  A 6-yard touchdown strike from Inns to Saxon made it 38-0 with 3:32 to go in the third quarter.

            “It was a great call by Joe,” Westering said.  “You go from thinking, ‘we’re close; there’s 1:30 to go, we’re gonna go in 17-0,' and then you blink, and its 24, and they get the ball to start the second half; you blink, and it’s now 31.”    

            Inns connected with Saxon again for a 5-yard touchdown pass, making it 45-0 with 14:45 to go in the fourth quarter.  Daniel Herr scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 4:25 to go to prevent the shutout, making it 45-7.

            Linfield travels to Conner Field next Saturday to take on a 5-2 Menlo team that offers many of the same challenges that Pacific Lutheran.  Linfield beat Menlo 38-0 at Maxwell Field last season.

            Pacific Lutheran will host undefeated Lewis & Clark at Sparks Stadium next week.  Pacific Lutheran defeated Lewis & Clark 35-23 last season following their loss to Linfield.           

           

Link to Boxscore:  http://www.linfield.edu/sports/stats/fb/plu1022.htm

Link to Postgame Analysis:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsxE5mLmbX4&feature=channel_video_title

Linfield vs Pacific Lutheran Preview...

     Last season, Pacific Lutheran’s 35-20 loss to Linfield at Sparks Stadium not only cost Pacific Lutheran the Northwest Conference title, but it also caused the NCAA playoff committee to pass on them despite finishing the season 8-1 and ranked 21st in the polls. 

     This season, Pacific Lutheran will be looking to foil Linfield’s plans for a third consecutive conference title while keeping their hopes alive.

     The fifth-ranked Wildcats host the Lutes at Maxwell field in a battle between the conference’s highest ranked teams (Pacific Lutheran has 23 receiving votes).  Linfield is 5-0 on the season, 3-0 in NWC play.  Pacific Lutheran is 4-1 on the year, 2-0 in conference play.  Linfield also holds a 15-game home win streak at Maxwell field, a streak that they would love to keep going.

     “The environment down there, the fans, the JumboTron, the whole deal, the conference implications, I think there’s a spike of adrenaline because of everything that’s in play here,” Pacific Lutheran assistant coach Jude Keim said.

     Although they returned four starting lineman and two of their top three receivers from last season, the graduation of their top passer, rusher, and receiver from the 2010 season had some people wondering if Linfield’s spread offense would see a drop in production from the last two seasons.  Linfield has responded this season by averaging 43.6 points and 454 yards of offense per game so far.

     “Linfield has always been very potent, especially in the vertical game,” Keim said.  “They have the new quarterback this year, but obviously they haven’t skipped a beat, they just keep the train rolling.”   

     Leading the ‘Cat attack is quarterback Mickey Inns, who spent the last two seasons riding pine behind Aaron Boehme.  Inns has shown through five games that while he’s not a running quarterback like Boehme was, he’s every bit as good of a thrower as Boehme was.  Inns has completed 56.6 percent of his passes for 1114 yards and 11 touchdowns, while throwing only three interceptions.  His quarterback rating of 147.7 ranks second in the conference behind Lewis & Clark’s Keith Welch.

     “He’s playing at a high level,” Smith said.  “Is it is best level?  No, I think he can do better.”

     Pacific Lutheran, much like Linfield, lost a ton of offensive talent to graduation from last season, including quarterback Jord Rasmussen, running back Alec Simmons, and wide receivers Greg Ford and Issac Moog.  The loss of all-conference talent has shown in their offensive production.  The Lutes average 19.8 points and 309.2 yards per game coming into Saturday.

     “Their offense is very complicated, very sophisticated, so when you lose that amount of experience, it’s going to take time for them to get that same level of execution back,” Smith said.

     In replacement of Simmons, running back Brandon James has had a solid year, rushing for 368 yards and three touchdowns with 4.5 yard per carry average. 

     “It all starts up front, and for us to run the ball, Brandon’s got to have his hair on fire, and hopefully we can create some creases and seams,” Keim said.

     In replacement of Rasmussen, quarterback Zach Halverson has completed 56 percent of his passes for 974 yards and seven touchdowns with four interceptions, giving him an unspectacular quarterback rating of 117.6.

     “Coach Westering is a very good quarterback coach, and he’ll get him playing at a high level, I’m sure,” Smith said.

     Considering how mediocre Pacific Lutheran’s offense is, and that they have a 4-1 record, one would figure that the Lutes must have a killer defense; they would be right on.  Pacific Lutheran’s defense is giving up 11.6 points and 311 yards per game, and has forced 11 turnovers on the season (second in the conference).

     “I think their defense is outstanding, especially from a schematic standpoint,” Smith said.  “They create a lot of chaos with what they’re doing, so they make it difficult to sustain drives, and that’s why they keep the points down.  The key to them is to stay out of those second-and-long, third-and-long situations.  Being productive on first down becomes paramount; you get into long distance downs, and you’re in a bit of trouble.”

     Of course, when it comes to defense, nobody has been doing it better in the Northwest Conference this season than the Linfield Wildcats.  The Wildcat defense gives up only 8.0 points (seventh nationally) and 291 yards per game, and has forced 13 turnovers on the season (Tied for first in the conference with Lewis & Clark).

     “They look pretty special on tape, but they always look special down there at Linfield,” Keim said.  “Philosophically, they’ve certainly made a shift to a fast, movement-oriented defense.  It’s going to be a big challenge for us in that environment, and playing a very talented, fast, aggressive, hard-hitting type of defense is going to be a big test for our kids.”

     With an important game like this, where conference title implications are being made, on tap, let’s look at some keys to the game for both teams:          

         

Keys to the game for Linfield:

-Seize the moment:  Like last season’s game against Pacific Lutheran, an inside track to the Northwest Conference championship.  Linfield had the intensity and focus to pull off a win last season on the road, and it will require the same intensity this season to have a repeat performance.   

-Bring the pain on defense:  Pacific Lutheran’s offensive struggles have been well-documented this season.  When you only score 21 points on Puget Sound’s cruddy defense like Pacific Lutheran did a few weeks ago, you know that you have problems.  If Linfield’s defense comes with total focus, they’ll make Pacific Lutheran’s offense’s trip to Maxwell Field a living hell.

-Execute on offense:  In Linfield’s games against Cal Lutheran and Willamette this season, they had trouble with turning the ball over on drives where they were putting themselves in position to score.  Pacific Lutheran will bring a similar defense to town; if Linfield can clean up the turnovers against a quality defense like Pacific Lutheran’s and take advantage of all their scoring opportunities, they could win big.

Keys to the game for Pacific Lutheran:

-Establish the run:  The strength of Linfield’s incredible defense is their secondary; teams that have relied mostly on their passing game have had little success getting anything going.  If Pacific Lutheran can control the line of scrimmage and establish Brandon James on the ground, they might be able to soften Linfield’s pass defense up just enough to make a few plays.

-Force turnovers:  Teams that have had success slowing down Linfield’s offense this season (Cal Lutheran, Willamette) were able to force turnovers; teams that couldn’t get wiped out.  Pacific Lutheran’s defense will give Linfield’s offense fits as it is, so forcing a few turnovers would greatly increase Pacific Lutheran’s chances of pulling the upset.      

Mid-Season Report...

Linfield Wildcats

Record:  5-0

                Linfield came into the 2011 season with a large number of returning starters from the last two Northwest Conference championship teams, and high expectations along with it.  Halfway through the season, the Wildcats have met the expectations, and then some.

                Fifth-ranked Linfield opened their season at Maxwell Field against potentially the best Cal Lutheran team ever, and won 24-14.  Other than a 20-10 win at Willamette, Linfield has beaten three of the worst teams in the country in La Verne, Puget Sound, and Pacific.

                After losing their top passer (Aaron Boehme), Rusher (Simon Lamson), and receiver (Chris Slezak) to graduation, there were questions about whether Linfield’s offense would be as productive as they were in the last two seasons.  After five games, those doubts have been put to rest.  Linfield leads the conference in scoring at 43.6 points per game, and is second in total offense at 454 yards per game. 

                Linfield’s defense figured to be the strength of this season’s team coming into the season, but nobody outside of the program could have seen this wild storm of a defense coming.  Although they aren’t forcing turnovers at quite the wild rate of the last two seasons (13 in five games), The ‘Cat defense gives up only 8.0 points per game (ranked seventh nationally) and 291 yards of offense a game.

                Linfield’s schedule gets a lot tougher the rest of the season, starting this week with Pacific Lutheran (4-1).  They follow that with road trips to Menlo (5-2) and Whitworth (1-5) before finishing out the season at Maxwell Field against Lewis & Clark (5-0).  Winning out against this remaining schedule is an accomplishment worthy of a top-five team.        

Offensive MVP:  QB Mickey Inns.  After starting out the season as the question mark of an otherwise loaded offense, Inn has quickly developed into one of the nation’s most efficient passers, throwing the ball with the efficiency that Boehme did the last two seasons.  On the season, Inns has completed 56.6 percent of his passes for 1114 yards, with 11 touchdowns and only three interceptions.  His quarterback rating of 147.7 ranks second in the conference behind Lewis & Clark’s quarterback phenomenon Keith Welch.   

Defensive MVP:  Safety Drew Fisher.  A pre-season all-american, Fisher has lived up to his sterling reputation so far this season.  Fisher leads the team in tackles with 38, 19 of them solo.  He also leads the team in interceptions with two. 

Boxers Get Flattened 49-6...

            At first, it seemed like it would be another stern road test for Linfield.  Pacific was down by just four, and the home crowd of Lincoln Park Stadium was into the game.  It was looking like maybe Linfield’s dominance only resided at Maxwell Field. 

            Two minutes later, two special teams touchdowns had restored order, and Linfield was back in business against the winless Boxers. 

            Fifth-ranked Linfield trounced Pacific by a score of 49-6 at Lincoln Park Stadium on a warm, sunny afternoon.  The Wildcats improved to 5-0, including a 3-0 mark in Northwest Conference play.  Pacific fell to 0-6 on the season, 0-3 in conference play.

            “I wasn’t really pleased with how we played,” Linfield coach Joseph Smith said.  “The scoreboard was fine, but the manner in which we played wasn’t up to our standards.”

            Linfield’s offense put on exhibition that would have made the Oregon Ducks proud; despite being on the field for only 21 minutes and running only 57 plays, the ‘Cat Attack put up 477 yards of offense, 381 of it through the air.  Mickey Inns continued his stellar play, going 16-25 for 239 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.  Lucas Jepson led all receivers with 91 yards and two touchdowns on three receptions. 

            “He has a little bit of burst to him, so I think he’s fairly explosive,” Smith said.  “he really attacks the deep ball, which leads to those long touchdowns.” 

            Buddy Saxon had 61 yards and one touchdown on four receptions.  Deidre Wiersma had 45 yards on five receptions.  After injuring his left shoulder against Puget Sound, Josh Hill led all rushers with 69 yards on 12 carries.

            Despite being on the field for over 39 minutes on Saturday, Linfield’s defense held Pacific’s offense to 228 yards, including minus five yards on the ground.  Quarterback T.C Campbell was held to 12-24 for 129 yards, no touchdowns with one interception.  All-conference receiver Jordan Fukumoto, the NWC leader in receiving touchdowns coming in, finished with 82 yards on five receptions.

            “Our defense is what I was a little disappointed with,” Smith said.  “Just a lack of fire and a lack of play-making on the ball; we had several interceptions that we didn’t make, and our tackling was sub-par.”    

            The game started out slowly for Linfield.  After a long drive by Pacific resulted in a punt, Linfield drove down the field on their first possession, with Inns tossing a 14-yard touchdown strike to Jepson, making it 7-0 Linfield with 8:37 to go in the first quarter.  On their next possession, aided by a personal foul penalty on fourth down by Linfield, Pacific drove 55 yards in 10 plays, resulting in a 37-yard field goal by Villareal-Gomez with 2:46 to go in the first.

            It seemed like Linfield had a fight on their hands, until the ensuing kickoff when Colin Forman returned it 86 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-3 Linfield.  On Pacific’s next possession, the boxers had a punt blocked, and Drew Fisher recovered the ball and returned it four yards for another touchdown, making it 21-3 Linfield with 48 seconds to go in the first quarter.

            “It’s fairly demoralizing, especially when your offense goes down and scores on their first drive, then you give up back to back special teams touchdowns,” Smith said.  “you’re definitely very deflated.”

            On their next possession, Pacific drove 59 yards in 11 plays, taking nearly six minutes off the clock, before tacking on a 22-yard field goal to make it 21-6 with 9:48 left in the quarter.  Linfield’s offense took over on their next possession, and drove 70 yards in eight plays, capped by Inns’ 4-yard touchdown pass to Saxon with 6:40 to go in the second quarter.

            On the opening play of the second half, Inns found Jepson for a 65-yard touchdown strike to make the score 35-6 with 14:44 to go in the third quarter.  The two teams traded punts the rest of the quarter before Linfield inserted their back-ups in the fourth quarter.  First possession of the fourth quarter, Linfield went 88 yards in seven plays, capped by Josh Yoder’s 4-yard touchdown run, making the score 42-6 with 12:08 left in the game.  After a Pacific punt, Linfield put together a scoring drive of 48 yards in five plays, capped by Matt Yarbrough’s 24-yard touchdown pass to Colin Nelson, making the score 49-6 with 8:01 to go.

            Linfield will host Pacific Lutheran at Maxwell field next Saturday; the Wildcats defeated the Lutes 35-20 at Sparks Stadium in a game that ultimately decided the Northwest Conference championship. 

            Pacific will travel to the Pine Bowl to take on Whitworth.  Whitworth beat the Boxers 24-12 last season at Lincoln Park Stadium.   

           

Link to Boxscore:  http://www.linfield.edu/sports/stats/fb/pac1015.htm

Link to Postgame Analysis:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2F1EyW2G2c&feature=channel_video_title

Linfield vs Pacific (OR) Preview...

Due to a combination of academic and personal issues that arose throughout the week, I didn't have the time to put together my normal preview article.  For that, I apologize.

However, I did have the time to slap together WildcatSpread40's first ever video preview of a game.  Whether or not video previews will be done along with preview articles in the future has yet to be determined, but WildcatSpread40 will keep you posted. 

Here is the link to the Linfield-Pacific (OR) preview video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvJsVt_sbYs

What We Learned About Linfield in Week 6...

Linfield’s Defense can raise hell:  While most people will focus on the 42 points Linfield put up in the second quarter against Puget Sound, the defense did something that this reporter has never seen at any level of football.  Linfield’s defense had possibly the greatest five-possession span in the history of Linfield football; After Linfield went up 24-0 in the second quarter, Puget Sound proceeded to turn the ball over on four straight possessions (one of them a defensive touchdown).  Linfield scored off all of them to go up 52-0 late in the first half. On the fifth possession, Puget Sound had a punt blocked for a touchdown, making it 59-0.  That’s five straight possessions that ended with either a turnover and/or a non-offensive touchdown.  Linfield’s defense seems to always find a way to out-do themselves.   

The passing game has caught up to last season:  With the graduation of Aaron Boehme, people figured that Linfield’s offense wouldn’t be quite as explosive with a new quarterback at the helm.  While Mickey Inns isn’t anywhere near the runner that Boehme was, he has proven so far this season that he’s every bit the thrower that Boehme was.  Inns has completed 60 percent of his passes for 753 yards, seven touchdowns and only one interception in the last three games since his bad game against Cal Lutheran.

Linfield is in the thick of the national title race:  While Puget Sound is among the worst teams in the country, Saturday’s historic thrashing by Linfield established the Wildcats as a serious player for the national title race.  While many will look at the fact that it was Puget Sound and say, “So what?  It was a creampuff,” take into account what the expectation of a national title contender is.  When a national title contender plays a team like Puget Sound, you’d expect them to win by scores like 62-0, 72-0, or in Linfield’s case, 73-7.  While a national title is no guarantee for anybody in a playoff system, after Saturday, nobody should be surprised after Saturday if Linfield makes it to the semifinals or farther.   

Loggers Get Chainsawed 73-7...

            After their tough win over Willamette last week, Linfield’s top-five national ranking was called into question by the guys on D3football.com’s podcast, Keith McMillan and Pat Coleman.  Because Linfield had only played three games in the first five weeks of the season, McMillan and Coleman saw that as grounds to say that Linfield’s rank was based on past reputation, and implied that they were undeserving of their ranking.

            “They can say what they want, but we don’t really focus on or hear the noise on D3,” cornerback Nate Dixon said.  “We’re all focused on getting to the national championship, and as long as we do that, that’s all that matters.  We don’t worry about anybody else.”

            Actions speak louder than words.

            Fifth-ranked Linfield handed Puget Sound one of the most thorough beatings in school history, trouncing the Loggers 73-7 on a sunny afternoon at Maxwell Field.  Linfield’s 73 points was the second-highest scoring output in school history, topped only by the 83 points put up on Western Oregon back in 1927, back when WOU was called Oregon Normal.  The Wildcats improved to 4-0 while the Loggers dropped to 0-5.

            “We talked pretty openly coming into the game that there were some things we could do even better to play at a national-caliber level,” Linfield coach Joseph Smith said.  “We weren’t really playing UPS on Saturday; we were playing ourselves, and playing to get better.  That was our focus all week, and we’re proud of how our guys came out and did it.  That’s as good a first half as we’ve played as long as I’ve been here.” 

            “The coaches really stress not taking any breaks, no matter who we’re playing, and just working hard all the time, and I think that showed today,”  Back-up quarterback Josh Yoder said.

            Linfield’s offense had their most productive game of the season, racking up a season-high 490 yards with nearly perfect balance (227 rushing, 263 passing).  Quarterback Mickey Inns went 14-23 for 214 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, all in the first half.  Third-string running back Stephen Nasca led all rushers with 84 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.  Aaron Williams returned from injury on Saturday, gaining 24 yards and one touchdown on eight carries in his first extensive action of the season.  Deidre Wiersma led all receivers with 87 yards on five receptions.  Charlie Poppen had 47 yards and one touchdown on two receptions.  Lucas Jepson had 36 yards and a touchdown on two receptions. 

            Linfield’s defense, already the best in the conference and one of the best in the nation, turned in their best day of the season.  Puget Sound’s air attack was held to 257 yards on the day, 201 coming through the air.  George Ka’ai, the conference’s top passer, was held to 6-10 for 55 yards and no touchdowns, while throwing two interceptions and being sacked four times.  His back-up, James Korn, went 7-17 for 19 yards with two interceptions.  Third-stringer Braden Foley went 5-7 for 127 yards and one touchdown.  Thiesen Chang led the Loggers with 81 yards and one touchdown on three receptions, while All-American wide receiver Adam Kniffin was held to 28 yards on four receptions.

            “The defense did very well,” Dixon said.  “I’m very proud of us as a unit.  It’s our goal to hold teams to teams to less than 10 points, and we did that even with the young guys in there.”

            After Puget Sound opened the game with a three and out, Linfield put together a 46 yard drive in four plays, capping the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run by Josh Hill, giving Linfield a 7-0 lead at the 12:06 mark of the first quarter.  On their next possession, Puget sound drove to the Linfield 37-yard line before Ka’ai fumbled the ball away.  Linfield recovered the football, and drove 59 yards in 10 plays, culminated by a 4-yard touchdown run by Williams that put Linfield up 14-0 with 6:10 to go in the first quarter.  Following a bizarre onside kick attempt by Linfield that was recovered by Puget Sound, The loggers drive ended on fourth down after starting at the Linfield 34-yard line.  Josh Kay tacked on a career-high 49-yard field goal to put Linfield up 17-0 with 2:33 to go in the first quarter.

            The second quarter ended up being one of the greatest showcases in the History of Linfield football.  After Inns threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jacob Priester to put Linfield up 24-0 with 9:35 to go in the second quarter, Ka’ai was picked off by Dom Forrest.  After getting the ball back at the Puget Sound 35-yard line and getting called for a hold, Nasca ran for a 45-yard touchdown run on a draw play to make the score 31-0 Linfield with 8:19 to go in the second quarter.  On the next possession, Korn was intercepted by cornerback Christian Hannah, and Hannah returned it 33 yards for a touchdown to make the score 38-0 Linfield with 6:21 to go in the second quarter.

            “We just made plays,” Dixon said.  “We attacked the ball, made strips, and we got lucky with a couple of interceptions that went our way.” 

            Korn came back on the next possession for the Loggers and threw another interception, this one by Taylor Skore at the Logger 37-yard line.  On the next play, Inns hit Poppen for a 37-yard touchdown pass, putting Linfield up 45-0 with 4:54 to go in the second quarter.  Puget Sound turned the ball over on their fourth consecutive possession, this one a lost fumble.  Linfied marched down the field, and Inns threw a 25-yard touchdown strike to Jepson to make the score 52-0 in favor of Linfield with 3:05 to go in the first half.  Just when you thought it couldn’t be worse, Linfield blocked a punt, and Colin Forman returned the ball three yards for the touchdown, making it 59-0 Linfield with 1:42 to go in the first half.

            “42 points in a quarter is outstanding,” Smith said.  “It was the way that they were done; there weren’t flukes.  Guys were making plays on the football on special teams, on defense, on offense.  There was a talent mismatch, and the schematics were right:  The plays were run well and executed well with good talent, and that’s usually what happens when you see a lopsided score like that.”  

            “It was a compound effect,” Puget Sound coach Jeff Thomas said.  “It just felt like our defense never had time to breathe.  The first couple was just tremendous plays by Linfield’s players, but after a while there, our offense didn’t give our defense any chance to catch their breath, and when those types of things happen, scores like this take place.”

            In all, Puget Sound had six first-half turnovers, and gave up both an interception return for a touchdown and a blocked punt for a touchdown.

            “We just flat-out didn’t execute the things that we needed to execute,” Thomas said.  “It isn’t as if Linfield lined up in things we weren’t ready for, but Linfield does a great job; they teach techniques, they teach fundamentals, and they execute those things on the field at full speed.” 

            In the third quarter, Yoder threw a 10-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Colin Nelson to make it 66-0 Linfield with 8:30 to go in the quarter.  After a Puget Sound three and out, Linfield drove the ball 67 yard in 13 plays, running the ball on 11 of those plays.  Running back Trevor Gomez capped the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run to put Linfield up 73-0 with 2:44 to go in the third quarter.  Foley prevented the shutout when he threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Chang, making the score 73-7 with 22 seconds to go in the third quarter.

            “It’s great to have the starters put up so many points on the board to get us some playing time, and they work really hard to do that for us,” Yoder said.  “All the back-ups really appreciate it when they put up that many points.”       

            Linfield plays at Pacific (OR) next week at field; Linfield defeated the Boxers 66-14 at Maxwell Field last season.  Pacific (OR) will present a challenge that almost mirrors the one Puget Sound brought to the table.

            “They run the five-wide as well, and they have similar athletes at the receiver position,” Dixon said.  “We match up very well against them as well; it’s all about us playing ourselves.  It’s our goal to get better, even though the competition may not be up to our level.”

            Puget Sound will host Willamette at Baker Stadium next week.  Willamette defeated Puget Sound 52-21 at McCulloch Stadium last season.  As shown by Saturday, there are plenty of things for Puget Sound to work on.

            “Special teams, execute our assignments; we played horrible in all four aspects of special teams,” Thomas said.  “On offense: ball security.  It doesn’t matter if you run or pass; if you can’t take care of the ball, you can’t play.  On defense, we need to not worry about what the offense does and just establish the line of scrimmage; they’re not doing that right now.”              

          

Link to Boxscore:  http://www.linfield.edu/sports/stats/fb/ups1008.htm

Link to Postgame Analysis:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuI7zxycJKY&feature=channel_video_title