FB: Northwest Conference

[downtown48]

Some SCIAC sacrificial lamb handed the Rats a nice little beatdown. The SCIAC still can't get any respect. The Rats better hope they don't see Redlands again or it will be loss #2.

When your boys can come north and win a playoff game, I'll stop talking.

[speedybigboy]

But the real point of this post - I glanced at the Willamette-L&C stats.  Did Willamette REALLY have to outscore the Pioneers 35-7 in the second half?  Sure they ran a ton of different guys, but seriously.

Willamette ran the ball 59 times with *19* different players and gained 599 yards rushing. The Bearcats scored all 11 of its TDs on the ground. Willamette was 8-for-12 passing for 82 yards. In the second half Willamette passed the ball 3 times and completed 2 for a total of 1 yard. Exactly what did Willamette do wrong?

OxyBob

I detest coaches who run up the score but it appears from the box scores and participation reports that Willamette had subs in on offense and defense as soon as the game was in hand.

[Toivo70]

Gig Harbor Cat......PHONE IT IN!!! Didn't I say you can't use that anymore?

What happened to the purple frisbees?

Great job Bucs...another year of sniffling for the Cats'

[downtown48]

Purple frisbees were there...just connecting at a 40% rate and to the wrong team. 

[warthog]

Sorry Lewis & Clark, after yesterday's loss somebody is going to take a whipping from Linfield.  It looks like that somebody is you.  Your players better tighten their chin straps and pull up their jock straps.  The Wildcats are about to explode.  My goodness it won't be pretty.

[Gig Harbor Cat]

Hey Billyjoebob70,
   Your boys played well on D,  Your O didn't show only because of the Cat Salty D.  Two wins by the Rats without an offensive TD--Props to your D.
   See yall at the Catdome in 08

   Phone it in

  GHC

[MonroviaCat]

Sorry Lewis & Clark, after yesterday's loss somebody is going to take a whipping from Linfield.  It looks like that somebody is you.  Your players better tighten their chin straps and pull up their jock straps.  The Wildcats are about to explode.  My goodness it won't be pretty.

Well, I suspect that Lewis and Clark is used to getting whipped by now but my hope is that Linfield will give the young Cats some play time so that we can start out with some experience next season. 

[MonroviaCat]

Synopsis of the game...
D-Line out played the Linfield O-Line
Clifton showed why he was the reigning Defensive MVP of the league
Two phenomenal defenses (both laid some hat)
There were wide open receivers for both teams and QBs missed them
Thought the Wildcats play calling was suspect (went away from the bubble screen out of twins in the 2nd half...your best play)
I felt like punching myself in the face while I watched the Whitworth offense run 1 play the 2nd half...kudos to Linfield for absolutely dominating us defensively
Tully did what he does, conservative play calling that drives people nuts, but wins football games (no turnovers)

Good synopsis---I don't totally agree about the Linfield Oline being outplayed only because they protected the QB pretty well on most passing plays.  However, the rest of your observations are spot-on, especially the one about overthrown passes (though it was the underthrown passes that killed the Wildcats).  Also agree with you about Tully's play calling---I think he may have to change that in the play-offs because I suspect you'll be finding teams that will move the ball better than the Cats did yesterday (no disrespect to your D---just don't see some of the playoff teams getting pushed around).  Oh, and classy post!

[pineconefan]

It is one thing when a team scores 70+ points and most of those points come before halftime.  But Willamette scored almost half of the 77 points after the game was decided (42-10) at halftime.

The Bearcats use a lot of deception in their offense.  It is impossible to tell from the box score, but I really wonder if they kept that up, or went straight at L&C.

I compare the game to PLU's 39-0 win over L&C when the Lutes used a lot of different guys and ran the ball far more often than normal.  In Whitworth's 48-7 win the Bucs only scored seven after halftime, and that was with a limited travel roster.  Even in Whitworth's 70-3 win last year (which I wasn't that proud of), the Pirates only scored twice after halftime.

The main concern is the overall health of the L&C program.  This is a team that the NWC needs to get better.  The worst thing for this conference would be for the school to drop football.

[downtown48]

From the NFL on down, I'll never understand why people leave in their starting QB so long...just don't get it.  

[George Thompson]

Not real sure about passing up the field goal considering the fact that 1. we can't run the football and 2. Whitworth couldn't move the football all day.  Why wouldn't you take the lead and play D like you had been all day. 

George, I don't know why asking to be like St. John's and Mount every year is too much to ask.  They should be like them every year!  They just apparently haven't figured out that you can't turn the ball over 5 times every game! 

Nothing wrong at all about wanting to be in top, top elite of D3 football.      Linfield, in 2006 and 2007, have not been there.

George

[George Thompson]

Heard the game on the radio, very frustrating.  Reading the above comments also makes me questions, did I as a Cat fan get spoiled with the likes of Brett Elliot, Allen, Hazenburg, Carter, Jenkins and the like?  Was that a special group of players that come along once every 20 yrs or so?  I Linfield destined to be a 6-3 team from here on out?  We seem to be loosing the recruiting wars over the last couple of years to WOU, UPS, Whitworth?  Has the tide changed for a decade or more?  Does this coaching staff have what it takes to win league championships year in and year out and go deep into the playoffs on a regular basis?  Is the Ace back offense really the right offense to be running post Brett Elliot?  How is it that we can have close to 200 kids show up for practice in the summer and just can't seem to find a power running back?
The fourth down and inches call and not going for the 3 points will certainly get some debate, but a bigger question for me is why wasn't your power running back getting the ball?  We have an all american caliber tight end who goes 2 to 3 games with never seeing a pass his way?  The penalties and turnovers game after game?  The Willamette game???  What the hell is going on?

Great questions.   

George

[repete]

From the NFL on down, I'll never understand why people leave in their starting QB so long...just don't get it. 

Yeah, check out discussion on the MIAC board: St. Olaf has 64 on the board in the 4th and starting QB is still in throwing a 60-yard bomb to starting WR ....

[RFB]

Some SCIAC sacrificial lamb handed the Rats a nice little beatdown. The SCIAC still can't get any respect. The Rats better hope they don't see Redlands again or it will be loss #2.

When your boys can come north and win a playoff game, I'll stop talking.

At least Redlands still has a chance to make a trip up North.

[RFB]

But the real point of this post - I glanced at the Willamette-L&C stats.  Did Willamette REALLY have to outscore the Pioneers 35-7 in the second half?  Sure they ran a ton of different guys, but seriously.

Willamette ran the ball 59 times with *19* different players and gained 599 yards rushing. The Bearcats scored all 11 of its TDs on the ground. Willamette was 8-for-12 passing for 82 yards. In the second half Willamette passed the ball 3 times and completed 2 for a total of 1 yard. Exactly what did Willamette do wrong?

I detest coaches who run up the score but it appears from the box scores and participation reports that Willamette had subs in on offense and defense as soon as the game was in hand.

For a good compare-and-contrast, and a prime example of running up the score, consider yesterday's Whittier-Redlands game, which Redlands won, 59-6. Redlands led 35-0 at the half. Redlands started the 3rd quarter with its first-string QB Dan Selway still in the game. On Redlands' first series, Selway was 2-for-2 with a 21-yard completion and a 50-yard bomb for a TD to make it 42-0. On its next series, Selway was 1-for-2 with a 13-yard completion, and Redlands also went a first down on 4th-and-1 (to their credit, Whittier stopped them). On Redlands' next series, Selway was still in the game, and he was 1-for-2 with a 55-yard completion which led to a FG to make it 45-0. On the next series, Selway was 3-for-5 with completions of 5, 15, and 12 yards, which led to a missed FG.

In the 4th quarter, Selway was finally out and backup Steve Smith was in. On Redlands' first series, Smith was 2-for-2 with a 13-yard completion and a 48-yard bomb for a TD to make it 52-6.

"You stay classy, Redlands." -- Ron Burgundy

OxyBob

Payback for last years loss.