#3 Linfield, after making us wonder about how good they actually were in the first four games, put it all together on Saturday, blasting Whitworth into the next dimension by a score of 54-14. The win put Linfield at 5-0, and clinched their 57th consecutive winning season in a row. The loss dropped Whitworth to 5-2, and ended any chance they had of winning the Northwest Conference.
Here are my thoughts on the game...
It was over when: Whitworth's Bryan Peterson was intercepted by Linfield's Brandon Funk with 6:44 to go in the first quarter. Linfield scored a touchdown on a Mickey Inns pass to Deidre Weirsma on the next play, and the floodgates opened from there.
Gameball goes to: Mickey Inns. After being a first-team all-conference selection in 2011, Inns had one of the worst QB ratings in the conference going into Saturday's game. Against Whitworth, Linfield started out the game running the ball down Whitworth's throat, and the Whitworth defense started to suck up to the line, forcing Inns to throw the ball. In response, Inns turned in his most efficient day of the season, going 23-32 for 261 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions.
Stat of the game: 585 yards of offense by Linfield. The yards and points put up by Linfield were season-high totals. The most impressive stat of the day was Linfield's 7.3 yards per play. After Linfield scored the first touchdown, they started to play at the Oregon duck-level of pace, racing up to the line of scrimmage after every play and snapping the ball as soon as the ref put the ball down. Whitworth's defense ranked pretty low in the conference, and they broke down pretty bad by the third quarter.
Unsung Hero of the game: Since Mickey Inns will probably be the talk of the game, I'll give this award to John Shaffer. After starting the season as the third-string running back, Shaffer started Saturday's game, and carried the ball 15 times for 108 yards and one touchdown. Shaffer's performances have shown that Linfield has incredible depth at running back, and that's why they've been the best rushing team in the league even with Josh Hill out with an injury.
What it means: Linfield started the day as a team that looked like they could possibly be dethroned this season; by the end of the game, Linfield established themselves as not just the best team in the Northwest conference, but as the number three team in the nation. Linfield should be favored to win the rest of their games, and win their fourth straight NWC title. For Whitworth, Their chances of winning the conference have completely vanished, and they'll have to settle for winning the rest of their games. With Pudget Sound, Pacific Lutheran, and Lewis & Clark left on the schedule, that'll be a tall order.
Link to boxscore: http://www.linfield.edu/sports/stats/fb/ww1013.htm
Link to Analysis Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMjuLJgkAJo
No comments:
Post a Comment