What We Learned About Linfield in Week 5...

Linfield’s defense continues to impress:  While Linfield’s defense was considered the strength of the team coming into the season, and had been in the first two games, Saturday’s game against Willamette was another strong showcase of defense by the Wildcats.  They held the Bearcat’s Fly offense, an offense based on misdirection and deception, to 316 yards and 10 points for the game.  More importantly, they held Willamette to 0-10 on third down conversions and got back to their turnover-forcing ways of the past, taking the ball away from the bearcats three times.  The Linfield defense continues to prove that they’re among the nation’s best.

The offense needs to clean up their execution:  After losing quarterback Aaron Boehme, running back Simon Lamson, and wide receiver Chris Slezak to graduation, Linfield’s offense figured to be in a somewhat rebuilding phase this season.  So far on the season, they haven’t been held under 400 yards and they’re averaging 32 points per game.  Saturday’s game against Willamette resembled Linfield’s offensive day against Cal Lutheran:  Gained a bunch of yards, but had turnovers on drives where they were moving the ball and were in scoring position.  The Wildcats might be able to get away with a few turnovers at times in the regular season, but they will need to capitalize on all of their scoring chances if they’re going to win their conference or go anywhere in the postseason.   

Linfield’s entire team is full of mental toughness: Linfield was up 17-0 late in the third quarter, and Josh hill looked to be scoring a touchdown to go up 24-0 when he fumbled into the end zone.  Willamette recovered the fumble, and proceeded to go 80 yards for a touchdown in just three plays to make it 17-7.  Before you know it, Linfield was only up 17-10 with just over eight minutes to go in the game, and the McCulloch Stadium crowd was alive again.  A lesser team might have wilted under the circumstances, but Linfield showed a lot of poise on their late field goal drive, and the defense showed a lot of poise when they shut down Willamette’s offense after they went up 20-10 in the final three minutes.  When it mattered, Linfield showed the mental toughness on both sides of the ball that championship teams need in order to win a tough game on the road.