FB: Northwest Conference

[Wildcat'64]

desert cat 1,
Have you arrived in Mac yet after your long drive North?  If so, what's the scouting report for Saturday look like?

[Gig Harbor Cat]

We are leaving Gig Harbor at 5:30 AM on Sat.  Our ETA at the Catdome is 9AM Well be breaking out the longies at the tailgate, which  should be going by then.  I also heard that there will be Stagg Chili available at the Adams location.  Great weather in store for the Cats.  The table is set for another run to the Stagg for the Cats.

                See you there

[NWCprops]

If you just look at the first team picks (all leagues get a little warm and fuzzey after the first team selections) its a very deserving team.  There are only two first team RB's (repeat selections Brock and Lee).  At QB are two excellent QB's...what they should have done was name Elliott Offensive Player of the Year and then not listed him on the first team (it's a given he's on it).  The team gets a little strange at Rec.  But looking at the stats of all the selections......who would you leave off?  They could have just picked C. Allen, Snell and Chiado (3 top rec. in the NWC)...but Hazenburg (Haze could have been listed only as the return specialists) , Mckechie and Reed were oustanding in their own respect and very deserving also.  Who can argue with the TE pick (M. Allen of Whitworth). It looks like a good OL too!!  The league was dominated by passing stats with the exception of Lee and Brock (who were 1 and 2 in both rushing and all-purpose yards).  So I really don't have a problem with a top rated passing conference recognizing those type of skill people.  It would have been a travesty to pick only one Linfield reciever (Allen), when all their wide outs were such a vital part of their success.  Anyone disagree?  The second team defense has 11 of 13 picks as under classmen (kind of a prelude to next seasons possible stars) and the second team offense has 9 of 11 returning next year.  If you just look at the first team selections I'd play them against any D3 conference all-stars in the nation and most D2' as well!!!!!!

[D O.C.]

Nicely done swede.  I made the choice to let you sink or swim 

desertcat1 probably took 95 up and probably wound up in Elko.

[wildcat11]

First of all, a minor correction of a previous post by Cat-fa- natic.  He stated that the Wildcat/Bearcat showdown on Nov. the 12th in Salem should not be much of a struggle based on the fact that UPS held Willamette to less than 100 yards rushing.  The Bearcats actually ran the ball very efficiently  vs. the Loggers..a quick check of both team box scores..indicated that the WUCats ran the ball 40 times for 235 yards...thats almost 6.0 ypc.  Regardless of this stat...the Wildcats are probably about a 29 (5 scores) point favorite in that one, but not because Willamette won't be able to run the ball (last year they moved it into scoring poistion relatively easily on the W-cat defense in the first half)..but failed to cash in on all three trips to the red-zone.......

NWCprops,

I'm a little surprise that you didn't touch on the WU/Linfiled game from this past weekend.

Well Linfiled's run defense did dominate the Bearcats by only giving up 26 yards on 24 carries in the first half.

You were right that Linfiled would roll your B-Cats but not even one mention of the game this past weekend?

[Lights On]

Linfielders, I'll be arriving saturday morning, hopefully by 10, just in time to pick up my tickets from will call. But I was hoping to join in on some of the tailgating, would this be ok and if so, where can I find you guys?

[Lights On]

And, I'm leaving LA at approx. 7pm friday night, driving straight through to the McMinnville...whats the likelihood of me not making it to the game? obviously, any car trouble or crash will create quite the burden, but with no traffic at night and no real road block in the way, I should have plenty of time to spare...right? has anyone done this before??

[csnarnia]

Lights ON
I used to come from the bay area in my day...it's a 10 hour solid drive...and that's speeding when possible....better start earlier.

[Cat#4]

Congrats to Ryan Caffal LB (hard work pays off).  8)

[cawcdad]

Lights On, I've driven from the Modesto area to Mac on many occasions. It is usually around 10 hours for me and you have an extra 300 miles or so. As csnarnia suggested, you should give yourself some more time. Weather forecast looks good for you though. Good Luck and have fun.

['Cats Fa Natic]

Remember the previous board where you could vote for or against someone? Same here. It will not show on your own meter. You cannot do the same poster twice in a twelve hour window.

Er... no, I don't remember that.  How does one do this magic?

['Cats Fa Natic]

Hey all.

Here's my initial thoughts on the Oxy Game this weekend.

Some stats I usually pay attention to are PF/PA and strength of schedule.

Without reproducing all the stats (too much typing),

Oxy 9-0       Linfield 8-0
PF 371         PF 394 (444)
PA 186         PA 108

Note that Oxy played L&C while we did not.  Assuming L&C would not have pulled the upset of the century, you can probably assume we would have tacked on another 50 points to our PF category, so count another 50 there.  Any points L&C might have scored would have been against a 3rd string defense, so I won't count those--especially since WU got 14 points on our 2nd & 3rd string D last week.

Given that, you'd think we'd roll.

However, Oxy had a better strength of schedule, going 9-0 against teams that were 31-46 (67%) whereas Linfield was 8-0 against teams with a 27-49 record (55%).  So maybe this isn't such a blowout after all...?

However, the key stat I look at going into what is sure to be an offensive-oriented game is the teams' defense.

Unfortunately, the NCAA stats don't go deep enough to allow a TRUE comparison.  We are the #8 rushing defense (73.5 ypg) but unranked in  passing defense.  Occidental is unranked (i.e., not in the top 25) in both categories.

So the edge seems to go to Linfield.

Ah but now the kicker.  I'm not a big believer in yards earned or surrendered as a true comparison of a teams' offense or defense. No one gets bonus points for yards gained. It's what you do with it when you have the ball or don't.  So the PF/PA is the most telling to me but to back that up, we're the #1 team in the nation in turnover margin.  Oxy isn't in the top 25.

Edge, Linfield.

My prediciton:  63-17 Linfield.

[Gig Harbor Cat]

Lights On,
   From the Catdome, go south 2 blocks and look for the motorhome on the corner,  its just past the Wildcat bus, also right next to that tailgate is another with a flagpole and a Linfield flag, cant miss us.  There will be a blue jug with a sign on it.  Gig Harbor Cat Longies--Drink at your own risk!!!     You will need one after your drive, after all its happy hour somewhere !!!

                      GHC

[D O.C.]

NO! you will not make a crushing drive like that from LA.
18 hours at best.

[Tezbaseball]

Missouri is alright. The weather is crazy though. We are expecting "tornado-like" conditions today. Ft Leonard Wood has a nice Wendy's.

Leonard Wood also has a Million dollar hole...Man it was misrable there. Hot, muggy, slept on the floor most of the time because it was cool.