FB: Northwest Conference

[olddog]

Cat,

...Easy ....Cat....LF is the class of the league, no one is close.... I know everyone likes to talk about the QB, but in D3 ball the teams that win championships have legit offensive and defensive lines. A great O line in D3 is rare and yours is very good. I have seen, MHB, NCC, Wheaton, Harden,...and yours maybe the best

[Bearcat Press]

Looking around the conference, Pacific is going to be in the mix this season for sure.

The Boxers are definitely good. They have some really dangerous weapons at receiver and about three running backs that will run over and through you.  Defensively, their front seven really outclassed Willamette's offensive line.  Kuykendall had no time to throw, and just about every deep shot the Bearcats tried ended in a sack.

That said, this was a more competitive game than I was anticipating, which I think speaks both to the Bearcats' improvement and to some of Pacific's weaknesses.  Willamette hung around the whole first half--down 21-7, they even had a second and goal at the Boxer 5 right before halftime but couldn't punch it in--and it was still a two-score game until late in the third quarter.  Offensively, the Bearcats had some success with short throws to running backs motioning out of the backfield, which in turn opened up rushing lanes between the tackles.  It was especially fun to see both of Willamette's TD passes caught by freshmen: Joseph Castillo, who is already making a case to get the bulk of the reps at running back, and Noah Niblett, an H-back out of Marshfield High with excellent hands.  The defense managed to really slow down the Boxers' running backs in the second half ... at least until the secondary completely ran out of gas.

IMO, the Boxers are going to absolutely smoke UPS next week and get smoked by Linfield the week after that.  Their game against George Fox on the 23rd will be a rock fight.

[wildcat11]

Looking around the conference, Pacific is going to be in the mix this season for sure.

The Boxers are definitely good. They have some really dangerous weapons at receiver and about three running backs that will run over and through you.  Defensively, their front seven really outclassed Willamette's offensive line.  Kuykendall had no time to throw, and just about every deep shot the Bearcats tried ended in a sack.

That said, this was a more competitive game than I was anticipating, which I think speaks both to the Bearcats' improvement and to some of Pacific's weaknesses  Willamette hung around the whole first half--down 21-7, they even had a second and goal at the Boxer 5 right before halftime but couldn't punch it in--and it was still a two-score game until late in the third quarter.  Offensively, the Bearcats had some success with short throws to running backs motioning out of the backfield, which in turn opened up rushing lanes between the tackles.  It was especially fun to see both of Willamette's TD passes caught by freshmen: Joseph Castillo, who is already making a case to get the bulk of the reps at running back, and Noah Niblett, an H-back out of Marshfield High with excellent hands.  The defense managed to really slow down the Boxers' running backs in the second half ... at least until the secondary completely ran out of gas.

IMO, the Boxers are going to absolutely smoke UPS next week and get smoked by Linfield the week after that.  Their game against George Fox on the 23rd will be a rock fight.

The Coaching is good at Willamette.  That's apparent in the product this year.  Just will take more time to build up the talent level.

[wildcat11]

Linfield vs UPS game highlight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-GnRrc37s4

[MUC57]

Linfield vs UPS game highlight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-GnRrc37s4

I've asked this before but I don't remember the answer (see signature below). Do you guys play FedEx as well as UPS? USPS?
Anyway, I'm still rooting for the purple team! Go 'Cats! (Raiders too!)   

[Dr. Doolittle]

Linfield vs UPS game highlight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-GnRrc37s4

I've asked this before but I don't remember the answer (see signature below). Do you guys play FedEx as well as UPS? USPS?
Anyway, I'm still rooting for the purple team! Go 'Cats! (Raiders too!)   

I really think UPS should consider changing team colors to BROWN!

[catjumper]

Linfield vs UPS game highlight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-GnRrc37s4

I've asked this before but I don't remember the answer (see signature below). Do you guys play FedEx as well as UPS? USPS?
Anyway, I'm still rooting for the purple team! Go 'Cats! (Raiders too!)   

I really think UPS should consider changing team colors to BROWN!

Yeah, but what can brown do for you?

[George Thompson]

"Which Top 25 team is most likely to be upset?:   Frank's take: No. 7 Linfield (vs. No. 18 Whitworth). Okay, it's the second time I've picked against Linfield this season — Whitworth nearly nipped Linfield in 2019, but I feel the 2021 Pirates bring back a better offense in what could be a high-scoring game. Slight advantage: Whitworth."

Again, not much respect from the experts back east.   We will see what happens today.   I take Linfield.

[Dr. Doolittle]

Should be a good game, but Linfield is too strong.

[MonroviaCat]

"Which Top 25 team is most likely to be upset?:   Frank's take: No. 7 Linfield (vs. No. 18 Whitworth). Okay, it's the second time I've picked against Linfield this season — Whitworth nearly nipped Linfield in 2019, but I feel the 2021 Pirates bring back a better offense in what could be a high-scoring game. Slight advantage: Whitworth."

Again, not much respect from the experts back east.   We will see what happens today.   I take Linfield.

And I  thought Frank was smoking something whe he said Whitworth has a better offense this year.....

[CalCat]

"Which Top 25 team is most likely to be upset?:   Frank's take: No. 7 Linfield (vs. No. 18 Whitworth). Okay, it's the second time I've picked against Linfield this season — Whitworth nearly nipped Linfield in 2019, but I feel the 2021 Pirates bring back a better offense in what could be a high-scoring game. Slight advantage: Whitworth."

Again, not much respect from the experts back east.   We will see what happens today.   I take Linfield.

And I  thought Frank was smoking something whe he said Whitworth has a better offense this year.....

Yep...I'm guessing he hadn't watched any Whitworth games this year...least l hope that was the case. 😼

[George Thompson]

"Which Top 25 team is most likely to be upset?:   Frank's take: No. 7 Linfield (vs. No. 18 Whitworth). Okay, it's the second time I've picked against Linfield this season — Whitworth nearly nipped Linfield in 2019, but I feel the 2021 Pirates bring back a better offense in what could be a high-scoring game. Slight advantage: Whitworth."

Again, not much respect from the experts back east.   We will see what happens today.   I take Linfield.

And I  thought Frank was smoking something whe he said Whitworth has a better offense this year.....

I understand.   Yet, it is hard to judge a team you have not seen in action.
GT

[George Thompson]

Frank at D3,
Please, vote for a Linfield opponent again.   I like the end result.

George

[catjumper]

"Which Top 25 team is most likely to be upset?:   Frank's take: No. 7 Linfield (vs. No. 18 Whitworth). Okay, it's the second time I've picked against Linfield this season — Whitworth nearly nipped Linfield in 2019, but I feel the 2021 Pirates bring back a better offense in what could be a high-scoring game. Slight advantage: Whitworth."

Again, not much respect from the experts back east.   We will see what happens today.   I take Linfield.

Frank, my dear, I don't give a damn.

[wildcat11]

I don't fault Frank.  He's thinking of 2018/2019 Linfield teams and will eventually discover that this is a different breed of 'Cats this season.

Our 1st team defense was ridiculously good against Whitworth.  You take away the last two Whitworth drives of the game against the reserves and the Rats had 103 of total offense on the day. 

Game was a wrap at half.  Some dumb penalties and turnovers kept the score out of the 50's/60's but it was a butt whooping of an high order against another ranked team.

Onto who I think is an actual better team than Whitworth in Pacific.  The Boxers are going to try to ball control and shorten the game against Linfield next week (think 2013) so it should be a good challenge.