FB: Northwest Conference

[BoBo]

Great competitive game.  Congrats to Whitworth.  But it's time to step it up a notch for the Johnnies and that trip to UWW.  Oxy, good ball game and season.

[cawcdad]

INT   rats  wins     OXY  0 & 3  nwc

I guess when you selectively eliminate Willamette, Lewis & Clark and Puget Sound, Oxy is, in fact, 0-3 against the NWC.

xfactor82, OXY is 0-3 in playoff games in the PNW.

Congrats Rats! good luck against the Johnnies.

Thanks all, the posts gave me a feel for the game. I was at a good J.C. game. Our boys lost late though, 34 - 28.

[D O.C.]

(509) Rat

(although this presents a problem for the picture I'll be making....what the hell is a johnnie?)!

No problem, Veau!

[pineconefan]

Now that I've had a chance to catch my breath, catch a bite and reflect, I'll make a brief post.  What a game.  I give Occidental a ton of credit.  They obviously came into the Pine Bowl fully expecting to win. 

They had a good defensive game plan against the Pirates.  I figured they'd blitz like crazy to go after Clark, but the opposite happened.  They rushed three and had eight guys in coverage, keeping two or three on Allan all game.  But they knew Clark wouldn't be able to tuck it and run, so they could stay in coverage.  Then the couple of times they did blitz, they got good pressure.

But the Pirate defense was nails again in the second half.  I don't think Occidental got a single first down in the fourth quarter, when they had good opportunities to put the game away.  Collins was good, but he took a beating today.

Joel Clark demonstrated amazing toughness today.  He was clearly not his usual self.  Some of those passes had so little on them, I didn't know if they'd get to the receiver.  But you give Clark the ball with two minutes left and the game to win...

He just gets it done.

Looking forward to seeing the Johnnies next week after reading and hearing so much about them over the last few years.

[RedandPurple]

"Gotta say that I'm missing the commericials for Pogies subs in Newberg......what a pitty  LOL"

A few of the many things I miss...

... watching the Wildcats' running out of the tunnel. (Especially #75)

...eating the Coconut Shrimp and Steak at Ruby's.

... Sunday lunch at the Sandwich Shop.

[ClassicCat]

Well boys, a CAT went to the RAT game today, and I'll give a purely unbias opinion. To 509, I very happy for you. Enjoy the victory, reap the reward, but both teams were evenly matched, one was no better. Remember, Whitworth was playing on a short field much of the first half. Had it not been for one play (you know which one), Oxy would have won.

I was very empressed with Collins; he took the flats on either side with quick screens all day. I thought he mixed it up quite well - to the point Whitworth's D had no idea what was happening. He should have stretched the field. His arm reminded me of BE. Clark, on the other hand, played as a wounded warrior. His last minute desperation pass to Koller was a "throw it as far as you can while on the run" type play. Oxy applied very good pressure. Clark was lucky to get it off.

Whitworth, in my mind, has a very simple, unimaginive offensive scheme. Follow their "quick guard." He'll take you to the point of attack. Zone block left, zone block right. It resembles a moving wedge. On a pass play, quess what the guard does..hats up. When the Rats used crossing patterns, and backs out of the backfield in conjunction with deep crossing routes, they had touchdowns.

My greatest disappointment was watching a "NFL type" TE being a decoy all day. Clearly, he was multi-teamed, but he stood head and shoulders above everybody. The one time Clark threw the ball to him on a flanker screen, he alluded his first tackler and then dragged two others for about 8 yards and a first down. I thought Whitworth really could have used him a lot better. Had Linfield ever used Casey Allen as I decoy? Of course not. Allan has talent and skills - showcase them, especially with a gimpy QB.

Obviously, the difference of the game was Whitworth's last minute drive. But what set it up was the play of the Rats driving 90+ yards in the 3rd quarter to retake the lead. Oxy took a pounding during the drive. Whitworth was very methodical, but Oxy's defensive scheme gave up at least 3-4 yards off tackle-end because they played 5 linebackers most of the time under 2 safeties and by the time the LB's reacted, the RATs achieved positive yardage.

I had fun sitting with the Whitworth fans. They are really enjoying their team. I'm happy for them to be able to experience a win at home. With the Johnnies next week, I think Whitworth will do just fine. Their quickness on defense will defend the Johnnie run quite well. 509, to make sure we see the same game next week, meet me under the press box.

One game at a time RATS.

[Foss]

Thanks to those for their at the game assessments.

ClassicCat, I totally agree with you on Allan. How you don't get it to the one guy who presents the biggest mismatch on the field is hard to understand. The announcers said after his one catch (which was nullified due to a false start penalty) he proceeded to bowl people over from another 7-10 yards. This "lack of utilizing him" was first mentioned by the UW-Stout fans who said he was awesome, yet hardly seemed to get the rock. It has also been mentioned by some 'Rat posters, and now 'Cat fans. I know teams are focusing on him, but how hard is it to get it to a 6' 7" NFL-type beast? I believe that if they don't get Allan more involved next week, they are going to get beaten badly by SJU, who will likely be much better than Oxy.

The one part of your post I disagree with is "Collin's arm reminding you of BE." I saw Collins play in '04 and '05, and although he was head and shoulders above BE in the running and eluding tacklers department, I thought BE clearly had a much stronger arm. This isn't a dis on Collins, he may end up on the D3 All-American team this year, and be totally deserving of it, in my opinion.

[Kilted Rat]

I had fun sitting with the Whitworth fans. They are really enjoying their team. I'm happy for them to be able to experience a win at home. With the Johnnies next week, I think Whitworth will do just fine. Their quickness on defense will defend the Johnnie run quite well. 509, to make sure we see the same game next week, meet me under the press box.

Which would be a great idea most years, but when you consider we ran for a total of 62 yards today in a 21-13 win (with Central's final TD scored on a dump pass drive when down 15 in the finaly 3 min), I think Whitworth should worry more about stopping SJU's passing game!

[ClassicCat]

Foss,

You're probably right on the comparision I used with Collins having an arm like Elliott. Collins threw impressively today with zip and velocity on the ball when throwing his quick screens, much like I remember Elliott. It seems Collins didn't show us much throwing long, except for the last play of the game.

I don't know if you Bucs fans noticed on one play in the 2nd Q when Clark started under right guard, then realized his mistake and went to center. That would confuse the guard more than anybody else, don't you think?

[criswyly]

Congratulations Whitworth...hope I get my internet working for next week's game.

[(509)Rat]

ClassicCat:  I agree with most of your assesment of the game, but I still think Whitworth was a better team than Oxy.  If you want my reasoning see any of my earlier posts.  If the teams were evenly matched, Oxy (given all of their opportunities) would have won that game.  From what I understand hitworth isn't garaunteed a home game by the money hungry NCAA, but it sounds to me like they will deservedly get it.  If Whitworth plays against St. John's like they did today...its gonna get ugly.  Hopefully Clark's ankle feels a little better, and coach Tully figures out that we have a tight end who's an NFL prospect.  Mike Allan was not triple teamed and not even double teamed as much as pineconefan makes it sound.  Oxy's safety would cheat over a t if he was lined up outside but that was about it.  We all saw what happened when he got the ball, enough said.  ClassicCat as long as I'm not on a plane I'll meet you underneath the press box next week.  Look for the guy with the whitworth football sweatshirt who looks like he's still in high school (appearently puberty forgot about me).

[UWPSUPERFAN77]

Whitworth Fans: Can you please give the WIAC fans some insight into your team, so we can trash the Johnnies when they get out of line. blessing!

[DuffMan]

Whitworth Fans: Can you please give the WIAC fans some insight into your team, so we can trash the Johnnies when they get out of line. blessing!

So it's alright for you to "trash" us, but you get offended when we rip on Bethel fans.  You're a real piece of work.

[sju56321]

Duff-don't forget-GOD BLESS.

[tigersports]

Thanks to all the NWC fans that listened to our broadcast.  While we come from the Oxy perspective, we try not to be homers.  Apologies for the repeated Linfield references.  It was unconscious to the extent I didn't even know I was doing it.  I guess I stopped when I didn't see Oxy behind by 4 TD's.    And the one poster was right about the commercial, but I felt I needed to support the folks that support us.  Btw, you can always get the broadcast at www.oxybroadcast.com  Thanks all again for listening.