Linfield’s offense didn’t miss a beat: After losing Aaron Boehme, Simon Lamson, and Chris Slezak to graduation, some people thought that Linfield’s explosive spread offense would see a decrease in production this season. After averaging 41.7 points and 440 yards of offense, it’s fair to say that Linfield didn’t have any drop-off. That’s not to say things are exactly the same; the zone read from the last two seasons has virtually been discarded because of Mickey Inn’s lack of running ability. Linfield has mixed in the pistol offense to try and get the running game going this season, and the rushing production has dropped off considerably from last season. However, the passing yards have gone up substantially from last season, thanks to Mickey Inns, so the offense as a whole is as efficient as last season.
Mickey Inns is one of the best Linfield quarterbacks ever: Can’t believe I would be saying that after watching the season opener against Cal Lutheran, but Linfield quarterback Mickey Inns has gone on since that game to have one of the greatest regular seasons in Linfield history. Inns completed 59.4 percent of his passes for 2296 yards, 25 touchdowns and only five interceptions. His quarterback rating of 155.6 was tops in the conference, and was a better rating than Aaron Boehme ever had.
Josh Hill is a stud running back: Most people thought that Aaron Williams was going to be the man running the ball this season after his incredible 09 season and after injuries cut his season short last season. Unfortunately, injuries hit Williams again in the season opener, and he’s barely played this season. Josh Hill came in for Williams against Cal Lutheran, and rushed for 164 yards in the best rushing performance by a Linfield player since 2003. On the season, Hill has run for 731 yards and eight touchdowns with a 4.7 yard per carry average. Amazingly, all four of his 100 yard games came against the four toughest games on Linfield’s schedule (Cal Lutheran, Willamette, Pacific Lutheran, Lewis & Clark).
Linfield’s defense one of the best in the country: Linfield’s defense figured to be the strength of the team coming into the season, and they lived up to all the hype. Although most people figured they would carry the offense more than they did, that didn’t prevent Linfield’s defense from being one of the best units in the nation. Giving up 11.7 points and 285.3 yards per game, the Wildcat defense also forced 22 turnovers (15 of them interceptions) and held opponents to 22 percent on third down conversions on the season. The numbers would have been even more impressive if Whitworth hadn’t put up 38 points and 422 yards on them a couple weeks ago, but they’re impressive nonetheless.
Linfield the king of the NWC: While the Northwest conference was very competitive between the teams that finished between second and fifth in the conference, nobody really gave Linfield much of a challenge. While Linfield did struggle to put away Willamette in the beginning of the season and with Whitworth a couple weeks ago, Linfield brutally beat down Lewis & Clark (second place) 47-14, and did the same to Pacific Lutheran (third place) in a 45-7 win. Linfield gets to rule the conference for one more season, and Linfield will have enough key players coming back next season that winning a fourth straight NWC title isn’t out of the question.
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