It’s the third round of the NCAA
playoffs; only eight teams remain, and two of the nation’s top-five teams face
off at Maxwell Field in a rare late-round postseason home game. The Wildcats look to return to the round of
four for the first time since 2009, while UW-Oshkosh looks to continue their
magical season.
Third-ranked
Linfield comes into the game with a 11-0 record, and coming off a 30-14 win
over #14 North Central (IL) in the second round. Fifth-ranked UW-Oshkosh is 12-0, the champions
of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and coming off a 37-14
win over #10 Bethel in the second round.
Linfield’s
offense, among the most explosive in the nation in the regular season, has been
slowed somewhat in the playoffs, but is still going strong; the ‘Cat Attack is
averaging 41.8 points and 450.4 yards of offense. Leading the attack is Quarterback Mickey Inns,
who has completed 60.8 percent of his passes for 3,041 yards and 29 touchdowns
with six interceptions on the season, giving him a passer rating of 149.38. Charlie Poppen leads the receiving core with
801 yards and nine touchdowns on 51 receptions; Deidre Weirsma has 617 yards
and seven touchdowns on 55 receptions. Lucas
Jepson has 621 yards and four touchdowns on 45 receptions. John Shaffer leads the rushing attack with
466 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 4.2 yards per carry.
UW-Oshkosh’s
defense comes into the game among the nation’s elite, giving up 14.2 points and
286.9 yards of offense per game. The Cardinal’s
defense has forced 25 turnovers on the season, and will be looking to contain
the Linfield offense like very few teams have been able to in the past four
years.
UW-Oshkosh
brings into the game the most balanced offense that Linfield has seen all
season; Averaging 40 points and 501.2 yards per game, the Titans bring one of
the most explosive and exciting offenses in the nation to the table. The Titans average 263.2 yards on the ground
and 237 yards through the air. Leading
the ground attack is running back Cole Myhra, who has rushed for 1,461 yards
and 15 touchdowns on the year, averaging 6.7 yards per carry. The passing game is lead by Nate Wara, who’s among
the best duel-threat quarterbacks in the nation. Wara has completed 64.6 percent of his passes
for 2,808 yards and 28 touchdowns with four interceptions on the season; Wara
also is second on the team with 724 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground,
averaging 4.7 yards per carry. Caleb
Voss leads the team with 1,107 yards and 12 touchdowns on 54 receptions,
averaging 20.5 yards per reception. Zach
Kasuboski has 574 yards and four touchdowns on 50 receptions.
Linfield’s
defense comes into the game playing like a top-5 defensive unit, which they’ve
looked like so far in the playoffs. On
the season, the Wildcat defense gives up 16.7 points and 290.2 yards of offense
per game. The Wildcat defense leads the
conference in tackles for loss, and the nation in quarterback sacks; the
defense has also forced 29 turnovers on the season.
Keys to the game for Linfield:
-Force turnovers: While the
Linfield defense has forced 12 turnovers in the two playoff games, the Titans
offense has turned the ball over only 9 times on the season. It will be a battle of wills on Saturday between
the Linfield defense and the UW-Oshkosh offense; whoever wins that battle will
determine the winner of the game.
-Establish a running game: The
Wildcats were held to a season-low 26 yards in their win over North Central
(IL). While it was a great win, Linfield
hasn’t established their running game in over a month. I can’t imagine them continuing to win in the
playoffs if they don’t get something, anything, going on the ground.
Keys to the game for UW-Oshkosh:
-Keep turnovers down: Linfield’s
defense has been a turnover-forcing machine in the playoffs; if the Titans can
keep their turnover count low, they may just have the offense that’s explosive
enough to make plays and put up points on the Wildcats’ rugged defense.
-Establish running game: running
the ball has been UW-Oshkosh’s strength all season, and North Central (IL) was
able to rack up rushing yards on Linfield, so there’s hope for the titans
there. If they’re able to avoid
turnovers and establish the running game at the same time, Linfield could be in
trouble.
-Wara’s legs: Duel-threat
quarterbacks proved to be a hassle for Linfield’s defense in the 2011 playoffs,
especially against Wesley. So far in
2012, Linfield’s defense has yet to play against a true duel-threat quarterback
outside of Lewis & Clark, who had Keith Welch but no offensive line;
Saturday’s game against the Titans will be Linfield’s chance to show if they
figured anything out from last season.
Link to Coach Smith Thoughts on UW-Oshkosh video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZnZ_uX4jGo&feature=youtu.be
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