In today's game with Menlo I saw defensive hurdling called for the first time in my life.  Anyone else see this?

BearcatPress,

Any information?  I think Bubba was the most over rated DB in Linfield history.  What do you have about this?

Any information about why Bubba Lemon and brother transferred to Willamette?  I don't think it will hurt Linfield.

RedlandPurple,
I thought the game was interesting.  Two very good teams gave a terrific effort.  It will be tough to bet against either one for next year.  Hopefully, Linfield will be in the mix next year.  We just never got it all together this year.  As we know, a good team finds a way to find the whole package.  It doesn't happen very often, but it is very interesting when it does happen.

Anyonenotice the Linfield showing in middle of the photo of the blocked punt on the homepage?

What is a five-two-five defensive configuration?  The announcer (she) has mentioned it twice.  Shouldn't a defensive configuration add up to 11?

The word "weak" can mean different things to different people.  I understand that.  But, after hearing all summer from many "connected",  I was expecting a defense that would shut down 2-4 teams.   There were many bright spots and I think there will be improvements.  One thing I did notice was it (the temperature) got cold real quick. The nice thing about being a spectator, is that you don't have to take "one day at a time".

Monrovia cat,
I am being realistic, not positive or negative.  Linfield was not playing a highly rated team last night, yet struggled in a game that might expectantly be a 40-7 game.  There were large holes in the pass defense (secondary).  What I was saying, was that if Linfield was playing a quality team, it could easily have been a blowout, with the wrong team winning.  There needs to be great improvement to hang with a quality team (let alone, win against a quality team).

I hate to say it, but the Cat defense is really weak.  Pass defense needs to greatly improve.  This is going to come down to either greatly improving, or Clark and Whitworth will have a record breaking day against Linfield.  I have been to most of the games, and have not seen the necessary improvement.  Last night, some of the big plays were great to see.  The running plays could use more misdirection, because we obviously don't have what it takes for any kind of power burst at the O line. 

Interesting replay of OU -UO onside kick.  At first glance it looks like OU player hit ball with helmet.  This is feed that booth official discussed.  All in all, it was an unfortunate blown call by officials.  This includes the recovery of the kick.  Whistle was blown too soon.

http://www.zshare.net/video/robbed3-wmv.html 

I would think the trend I have mentioned,  has been the topic of many conversations.  I am surprised (maybe I missed it) that high student costs isn't recognized as a trend that will be difficult to overcome for most private colleges in DIII.  I can fully understand why an affluent family (in the West) would send their good football playing son to Linfield.  But, to send their good football playing son to all of the other private schools would take some second thoughts.  It is easy to understand why scheduling becomes a problem.

Pat,
Is there a breakdown somewhere concerning the number of private colleges and public colleges in DIII football (or DIII in general)?

Thank you. 

Gig Harbor Cat,
I agree that the Linfield experience is worth the money.  My point is that for $100,000+ for each child in college, the number of good football players are severely limited.  It is the same where my daughter went to school, a world class university (Washington University),  that plays DIII football and does not compete very well.  This is something that will make a difference in the quality of players in the coming years.  It is making a difference already in schools like Pacific, Lewis & Clark and many others.  That is why it will be more difficult in the future, for the whole league (not just Linfield) to continue its mastery over teams such as Southern Oregon and WOU.  This down cycle has a reason, for some of these private colleges.  It is about the money.

Less competitive.  I can't help but think it is the high cost of going to these schools, plus the no scholarship of DIII.   For parents to shell out $120,000 plus,  for one child to play football is a pretty good chunk.  Especially, if they have two or three kids in college.

My impression of the game is fairly simplistic.  WOU was playing their second game.  They were much improved over last year and that caught a few by surprise.  The second game made all of the difference in two teams that were fairly equal.  They were able to capture that early momentum and held on tight.  It was not lack of desire or coaching that was the difference.  It was the difference in the number of games.  That is huge at the start of the year, and in this case it made the difference.