FB: Northwest Conference

[olddog]

Dont miss this article, the kid was raised right, no excuses and making the best of things. There is hope...in this soft world.

https://www.d3football.com/columns/features/2023/hope-derik-smith-football-not-feetball

[catjumper]

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.

[wildcat11]

I couldn't help but have part of me today feel bad for Willamette (something I thought I would never feel for the Bearcats).  It's obvious that football is NOT a priority for the Willamette University administration and they've let a once proud and competitive program go fully into the crapper. It's a damn shame and the Northwest Conference would be better off with Willamette fielding a contending team. 

Good for Lewis and Clark today and should fire up the Pios with Linfield coming up to Portland next week.

Whitworth continues to impress....

[The Third Division]

So Lewis and Clark beat George fox for the first time ever. Is gf having a bad year or is l&c having a good year?

[MonroviaCat]

So Lewis and Clark beat George fox for the first time ever. Is gf having a bad year or is l&c having a good year?

Can't say Lewis and Clark is having a good year since they lost to Puget Sound, who lost to La Verne, who lost to Willamette.  That being said, Lewis and Clark had a very good 4th quarter yesterday.  George Fox has a solid defense that just got worn out by having to be on the field too much.  Their offense is not very good and that has shown in every game they've played this year. 

Both teams used different quarterbacks at some point in the game yesterday and both played better than the guys they were replacing (though the Fox QB threw an awful pick to doom his team in OT).

[MonroviaCat]

I couldn't help but have part of me today feel bad for Willamette (something I thought I would never feel for the Bearcats).  It's obvious that football is NOT a priority for the Willamette University administration and they've let a once proud and competitive program go fully into the crapper. It's a damn shame and the Northwest Conference would be better off with Willamette fielding a contending team. 

Good for Lewis and Clark today and should fire up the Pios with Linfield coming up to Portland next week.

Whitworth continues to impress....

C'mon Ryan!  Willamette got a great view of the air-show (on and off the field)--no reason to feel sorry for them 

Pios found something in that 4th quarter for sure. 

Cats/Rats to end the season is looking like it'll be a big one.

[gren]

Why did Willamette fire Isaack Parker?

[desertcat1]

Only the shadow knows. 

[RFBredux]

I couldn't help but have part of me today feel bad for Willamette (something I thought I would never feel for the Bearcats).  It's obvious that football is NOT a priority for the Willamette University administration and they've let a once proud and competitive program go fully into the crapper. It's a damn shame and the Northwest Conference would be better off with Willamette fielding a contending team. 

Good for Lewis and Clark today and should fire up the Pios with Linfield coming up to Portland next week.

Whitworth continues to impress....

Doesn't look good for the football program to survive if the University leadership does not support or give a damn about it. I'm afraid Willamette will soon join the ranks of Occidental and Whittier in dropping their football program.

[Gray Fox]

I couldn't help but have part of me today feel bad for Willamette (something I thought I would never feel for the Bearcats).  It's obvious that football is NOT a priority for the Willamette University administration and they've let a once proud and competitive program go fully into the crapper. It's a damn shame and the Northwest Conference would be better off with Willamette fielding a contending team. 

Good for Lewis and Clark today and should fire up the Pios with Linfield coming up to Portland next week.

Whitworth continues to impress....

Doesn't look good for the football program to survive if the University leadership does not support or give a damn about it. I'm afraid Willamette will soon join the ranks of Occidental and Whittier in dropping their football program.

Sad

[olddog]

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.

[Pat Coleman]

Enough, thanks.

[gren]

Totally agree with olddog. Do not understand how one's opinion makes them in alliance with anyone but their own personal belief. GO CATS USA

[olddog]

Thank You Gren, BTW I am a libertarian is you want to label me. I guess progressives don't agree you call them names on a message board.

Keyboard Courage is a modern day phenomenon. I doubt most would have the courage to say stuff to my face, except RBF....Dogs are tough ....

The fact they attack makes me chuckle...and validates my thoughts about them...

[catjumper]

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.