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.
Nice read.....
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