FB: Northwest Conference

[wildcat11]

If you guys lose to HSC you can send it to me and I'll post a pic of me wearing it on the 50 yard line of the Pine Bowl...

You guys still have a football team?   

[criswyly]

Thanks 509, never knew how that worked....

[(509)Rat]

If you guys lose to HSC you can send it to me and I'll post a pic of me wearing it on the 50 yard line of the Pine Bowl...

You guys still have a football team?   

We do now that Tully's gone

[jknezek]

Not Wilamette. They can barely get past Sewanee the last two years and HSC is light years better than Sewanee.  That being said, I would be surprised if HSC stays inside 20 points. As a neutral ODAC poster I'm calling 48 to 21 Linfield wins and the Tigers get 7 of the 21 against the second string. Hope I'm wrong even though I'm riding Linfield to the title in my bracket. Here's to a good game and no injuries.

[(509)Rat]

Not Wilamette. They can barely get past Sewanee the last two years and HSC is light years better than Sewanee.  That being said, I would be surprised if HSC stays inside 20 points. As a neutral ODAC poster I'm calling 48 to 21 Linfield wins and the Tigers get 7 of the 21 against the second string. Hope I'm wrong even though I'm riding Linfield to the title in my bracket. Here's to a good game and no injuries.

Really? How bad did HSC beat Sewanee the last 2 years? Oh...

I'm not saying Sewanee is good, but they aren't as bad as your Willamette argument. Derp.

[D O.C.]

Derp was a misprint, right?

Twerk was new to me, now I have to find out Derp?

[bleedpurple]

509 please interpret that since I don't do Vegas...

Linfield -27 is the spread. If you bet Linfield, you are saying that the Cats will win by at least 27 points (hence subtracting 27 points from Linfield's final point total still gives them a W). If you took HSC, you aren't necessarily saying the Tigers will win, but that they will not lose my more than 27 points.

The O/U is the "over/under" on how many total points will be scored by both teams in the game. For example, the Baylor v Ok St O/U was 80 points (which was high considering how well both teams' defenses had played up to that point in the season, even with the high powered offenses). Final score of 49-17 means you won if you took the "under" since the point total was 66.

Our winning this game would be no less an upset than Shanendoah beating us earlier this year.  If any of you think we are not every bit as good or better than Pacific Ore (final score 28-22) your crazy. We are IMO the BEST team your guys will have seen all year.

Pacific is not only a conference opponent (where familiarity often breeds more competitive games than expected, much like your Shanendoah loss), but they are also a top 30 team. I don't think anyone outside of HSC supporters would pick the Tigers over PLU in a neutral site game. Heck, a neutral site matchup with Willamette or Pacific would probably be a "pick 'em" if betting lines actually existed in d3 sports. So your opinion is one I guarantee you share only with a handful of your peers.

All that being said, I am the single most neutral poster on this board at the moment. I am not a Linfield alum nor a Linfield fan. I lovingly hate all of the Cat posters on this board and their team  I think most of these guys will attest that even my Whitworth analysis predictions are pretty unbiased and that I have a decent knowledge of d3 football in general.

I may very well be wrong. It wouldn't be the first or the last time that happened. I just hope that if you are traveling to the game this weekend that you spend a few days taking in the Willamette Valley sites/scenery, so that you can say your trip wasn't a complete bust 

I wouldn't take PLU in that game. I simply have no idea who is better and I suspect neither do you. Since you brought up this topic, maybe someone on this board (or Pat or Keith) could enlighten me to why people think PLU is any good. I know you all complain about being on "the island" west of the Rockies. And it is true. Because there are few inter-region games between all the left-coasters and anyone else, I honestly don't know what to think of any of the teams other than Linfield. Redlands seems to get crushed by #1 seeds, so they aren't the highest of level teams. PLU has not been at all competitive with Linfield the last 10 or 12 times they have played (I think I saw a post that said the average score was Linfield doubling up PLU). So why does anyone think they are any good? I know they pound on other west coast teams, but if we don't know how good those teams are (Linfield crushes them all), how does that help us?  PLU has ventured out of region three times in the last few years. They beat a 1-10 Hamline team 27-20 a couple years ago. They recently beat another 1-10 Hamline team 27-0. This year, they beat a 2-8 UW-Eau Claire team 21-19 and had to stop a UW-EC on a 2 pt conversion attempt at the end of the game to avoid overtime. These scores don't suggest PLU is really very good at all. What am I missing?

[jknezek]

Not Wilamette. They can barely get past Sewanee the last two years and HSC is light years better than Sewanee.  That being said, I would be surprised if HSC stays inside 20 points. As a neutral ODAC poster I'm calling 48 to 21 Linfield wins and the Tigers get 7 of the 21 against the second string. Hope I'm wrong even though I'm riding Linfield to the title in my bracket. Here's to a good game and no injuries.

Really? How bad did HSC beat Sewanee the last 2 years? Oh...

I'm not saying Sewanee is good, but they aren't as bad as your Willamette argument. Derp.

Well considering I've seen Sewanee live each of the last two years in a win over BSC and a loss to W&L plus on video in a loss to W&L this year I feel pretty good about my thoughts on them. Also seen HSC an awful lot on video. Sewanee runs a weaker version of W&l's option attack. Something HSC handled Well this year. Sewanee's defense is also weaker than the General's which couldn't stop HSC this year. No direct analysis but I'm pretty confident in my opinion. And derp to you, whatever that means.

[criswyly]

What's with all the black laces that I'm seeing on the footballs in DivIII...I think it is plain ugly....

[coco]

Thanks for the research Wildcat11...the HSC coach said we were like a big bully and they were going to hit us in the mouth.... 
He also said that his team was making the longest trip ever in DIII history? Are they traveling further than when we traveled to Dover, Delaware to play Wesley? If so....not by much.....

Should be a barn burner!

Great to see spiritof86, coco and The Catville Mayor come out of the woodwork! 

  C'mon Blue, he had to say something positive. It's not as though he was going to say they're going to give up like a bunch of little girls.   
  As for the travel, I've got to agree with you. Unless HSC got routed through Edmonton (or someplace equally remote) anywhere you guys had to fly to get to Dover is farther east than any airport in Virginia.

I agree with you, HSCTiger 74. I don't think what Coach Favret said was that bad. What kind of coach would say that his team didn't have a chance against the #2 team in the nation, so maybe they should send the cheerleaders instead? He said they were going to try their hardest, even though they know how strong Linfield is. I thought he was confident, not cocky. At the end, he said he was appreciative of the opportunity he and the players have to come out here and play this game. That was classy.

Also, both he and the person interviewing him pronounced Oregon correctly, which is more than many people from other parts of the country do, even some sportscasters on national TV.

I think Linfield will win, but on any given day..... and all that.

[Wildcat'64]

Coco,
"send the cheerleaders instead?"  Well since it's an all male school I guess that works.....but just for me, I prefer the Cats gender of Cheerleaders.

[criswyly]

From what I've read, I like our chances of winning the battle at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.  If we do that and play sound fundamental football and win the turnover battle, then Hampden-Sydney will leave with no doubt that they have been beaten by a better team.

Linfield  52
Hampden-Sydney 14

BTW, it's never a good idea to judge a football team by scores comparison...

[criswyly]

From what I'm seeing on the map both Rowan and Wesley are further East than Hampden-Sydney....

[criswyly]

BTW, this game has nothing to do about "respect" for the other team...It's about two teams playing a football game and seeing who comes out the winner.  Predicting a 52-14 score is not disparaging the other team...it is just saying that I believe that we are that much better.  If you prove me wrong...so be it....that's why we play the game.

[Pat Coleman]

From what I'm seeing on the map both Rowan and Wesley are further East than Hampden-Sydney....

Yeah but H-SC is further south, and that impacts the distance too.