Quote from: D O.C. on November 18, 2024, 03:55:42 PMOH YEAH THE 1974 NAIA FILM FLIM FLAM GAME WHERE TLU SENT NOTHING ABOUT THEIR WISHBONE OFFENSE THAT RAN ALL OVER US AND LED TO RULES CHANGES ON FILM EXCHANGE.

Vengeance is ours!

Quote from: D O.C. on November 18, 2024, 03:55:42 PMOH YEAH THE 1974 NAIA FILM FLIM FLAM GAME WHERE TLU SENT NOTHING ABOUT THEIR WISHBONE OFFENSE THAT RAN ALL OVER US AND LED TO RULES CHANGES ON FILM EXCHANGE.

What did TLU do - send film from a previous season? And what rule changes did it bring about?

Quote from: catjumper on November 17, 2024, 09:00:02 PMOkay, someone who's been around Linfield a bit longer than I, refresh my memory. Someone involved with the 1974 playoff game at Texas Lutheran - maybe Coach Rutschman or Steve Davis - once told me there was some skullduggery involved that affected that game's 52-8 final score, something along the lines of TLU never sending game films to Linfield. Do any of you recall anything about that?

Mystery solved. A source tells me TLU sent film but the quality was so low the 'Cats weren't able to garner much benefit from it.

Okay, someone who's been around Linfield a bit longer than I, refresh my memory. Someone involved with the 1974 playoff game at Texas Lutheran - maybe Coach Rutschman or Steve Davis - once told me there was some skullduggery involved that affected that game's 52-8 final score, something along the lines of TLU never sending game films to Linfield. Do any of you recall anything about that?

Quote from: George Thompson on November 17, 2024, 05:27:18 PMLinfield gets a bye week.  Good.

George

And a home game, which I really didn't expect.

Quote from: George Thompson on October 28, 2024, 04:38:51 PM

Quote from: wildcat11 on October 28, 2024, 12:17:55 PMUPS is still UPS. Should be an interesting 3 weeks.  I feel Linfield has figured out the QB situation and is in a nice groove with it.

Agree.  Offense is playing well.  This team has good potential.

GT

One perceived difference in this year's 'Cats ties in to that "more focused" observation - without having an exact count, it at least seems like not as many irresponsible personal foul and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties as the past few seasons.

First off, wishing good health to both DOC and George Thompson. Now ...

Saturday is the annual 'Cat Fight as Linfield visits Willamette for the 96th football meeting between the two schools; as such, time for our annual review of the rivalry, currently led by the Wildcats 56-36-3:

November 1, 1902: McMinnville College and Willamette University meet for the first time, a 6-6 tie in McMinnville.

October 17, 1903: Willamette wins 27-0 in the first game of the series played in Salem.

November 24, 1922: Willamette wins 36-0 in McMinnville in Linfield's first season of football since 1905. It's also the Wildcats' first-ever Homecoming game.

November 7, 1925: Linfield gets its first win in the series, a 3-0 victory in Salem.
1928-1932: Linfield scores just six points in five games against Willamette; among scores of the losses were 36-0, 47-0 and 48-0.

October 20, 1934: Willamette again spoils Linfield's Homecoming with a 32-7 win. In the aftermath of the game, a Willamette student or students paint "WU" on the doors of Melrose Hall and saw off the goalposts at Maxwell Field.

Linfield President Elam Anderson suspends participation in all athletics with Willamette until the culprit or culprits of the vandalism confess. It takes over a year of negotiation before the Wildcats and Bearcats compete again.

1935: Without Willamette on the schedule, Linfield wins a share of its first Northwest Conference football championship.

November 5, 1949: Linfield beats Willamette 20-0 in McMinnville, ending a 17-game losing streak against the Bearcats dating back to 1927. Earlier in the fall, Linfield President Harry Dillin – responding to claims by his football team that it would beat WU that year – said if the Wildcats ever beat the Bearcats in football while he was still around the College, he'd stand on his head on the 50-yard line. After the game, Dillin keeps his promise.

1967: Willamette turns in Linfield for a financial aid discrepancy involving athlete healthcare, leading to the Northwest Conference sanctioning the Wildcats with a ban on team and individual conference championships for a year. Linfield had won four of the last six NWC football titles, four of the last seven men's basketball titles and eight of the last nine baseball titles.

November 8, 1968: Willamette beats Linfield 6-0 in Salem, earning a spot in the NAIA national playoffs and knocking Linfield out of the postseason.

1969 – 1982: Linfield runs off a winning streak of its own in the series, beating Willamette 14 straight times, including five shutouts.

November 5, 1983: Linfield, having already won at Pacific Lutheran and seemingly headed to the NAIA Division II playoffs to defend its national title, is upset 26-21 in Salem by a Willamette team that had lost 15 straight games over two seasons.

November 10, 1984: In the regular season finale in McMinnville, Linfield beats Willamette 55-0; late in the first half, the Wildcats call a timeout to be sure they can punch in one more touchdown to make it 49-0 at the break.

The day before, Linfield's student newspaper, The Linews, had published a prank version of the Willamette Collegian - dubbed The Cullegian - and distributed it on the WU campus.

October 12, 1985: Trailing 33-7 late in the third quarter, Linfield rallies for a 36-33 Homecoming win over Willamette.

October 18, 1997: Willamette's Liz Heaston kicks a pair of extra points, becoming the first woman to play and score in a college football game as the Bearcats beat Linfield 27-0 in Salem.

October 17, 1998: Linfield scores in the final minute to beat Willamette 20-19 in McMinnville, clinching the Wildcats' 43rd consecutive winning season. That gives Linfield the record for most consecutive winning seasons in college football at any level, surpassing the 42 of Harvard and Notre Dame in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Linfield students tear down the south goalpost in celebration.

November 1, 2014: Willamette knocks off highly favored Linfield 31-28 in McMinnville, ending the Wildcats' 36-game Northwest Conference win streak.

October 17, 2015: Linfield beats Willamette 49-7 in Salem, assuring that the Wildcats will have a winning season for the 60th straight autumn.

October 19, 2019: On Homecoming in McMinnville, Linfield beats Willamette 77-0. It is the highest score ever rung up by a team in the series and the largest margin of victory in the series.

Quote from: George Thompson on September 08, 2024, 10:46:27 AM

Quote from: catjumper on September 07, 2024, 07:52:51 PM'Cats need to get a LOT better on offense if they're going to make a playoff run. 31 points, but 2 defensive touchdowns and the field goal was set up by a turnover. Defense looked good and was tested by a Denison quarterback who was an outstanding scrambler.

Agree 100%. Hopefully, it was just the first game issues. 

GT

Having two very capable quarterbacks is great but at some point you may need to make a decision as to who is your main guy and go with him. Going back and forth every few plays or possessions makes it difficult for the guy at that position to really get into a rhythm. And the run blocking looked to lack consistent quality - you're going to have to move the ball on the ground and on a lot of plays Saturday the running back got the ball with two or three white jerseys in his face.

But, as you said, hopefully first-game issues that having some film will help straighten out before a stern test at Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

'Cats need to get a LOT better on offense if they're going to make a playoff run. 31 points, but 2 defensive touchdowns and the field goal was set up by a turnover. Defense looked good and was tested by a Denison quarterback who was an outstanding scrambler.

Awfully quiet on here for the first week of the season ...

First off, congratulations to Whitworth on its victory – it was the better team today. To erase a 10-point deficit in the final quarter against a nationally ranked team on its home field is a significant achievement. This Linfielder is hoping the Pirates make a deep playoff run – the Northwest Conference needs it in rebuilding its national reputation.

As for the 'Cats, in the big picture this loss feels necessary for Linfield to take a step forward. Odd as it sounds, too much success can be detrimental – producing a mindset that you just have to show up to win. And much of the past decade there's been reason for the Wildcats to think that way.

Depending on the non-conference opponents, lately there have been eight or nine games per season Linfield will win just because it is physically better than its foe. Even far short of playing a perfect game, the Wildcats can simply overwhelm their opponents, often by at least 20 points.

Get into a game where the matchup of physical skills is more even, and you have to play clean, precise football to win, and you're not accustomed to doing that. Generally, since 2015 that has come in the second round of the playoffs for Linfield.

It's become predictable what each season will hold: adding to The Streak, a 9-0 regular season, a first-round win over the SCIAC champion at Maxwell Field, and then a second-round loss to a higher-ranked team on the road. Game days are still fun but, Week 1 to Week 11, there's little to no suspense as to the outcome. It's been, in a word, kind of boring.

I arrived at the feeling earlier this week that while I wanted Linfield to beat Whitworth, I wasn't going to be crushed if the 'Cats lost – it might provide a needed shakeup to Linfield and to the Northwest Conference.  A taste of losing makes winning more meaningful, and it might trigger the Wildcats – on those Saturdays they play a physically inferior opponent – to gauge themselves not against that opponent but against the ceiling of their capabilities.

One bright spot from today: Linfield may have found its next great quarterback. Luke McNabb brings dimensions to the offense that haven't been there since Josh Yoder and the early years of Sam Riddle – making defenses account for a quarterback run and having to discern where the ball is going when the quarterback and running back mesh and then separate. Plus, he showed a pocket presence far beyond what could be expected from a freshman in his second start, in a big game against a good team.

(Sidenote: I've long felt Yoder has never received the recognition he deserves in Linfield's pantheon of quarterbacks, largely because he had only one season as a starter. But if you check the record book for single-season marks his 2013 campaign has a lot of entries spread across the rushing, passing and total offense categories.)

A lot of good pieces could be back for Linfield in 2024. I'm hoping the rest of the NWC improves to test the 'Cats more frequently – and that the 'Cats test themselves against not only those opponents, but against the standard of playing a perfect game regardless of the opposition.

Okay, that went longer than I planned - sorry. I'll be watching the playoffs with interest and looking forward to seeing Linfield back in the bracket next November.

Quote from: criswyly on November 09, 2023, 01:49:53 PM
I suspect that they were only resting Eaton to give him time to be ready to play this weekend. it won't surprise me if they start McNabb and replace him halfway through the first quarter.

Whether it's Eaton or McNabb, the quarterback position may have already given the 'Cats at least a bit of an advantage this week: Whitworth has had one week to prepare for two somewhat different offensive looks.

Quote from: olddog on October 04, 2023, 10:59:40 AM
Oxy dropped football because they have a huge endowment, money was not the reason they carried football the last 20 years. School wanted that type of male student off the campus. Whittier dropped football for financial reasons, taking the whole school in a different direction, toward the toilet if you ask me. They sold off assets, had land for sale, sold the Presidents Residence, all to raise cash. I can see Whittier moving towards a version of National University model to survive. The school needs major capital improvements. Word on street is they have spoken to city of Whittier about consolidation and what zoning the city is willing to grant.

Thank you, Old Dog - I appreciate knowing more about the circumstances of Occidental and Whittier dropping football. From what I know from over 40 years of being around the Northwest Conference, I don't anticipate any of the schools making a similar move. I'll never say never, but it's hard to see the circumstances that would lead any of the current schools to eliminate the sport.

Lewis & Clark is likely the most "progressive" of the NWC schools; in 2005 it cut short its season and did study of whether its football program warranted continuation. Obviously, L&C's conclusion was that it did and it has had several competitive seasons since. Even Puget Sound, for all its recent struggles, had a winning record as recently as 2019. As much as I want the Wildcats to win, I also want the conference to be competitive across the board.

Quote from: olddog on October 02, 2023, 06:36:59 PM
I am surprised not more schools drop football in the NW, given how progressive they are !

I can see in my lifetime and football only merger of the SCIAC and NWC ...

Outside of LF and maybe GF....I think all are at risk. Masculinity has been re defined by those that are not.

The Northwest Conference needs more strong programs to challenge Linfield, but the ones playing right now don't appear to be at risk. I don't know what the roster sizes were at Occidental and Whittier were when those programs were dropped, but here's a look at the current roster NWC roster sizes based on what is posted on school websites:

George Fox - 119
Lewis & Clark - 98
Linfield - 124
Pacific - 152
Pacific Lutheran - 105
Puget Sound - 80
Whitworth - 111
Willamette - 72

Some may be getting financial aid from school sources but many of those are paying students, whether it's out of parents' pockets or federal financial aid. Even with football's expense, small private schools are going to hesitate in cutting a program that might lose them that much income and male enrollment. Some may go the route of increasing in-region scheduling, as four schools have done in creating the Oregon Cup, but if you can keep a healthy roster size it's hard to see any of those schools dropping football.

Perhaps its time to consider that "progressive" and "masculine" aren't mutually exclusive.

It's that week again: the Linfield vs. Willamette 'Cat Fight. In the spirit of century-old college football rivalries, keep in mind that if you're taken aback by the aggregate score of the last four meetings being 278-7 in the Wildcats' favor, it's just payback for the Bearcats' actions in 1934.

Without further ado, a look at highlights from the 94 previous meetings, in which Linfield holds a 55-36-3 advantage:

November 1, 1902: McMinnville College and Willamette University meet for the first time, a 6-6 tie in McMinnville.

October 17, 1903: Willamette wins 27-0 in the first game of the series played in Salem.

November 24, 1922: Willamette wins 36-0 in McMinnville in Linfield's first season of football since 1905. It's also the Wildcats' first-ever Homecoming game.

November 7, 1925: Linfield gets its first win in the series, a 3-0 victory in Salem.

1928-1932: Linfield scores just six points in five games against Willamette; among scores of the losses were 36-0, 47-0 and 48-0.

October 20, 1934: Willamette again spoils Linfield's Homecoming with a 32-7 win. In the aftermath of the game, a Willamette student or students paint "WU" on the doors of Melrose Hall and saw off the goalposts at Maxwell Field.

Linfield President Elam Anderson suspends participation in all athletics with Willamette until the culprit or culprits of the vandalism confess. It takes over a year of negotiation before the Wildcats and Bearcats compete again.

1935: Without Willamette on the schedule, Linfield wins a share of its first Northwest Conference football championship.

November 5, 1949: Linfield beats Willamette 20-0 in McMinnville, ending a 17-game losing streak against the Bearcats dating back to 1927. Earlier in the fall, Linfield President Harry Dillin – responding to claims by his football team that it would beat WU that year – said if the Wildcats ever beat the Bearcats in football while he was still around the College, he'd stand on his head on the 50-yard line. After the game, Dillin keeps his promise.

1967: Willamette turns in Linfield for a financial aid discrepancy involving athlete healthcare, leading to the Northwest Conference sanctioning the Wildcats with a ban on team and individual conference championships for a year. Linfield had won four of the last six NWC football titles, four of the last seven men's basketball titles and eight of the last nine baseball titles.

November 8, 1968: Willamette beats Linfield 6-0 in Salem, earning a spot in the NAIA national playoffs and knocking Linfield out of the postseason.

1969 – 1982: Linfield runs off a winning streak of its own in the series, beating Willamette 14 straight times, including five shutouts.

November 5, 1983: Linfield, having already won at Pacific Lutheran and seemingly headed to the NAIA Division II playoffs to defend its national title, is upset 26-21 in Salem by a Willamette team that had lost 15 straight games over two seasons.

November 10, 1984: In the regular season finale in McMinnville, Linfield beats Willamette 55-0; late in the first half, the Wildcats call a timeout to be sure they can punch in one more touchdown to make it 49-0 at the break.

The day before, Linfield's student newspaper, The Linews, had published a prank version of the Willamette Collegian - dubbed The Cullegian - and distributed it on the WU campus.

October 12, 1985: Trailing 33-7 late in the third quarter, Linfield rallies for a 36-33 Homecoming win over Willamette.

October 18, 1997: Willamette's Liz Heaston kicks a pair of extra points, becoming the first woman to play and score in a college football game as the Bearcats beat Linfield 27-0 in Salem.

October 17, 1998: Linfield scores in the final minute to beat Willamette 20-19 in McMinnville, clinching the Wildcats' 43rd consecutive winning season. That gives Linfield the record for most consecutive winning seasons in college football at any level, surpassing the 42 of Harvard and Notre Dame in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Linfield students tear down the south goalpost in celebration.

November 1, 2014: Willamette knocks off highly favored Linfield 31-28 in McMinnville, ending the Wildcats' 36-game Northwest Conference win streak.

October 17, 2015: Linfield beats Willamette 49-7 in Salem, assuring that the Wildcats will have a winning season for the 60th straight autumn.

October 19, 2019: On Homecoming in McMinnville, Linfield beats Willamette 77-0. It is the highest score ever rung up by a team in the series and the largest margin of victory in the series.