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.
I'll say the defense was incredible on Saturday but I still contend the best defensive stretch I've seen by the 'Cats was in the 2009 2nd round playoff game vs Mary Hardin-Baylor. The Cru was no joke and that 09 team turned the tables after an early UHMB surge and just had a remarkable stretch of play during the 2nd and 3rd quarter. Huge 4th down stops, multiple fumble recoveries for TD, a pick 6, etc. Considering who Linfield was playing it was remarkable.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like it was better; Only problem is that I didn't see it live. lol.
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