Game 3 Google Map Schedule: Linfield vs Willamette

View 2010 Linfield Wildcats Football Guide in a larger map

Your Google Map Linfield Schedule is back to take care of you with all of you Linfield needs!  Want to read up on the games?  We have your previews.  Need a weather report?  Yup, we have it.  Want to know where Linfield fans set up shop for tailgating?  We have those directions too!!!!  Want to know where to grab food before or after the game?  We take care of you there too.  Just click on the number 3 Wildcat Icon above and a pop-up bubble will give you the run down or you can click on the "larger map" hotlink to view in a full window.  Go 'Cats!

Game 3 Preview: Linfield (1-1) vs Willamette (2-1)

Now this is what folks around the Willamette Valley have wanted for a long time. There is so much on the line in this NWC opener for both teams that I don't have enough room on this blog to even start. Bottom line, this is a playoff game. Whoever wins this game on Saturday has a major inside track to the NWC title and the NCAA automatic playoff birth. Is there a chance that the NCAA could take a two loss Willamette or two loss Linfield (if each team won the remainder of their games)? It's possible, but the NWC should know that you can't leave your fate in the hands of the DIII playoff committee where saving travel dollars is top priority.

Let's be honest, the NWC title and playoff hopes are the biggest storyline of this game but a major underlining point is that Willamette and Linfield don't really like each other very much. The Willamette fans don't have much love for Linfield and I think the feeling is mutual when it comes from the Wildcat fan base. Yeah, many longtime Linfield fans will point to Linfield/PLU as a great rivalry and it easily the most "historic" rival of Linfield but I tend to think the admiration and respect between the fan bases of PLU/Linfield isn't there at all when it comes to Linfield and Willamette. I believe that's what makes this game all the more important to each school. Not only for the potential playoff positioning but for the bragging rights too.

The 2010 Willamette team is a very good football squad. They opened up the season with two cross country road trips where they blasted UW-Stevens Point 33-14 and took a tough loss down in Abilene, Tx to Hardin-Simmons 31-22. Willamette then opened up their home schedule by pasting a solid SOU squad 42-24 and rolled into a nice bye week where I'm sure they have been maximizing that time preparing for Linfield.

For The 'Cats we all know about the CLU game and the disappointment of the turnovers and not being able to stop the CLU rushing attack in the 2nd half. The 'Cats mended some of those issues up with a 30-3 clobbering of La Verne this past weekend but Linfield is still finding itself on offense some. There are some big questions headed into this contest from the offensive perspective: can we rush the ball effectively, protect Boehme in the pocket, and play Linfield Football for a full 4 quarters? If the 'Cats are going to have success they need to be able to come up with the answers soon.

Get To Know A Wildcat!

#17 Josh Repp, Sophomore, Punter (5-9, 165lbs.)

Favorite Place in Mac to Eat: Golden Valley, if funds permit

Favorite Movie: Hitman

Favorite Music: country

Favorite TV Show: Stan Lee's superhumans

Favorite Pro Football team: don't watch pro that much, college team is definitely Texas

Class I Most Look Forward to: Nutrition

Mac or Pc: PC

Cpu Homepage: Yahoo, i like seeing whats going on in the world before i lose my mind in facebook

Dog or Cat: Dog no doubt

Xbox, PS3, or WII: don't play video games

Favorite Coach Smith Saying: Every play our best, every play

Wildcat11 hears your are into Martial Arts  What disciplines have you studied? I have done krav maga for a while now, which is a real life fighting style designed for real situational combat, I have also been doing mixed martial arts.

Favorite Discipline: Brazillian Jiu Jitsu because its designed for a smaller person to take out a larger person easily.

Teammates Choked Out? about 4 or 5 (names will remain anonymous)

Easiest teammate to make tap? a certain "sexy" d-lineman

Your Favorite Part About Playing at Linfield is?  It's the companionship you build with all of your teammates

Wildcat11's Keys To Victory:

Full 60 minutes of Linfield Football:  The 'Cats need to play and be invested on Saturday for the full 60 minutes of the contest.  Not a quarter, not a half, but be mentally ready to play Linfield football for 60 minutes.  Does Linfield have to be perfect?  Nope, and I don't think either Linfield or Willamette expects to play "perfect" on Saturday.  However, what I'm expecting is perfect effort and desire from Linfield for a full 60 minutes.

Limit The Fly Sweep:  It's playing against Willamette 101.  If you don't limit the effectivness of the fly sweep then you might as well pack it in.  Sophomore Terrell Malley and WU's other flankers have been very effective running the sweep this season.  The 'Cats need to put a premium on limiting both the Bearcats outside and inside hitting fly sweeps.

Run The Football effectively and with force:  This is where the rubber meets the road for the 'Cats offense.  WU's base defense is a 4-3 but expect to see a lot of 3 man fronts and a lot of DB's trying to keep everything in front of them.  It's been Willamette's bend but don't break defense and the 'Cats offensive line and running backs need to make 'em pay when they see those 3 man fronts.

Unload Schoettgen: The Senior WR, Scott Schoettgen, has been a thorn in the 'Cats side for the past two seasons. Whenever Willamette needed a big passing strike from the offense they just get the ball up Schoettgen and he would go up and get it. The 'Cat need to not let WU get Schoettgen the ball over the top of the defense and jump balls in the End Zone.

Allow Boehme to keep his eyes downfield: No doubt Willamette is going to try to pressure through out the game but I'm suspecting the Bearcats defense will throw a change-up and try to take away Boehme's scrambling out of the pocket. If that's the case then the line and running backs have to create time that allows our guy to find targets downfield.

Be great tacklers: I've talked about honoring the fly sweep and paying attention to Schoettgen but you can't stop there. The Bearcats have very good running backs and QB's that can run the ball. The fly gets you spread out and it puts a premium on the defense's ability to make one-on-one plays between the tackles. The better we can be square on the ball and not arm tackle the more chance Linfield can limit WU's big plays.


Be Special on Special Teams: With two very evenly matched teams the momentum of these types of games can turn faster than a snap of the fingers with Special Teams play. The 'Cats Special Teams can make a huge impact statement on this game but they need to be on alert because Speckman isn't afraid to gamble in this phase of the game with fakes, etc, from any spot on the field.

Overall

Linfield by 3. Our Wildcats and WU's Bearcats will be in a dogfight this Saturday. The weather is going to be perfect, the 'Catdome is going to be electric, and the emotion is going to be high. Linfield just needs to stay within themselves, trust in each other, and play good solid Linfield football. Willamette is a good football team but there is no reason why Linfield won't win this game if the 'Cats execute their game plan. It won't be easy but I'm feeling a Wildcat victory. Go 'Cats!

Video Tuesday

WC11 and The ADvantage has some video for you today as we gear up for Willamette week around the 'Catdome. The first video is a late submission to D3football.com for their now "play of the week" segment. DIIIs can submit an outstanding play from the previous week's action and D3 will crown a winner and provide you the links to that play and the runner-ups. WC11 was a day late but we passed along this outstanding grab by 'Cats WR, Chris Slezak vs the Leo this past Saturday.



The next video is a special clip that we put together for McMinnville's Newsregister.com. They embedded the clip below into their game story. The clip is a 2 minute interview with 'Cats Head Coach Joe Smith as he provides some thoughts about the LaVerne game and getting back to the 'Catdome this Saturday.



Last but not least Linfield sports has posted up a short highlight package of the La Verne game on the 'Cats website. Be sure to give that a few spins too! (Linfield Sports/Video's permalink)

'Cats win!!! Linfield's Defense cage up the Leo's offense for 30-3 win.

For the Linfield Wildcats it was a mixed bag walking off the blistering hot LaVerne sod on Saturday. On one hand, the 'Cats dominated La Verne 30-3 and after the 'Cats scored on the opening possession the game was essentially over with the Wildcat defense suffocating the Leos. However, there was some dissatisfaction by the 'Cats in their 2nd half offensive production. Not enough effectiveness rushing the ball, ill timed yellow flags, and at times too much pressure on Boehme in the pocket. If you set that aside there was many areas of marked improvement on this team that we'll get into in a moment but as a fan I was happy to just get out of the sun and back home with a victory.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good

Salt Truck Defense. The Wildcat defense brought the salt and them some in just hammering the Leo's offense for a full four quarters. There was no let up and the numbers were impressive. Only 3 first downs given up, 21 yards rushing yards allowed, 79 total yards allowed on the day, 2 picks, and a forced fumble recovery. Just a nice day in the office.

Improved tackling. The 'Cats poor tackling burned vs CLU and that was an area of great improvement on Saturday. 'Cats tacklers were square in the hole and brought their hips all game long.

Passing the rock around. 9 different Linfield wide receivers caught passes on Saturday and the 'Cats had a different 100 yard receiver with Chris Slezak bringing down 8 catches for 139 yards. Thought the receivers did a nice job in making things happen after the catch though out the day.

Kickoff coverage team. Fantastic job by Josh Kay in getting the ball deep and with the coverage team keeping them deep. Linfield will need this team to continue to improve and put out that type of effort moving forward as the battle of field possession is vital. La Verne started drives after Linfield kickoffs on their own: 34, 25, 44, 21, 18, 32, 18. Do the quick math and that's an ave. starting field possession of the 27 yard line. I'll take that all day.

The Bad.

Rushing attempts only mustering up 2.8 yards a clip. I've said it before and I'll say it again, in order for this Wildcat offense to hum along we have to run the ball with greater efficiency. I'm putting the entire offense in this bad...not just pointing a finger at the O-line. We do have to do a better job in moving people, but we also need to do a better job in making defenders miss in open space, and our WR's need to be dynamite in getting on the secondary. This has to get better in order to accomplish this team's goals on the season.

Shanking punts and missing easy field goals. Josh Repp had a nice punt earlier in the game that pinned La Verne but the two shanks later in the game can't happen next week and the rest of the year. Josh proved he has the leg and ability but he needs to step up his consistency. Josh Kay did an awesome job on kickoffs and he did knock down 2 field goals but the 'Cats can't be missing 32 and 40 yard field goal attempts and leaving points on the field. That may be harsh but WC11 has high expectations of that group. I believe in our kicking group but I want to see more consistency.

Penalties. 7 yellow flags for 86 yards and at least 2 or 3 of those were drive killers and one took away great field possession on a punt return. Need to get that cleaned up.

The Ugly.

2nd half offense. I'm not writing anything that the 'Cats don't already know. Linfield puts up a great 24 points in the 1st half and I'm not sure what the issues were in that 2nd half. However, the 'Cats have cashed in two poor 2nd half offensive performances early this season and that's alarming. However, I think the difficulties the 'Cats may be experiencing are fixable. There is no doubt this Wildcat team has the talent in place to make a great run but the players need to be to one's who decide just how good this offense will be. If they decide they want to be excellent then we're going to see that improvement moving forward. I have faith and belief they will but the rubber has to meet the road Monday-Friday. Go 'Cats!

Around The CatdomeO'sphere

NICE!  It's that time of the week again when The ADvantage takes you on a trip round the CatdomeO'sphere to get you up to speed on what's happening around Linfield and the NWC.  News on the 'Cats is short this week due to the Bye Week but we still have plenty to read and some items to watch.  I'm expecting plenty of action next week with the Linfield/Willamette game on the horizon.  I'll try to get a video of some sort posted on Sunday so feel free to check back then.

Linfield Sports: Coach Smith talks Bye Week and moving forward

Daily Bulletin: La Verne looking forward to hosting Linfield

Statesmanjournal: Linfield incorporates Yoga too...we just don't have to press release it

Statesmanjournal: Bearcats down SOU in home opener

The Willamette Collegian: Willamette Football players perpetuating stereotypes of football players in minds of exchange students. Wildcat11 would like to know more. Is the stereotype abroad that American football players are great guys helping out the community or just no-neck meat sacks that run into people? Curious...

Times Standard: Menlo is into sod cutting before games and not shaking hands after games with Humboldt

D2messageboards.com:  Humboldt State fans are not big fans of Menlo and their Coaching Staff

Portland Tribune:  Boxers drop 19 year home non-losing streak

Oregonlive.com: Pacific gets clobbered but it doesn't matter

Pacificboxers Youtube (video): Pacific vs CMS highlights

forestgrovenewstimes.com:  Forest Grove Mayor and Cornelius City Manager pitch in for Boxers

The News Tribune:  PLU rushes past CLU and we get a "Golly" from Frosty jr.

D3football.com's Around The Region (west): PLU very optimistic after CLU victory

The Mooring Mast: PLU rolls out a new mascot.  A knight.  Hope he's rust-proof.

Pioneer Log: Lewis & Clark gets a new rug

The Whitworthian: Dawgs snuff out the Rats

PE.com:  Redlands use 2nd half play to put away Whitworth

YouTube: A Giant Finger tries to smash Will Flores, of Whitworth, on the sideline during Redlands game

Week 4: NWC Pick 'ems!!!!!!!!!

Only one more week till the 'Catdome is rockin'!

Wildcat11 went 6 out of 7 last week in our weekly D3 game picks.  I only missed CLU getting trucked up at PLU.  That puts us the ADvantage at 17-20 (85%) on the season during the first 3 weeks of action.  It's a short list as we only have 5 games on the docket (I took Linfield already, of course).  Even though it's a short shot we have three games that could go either way but I've been on a roll so let's see if I can keep up the momentum.

Northwest Conference:

Whittier (0-1) over Puget Sound (1-1) (at UPS):  This is a hard one to call because I'm not sure what Whittier is at this point of the season.  They dropped their first game of the year to very strong NAIA Azusa Pacific by a count of 46-21 but they did have a good performance from their running back (Tillman).  UPS does have a victory but it's over 1st year Pacific and they got their hat handed to them by Oxy.  I'm going to take Whittier on the road being the more physical team.

Whitworth (1-2) over Lewis Clark (1-1) (at Whitworth):  L&C and the Rats only win on the season are against the same sorry Pomona-Pitzer.  The Pios had an offensive EXPLOSION on the 'Hens (65 pts) while the Rats just tacked up an efficient 35 points.  The difference is that Rats have played MUCH better competition up to this point and their defense has been pretty good, IMO.  I expect the Rats to make ground chuck of the Pioneer defense and win by a comfortable margin.

West Region Game of the Week:

#9 Coe (3-0) over #7 Central (3-0) (at Coe):  This is a HUGE game in the IIAC and in the West Region.  Many folks are taking the Dutch over the Cohawks but I like Coe here because of the home field advantage and the fact that Central has had a couple of close calls in their 1st two games.  Major playoff implications are on the line in the IIAC and in the West.

National Game Game of the Week:

#11 North Central  (3-0) over #17 UW-Eau Claire (3-0):  Major, major game for the CCIW as the North Central Cardinals host the surprising Eau Claire Blugolds who are 2-0 thanks to a big upset over Saint John's in week 2.  The CCIW is a conference that's on the heals of the big dogs (WIAC, ASC, OAC, MIAC, NWC) and is looking make a statement with a win over an undefeated WIAC school.  I'll take the Cards.

Game 2 Preview: Linfield @ La Verne

Linfield is going back to 'Cali after the bye week looking to move on from a first game loss to California Lutheran 47-42. Linfield has had two long weeks to examine the CLU game and work on the issue that hurt the 'Cats in game one. As a fan, this has been a brutal wait as the DIII season is now three weeks old and Linfield only has one game down.

The 'Cats will head to La Verne to battle the Leopards who are also coming off the bye as they took an opening season loss to NAIA power Azusa Pacific by a count of 59-14. La Verne is on a 12 game skid dating back to the end of the 2008 season but Linfield would be mistaken to sleep on the Leo's as they dropped a number of close games in the 2009 season and almost knocked off Occidental (a team that took Linfield to the wire in 2009) by a score of 14-13. As this Linfield teams found out that any given Saturday a team can rise up and challenge.

That leads into what I'm looking for out of our 'Cats this week. They are an obvious favorite but road trips, when you have to get on a plane, are always difficult. Then you compound the fact the weather report is calling for 99 degrees at kickoff and the built-in excuses are there to excuse the 'Cats if they are a little sloppy on Saturday. What I'm hoping to see is this team not to use the travel or the heat as an excuse and for Linfield to methodically put La Verne away and snuff out any hope of the Leos have of hanging around the contest. That's the growth that the 'Catdome should hope to see with this Linfield team on Saturday: be mentally ready, execute the game plan, be more physical, put La Verne away, and don't let them off the mat.



Get to know a Wildcat: Eric Hedin, Senior, Defensive End (6' 7" - 245 lbs)

Hometown: Silverdale, Washington

High School: North Kitsap

Major: Business Management Major

Favorite Place in Mac to eat: Thai Country, if you haven't tried it you should!

Favorite Movie: Either Caddy Shack or Super Troopers

Favorite Music: Classic Rock, favorite artist Tom Petty

Favorite TV Show: Sons of Anarchy right now, Entourage season just ended

Favorite Pro Football Team: Was born and raised a Seahawk fan through thick and thin

Class you look forward to the most at Linfield: Currently it's "Topics in Management"

Mac or PC: Mac

What's is your CPU homepage set to: I have several tabs that open but the first tab is always D3football.com

Dog or Cat: Dog

Xbox, PS3, or Wii: Xbox 360

Favorite NWC road trip: PLU, because its close to home and most of my family can make it to the game

Least Favorite NWC road trip: Whitworth, the 9 hour drive is bad enough but when you add a bus with no leg room into the equation it gets ten times worse.

Wildcat11's Keys to Victory:

Stop the Leo's rushing attack: In 2009 La Verne was a pass happy, spread 'em out, and throw it till it falls off offense. However, the Leos have had an offensive philosophy change this season and have made a commitment to be more balanced and establish the rushing attack. The 'Cats need to put a premium taking away the rushing attack and make the Leos try to move the ball through the air.

Keep Boehme's jersey clean: Boehme's jersey was way too dirty after the CLU game. The protection in the 1st half was solid but as the game moved it CLU was able to get to our QB. WC11 really wants to see AB be able to set his feet and deliver strikes all game long.

Establish the running game: I'd love to see Linfield be 50/50 this game in their run/pass ratio and let the big fellas up front move people. The key to the Linfield offense is being able to rush the ball and the better running team we are the more effective the offense is going to be as the season moves along.

Better team tackling: Against a team that is trying to force their will in the run game we have to eliminate the arm tackling that plagued us at times vs CLU and get in better positioning to make technically sound tackles.

Smash the peddle down early and don't let off the gas: Linfield didn't put CLU away and we all know the story by now. I want to see the 'Cats remember that feeling and when they get La Verne down, we don't let them back off the mat. Linfield is suppose to control this game so I want to see it from the start.

Prediction:

'Cats by +24. Not trying to denigrate La Verne but this is a game Linfield is expected to control and dominate. However, Linfield can't just expect to hop on a plane and roll out on La Verne's home field and think the Leos are going to roll over. They're not. I expect La Verne to be hyped up to take on a team of Linfeild's caliber and for them to give the 'Cats all they have. But I expect Linfield to be ready to play LINFIELD football and if that's the case the 'Cats should be coming back home 1-1 after a convincing victory.

Google Maps Game 2: Linfield @ La Verne

View 2010 Linfield Wildcats Football Guide in a larger map

For those on the road this weekend and in fact for those staying at home, ADvantage Catdome has your hook-up for all your Linfield at La Verne viewing needs. Need to know the weather (check) and it's going to be freaking hot, making a last minute hotel reservation and need the hook up on a great dea (check), want to know where the nearest In-N-Out burger is from the La Verne campus (we have your back, check). All you need to do is click on the Wildcat Logo Icon in the map and a pop-up window will appear with all the info you need. You can view it in a bigger window by clicking the hotlink below the map.

Alumni/JV game on Saturday Oct 16th (7pm)

Hey former Linfield football players, the annual Linfield Alumni vs. Junior Varsity football game is just around the corner. The game will be held on Saturday, October 16th at 7pm at the 'Catdome. It's the prefect weekend for the game as it's homecoming week and the 'Cats will battle Pacific earlier in the day at 1:30pm and then the Alumni/JV tilt at night. If you are intrested in playing please contact Coach Brandon Hazenberg at 503-516-1727 or email him at brhazenb@linfield.edu.

The cost is only $10 to play and the program will provide everything except cleats and mouthpieces. It's a great evening to get back together with friends and watch the former greats of the 'Catdome past play against the soon-to-be great of the 'Catdome future.

Weekend Wrap/Coach Rombach makes an Omelet

Typically today would be a Wildcat game wrap from this past Saturday but since the 'Cats had the Bye Week, WC11 had to figure out what to put in this slot. Wasn't too sure what to do, but I figure that since it's Monday morning, and most of you are trying to get motivated to tackle the week old Wildcat11 would give you a video caffeine boost. Why not open up the Catdomealumni video vault and bust out a clip of Linfield's Linebacker Coach, Phil Rombach, making an omelet by breaking open an egg in the form of a quarterback? Coach Rombach was an intense player and he's an intense coach. Boom! Goes the Dynamite.


NWC Weekend Wrap up. (Again, probably won't do this often but with the Bye....why not?)

Willamette - 42 Southern Oregon - 24: Yeah, just about what I expected. Southern Oregon is what Southern Oregon is: Great individual talent all over the field but not a discipline bone to be found. 15 penalties for 151 yards, 3 interceptions, 2 lost fumbles, and a 26'ish year-old first year defensive coordinator against the Fly and you might as well stayed home and dry from the rain. If Willamette didn't cough up the rock 4 times themselves it would have been worse. Willamette is a very good ball club.

PLU - 35 CLU - 21: Yeah, colored me shocked on this one. However, I did write in my weekly picks that CLU might be suffering from a "big win hangover" and it looks like CLU was coming down off a 5 day bender as the Lutes jumped CLU from the start and put them away in the 2nd half. The line of the day came from Willamette play-by-play man Mike Allegre when he read this score while I was watching the WU/SOU game on-line: "Looks like CLU's 15 minutes of fame is up". Ouch. PLU had 490 yards of total offense and rushed for 203. The NWC better take note on PLU this season.

Redlands - 23, Whitworth - 7: In two games the Rats have played good competition Whitworth has 14 total points. Their defense has been pretty solid but the Rats offense is on life support. The Rats continue to use two quarterbacks and I'm from the school of thinking that if you have two quarterback, you actually have none.

L&C - 63, Pomona Pitzer - 38: If there wasn't 500 people at Palentine Hill to witness this I may not believe that the Pios rushed for 549 yards. I mean, are you kidding me? Talk about an undressing. Moses himself couldn't have created holes as big as the L&C offense to rush for that many yards. Holy smokes.

CMS - 37, Pacific - 9: To be expected. Pacific is a 1st year (again) program and this is what happens. You take your licks and they are going to for the remainder of the season. They will gain experience and be an improved team next season. World Beaters? no. Good? no. But this is a process.

Around The CatdomeO'sphere

Wildcat11 needs to apologize for not giving you the Around The CatdomeO'sphere post last week but I was hip deep in traveling down to Thousand Oaks for the 'Cats game. We have lots of reading for you this week as just about the whole NWC and Wildcat future opponents (Menlo) are in action this week. Enough with the small talk let's get to the links.

Linfield Review: Loss is not sitting well with 'Cats (page 16 of on-line issue)

VCstar.com: Daniel not Danny was a major pain for Linfield in the 2nd half

Oregonlive.com: 'Cats let lead slip away

Statesmanjournal.com: CLU takes wild win over Linfield

La Verne Campus Times: Leopards look to start season right

The Sun: La Verne is looking to add back more starters in time for Linfield (1/2 way in article)

Abilene reporternews: Bearcats drop game in the middle of nowhere (aka West Texas)

Statesmanjournal.com: Scott Schoettgen almost singlehandly keeps Willamette in it

KTXS.com (video): Will-a-met gets dropped by Hardin-Simmons

Victory Sports Network: SOU looks to remain balanced vs Willamette

The News Tribune: Lutes hang on for season opening win over Hamline

Hamline Oracle: Pipers unable to blow in a win vs PLU

The Spokesman Review: Clearly the local paper doesn't care about the Rats 35-7 win over Pomona.

Times Standard: Humboldt State is looking to chop down Menlo (yes that was lazy)

Palo Alto Online: Menlo opens the season at 2-0 after overcoming Chapman

Oxyathletics: Occident puts a pounding on Puget Sound

Oregonlive.com: Pacific opens their first home game in 19 years.

Oregonlive.com: Canzano writes on the death of Pacific player Eric Ross back in 1991.

KGW.com (video): Pacific opens first home game in how many years? I forgot.

Week 3: NWC Pick 'em!

Alright, Wildcat11 didn't go perfect last week as I missed the 'Cats at CLU and Willamette @ Hardin-Simmons. Overall old Wildcat11 is 11 for 13 on the season and that's batting at a pretty solid clip. There are some intriguing games on the docket in the Pacific Northwest as Pacific plays a game on campus for the first time in 19 years and a fast starting Southern Oregon is coming into Salem to give Willamette another tough game. I'd like to go catch that one but WC11 will be in the basement with a paint brush in his hands.

NWC Games:

#15 Cal Lutheran over PLU (at PLU): I'd be surprised if the Kingsmen go up to the Tacoma area and lay an egg however they may have a bit of a huge win hangover from last Saturday. I'm curious to know how the potential of the weather will impact the game but I think the running game of CLU will be able to handle it.

L&C over Pomona-Pitzer (at L&C): Man, the Pioneers just got double barreled blasted last week by Claremont. It was an ugly 65-21 rout. I could be going out on the egde here but Pomona-Pitzer is terrible too so we'll find out who's less terrible this Saturday.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripts over Pacific (at Pacific): I'll probably be picking against the Boxers all season long because of their brand new status. It should be a fun time for Pacific to re-open at home after 19 years but CMS is going to spoil the fun at the end of the day.

#13 Willamette over Southern Oregon (at Willamette): The Raiders have cracked the NAIA top 25 this week for the first time in about 7 years after starting of the year 2-0. This is going to be another very stiff test for Willamette and it's possible they get tripped up this week by the Raiders. However, it always seems SOU does some "Southern Oregon"-like and that will lead to a Willamette win before they go into the Bye-Week.

Redlands over Whitworth (at Redlands): I'm just not convinced yet the Rats offense will have enough on the road to overcome a solid Redlands team. It pains me to see the NWC potentially go 2-3 this week but the conference has had their hands full with their pre-season schedule.

West Region Game of the Week:

#9 Hardin-Simmons over #19 Mississippi College (at HSU): Should be a great game in the ASC but a healthy Feasters and an improved HSU defense will carry the day for the Cowboys over defending ASC champion Mississippi College.

National Games of the Week:

#11 Ohio Northern over #18 Otterbein: I know nothing about the North Region besides Mount Union is there. I'm picking ONU just on the fact they are ranked higher but we all know that doesn't always mean much.

Linfield @ CLU Game Clip: Taylor Skore's Int Return and Ohu McCabe turns out the lights

Since we have a bye week WC11 thought I'd peal off a clip from last Saturday's CLU game. And if we're going to post up a clip it might as well be well worth it. Taylor Skore picked off a CLU pass late in the 1st quarter and made his way up the Linfield sideline where defensive end, Ohu McCabe turns off the lights of a CLU offensive lineman (who would be ok).

‘Cats lead slips away in second half in opening season loss to Cal Lutheran.

It was a disappointing outcome on Saturday down in Thousand Oaks as our ‘Cats drop the season opener to California Lutheran 49-42. Early on it was all Linfield as the ‘Cats dominated on both sides of the ball but towards the end of the 1st half the Kingsmen offense started to find itself with a late half touchdown drive as CLU built on that moment to surge in the 2nd half to make the game into a dog fight the rest of the way. Make no mistake the ‘Cats had their chance to put the nail in the coffin in the 1st half but didn’t get it done and that came back to haunt Linfield in the worse way.

For the ‘Cats there were a LOT of positives that you can take away from the game. Linfield has a plethora of offensive weapons and put up 42 points and over 500 yards on offense vs a very athletic and physical CLU defense. The defense had a great stretches of play until that 4th quarter but all the pieces are there for the ‘Cats to have a great season and accomplish the goals this team set out to achieve. The only difference is the margin of error is now a little smaller and we get to find out the character of this team. Will they fold or will they grow, work harder, and perform like we all know they can? We’ll find out soon enough.

Let’s go to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good:

42 points and 507 yards of total offense: The ‘Cats offense showed their explosiveness with big gains on the ground and though the air. At times the ‘Cats offense was a hot knife through butter and if the Offense can continue to grow we’re going to be a force all season long.

Defensive QB Pressure: CLU’s offensive was large and athletic but the ‘Cats defense was able to tack up 6 sacks on the day and put consistent pressure on CLU for most of the contest. If Linfield can continue to have that effort during the season they are going to be a nightmare vs passing teams up front.

Linfield passing attack: Aaron Boehme and the ‘Cats put up over 360 in the passing game and 8 different Wildcats caught passes. What I was really encouraged by was the play by the inside receivers (Saxon and Henderson) and the emergence of Deidre Wiersma on the outside and his ability to make some great catches along the sideline.

Not folding the tent: When CLU went up 31-28 early in the 4th quarter the Kingsmen had all the momentum and a lesser team would have given up and just called it a day. However, Linfield answered right back to take a 35-31 lead and again when it looked like CLU salted the game away the 'Cats got within 5 with 28 ticks left on the clock and looked like the
'Cats had a chance to pull a rabbit out of the hat when Drew Fisher came out of the on-side kick pile to only have CLU rewarded the ball. I liked it that we battled to the bitter end.

The Bad:

Five Turnovers: Just can't do this if you're planning on winning football games. 3 of the turnovers were interceptions with two coming off of tipped passes but you can't justify not taking care of the ball. Ball security is paramount and Linfield needs to clean that up going forward. Winning the turnover battle was huge last year for the 'Cats and the giving up the rock yesterday hurt Linfield at some of the worse times.

Giving up 252 rushing yards: I don't have the stats right in front of me but I think the 'Cats allowed 200 rushing yards in the second half alone. Of course I could talk about Time of Possession, the heat and getting worn out but those are just excuses and the 'Cats defense knows that. Whatever the reasons were for the rushing attacking gashing our defense it needs to be resolved and I'm sure this will be a major point of discussion and work over the remainder of the season.

Inconsistent Run Game: I'd put this in the "not bad" category but it wasn't great either. The 'Cats did rush for 146 yards and 4.6 yards a rush on the day but 71 yards of that came off of one long gallop from Aaron Williams. I'd like to see the run game be able to grind it out a little better.

Allowing CLU back into the game: When you get an emotional team like CLU down you have to put them down for good and Linfield had that chance late in the 1st half but let it slip away. Obviously that came back to haunt Linfield.

The Ugly:

33 points allowed in the 2nd half: I'm not going to sugarcoat this....it was not good at all. Credit CLU for battling back but allowing 33 points in a half of football is just downright bull-jive. From a pic six turnover to those gashing CLU runs it wasn't Linfield football and it should be upsetting to the players on the team that it happened. So there are two choices the 'Cats can make from here. They can feel bad for themselves and just sort of wallow in it or they can focus on winning football games Monday through Friday by fixing the areas that need it and focus on winning the next game on their schedule. We'll find out over the next two games what decision this Linfield team makes.

Week 2: NWC Pick 'Em!

Old Wildcat11 went 5 for 5 last week! Good thing that UPS was mentally tough enough to beat a team that was playing their first game in 19 years. So we have more games this week and some tough calls but WC11 will see if he can keep up the good early start.

NWC:

#13 Willamette over #14 Hardin-Simmons (at HSU): I’m taking the Bearcats on another very tough road game tilt. I don’t think HSU has a great running game and Willamette’s soft shell pass defense is going to cause issues for the Cowboys. Feasters has to run the ball early and often to keep Willamette’s defense honest. In the end, I don’t think HSU will make the adjustments defensively to the fly and the Bearcats will move to 2-0.

Pacific Lutheran over Hamline (at Hamline): Hamline appears to have some offense but PLU’s has a better one. This is a must win for PLU if they want to build towards challenging Linfield and Willamette this season.

Whitworth over Pomona-Pitzer (at P-P): The Rats offense looked horrible and unimaginative last week vs HSU (watch part of the game on-line). Thankfully, Pomona-Pitzer will cure some of those lack of points because they are Pomona-Pitzer. Look for Adam Anderson to have a 3 TD game or more on Saturday.

Claremont Mudd-Scripps over L&C (at CMS): I think this is going to be a very entertaining high scoring game. A shoot out of bad teams is way better than a defensive battle between bad teams. L&C could get the rub here but I’ll take the Stags to hang on for a win.

Occidental over Puget Sound (at Oxy): According to UPS Frosh WR, Thiesen Chang he’s looking forward to “putting a pounding on Oxy” (around the 4:35 mark). Oh, to be young and dumb. Oxy has to be licking their wounds after dropping their season opener to an improved NAIA Indy Menlo Oaks and the Tigers will take that frustration out vs UPS. Look for Oxy All-American DE, Alex Wertheimer to have all of his mail forward to the UPS backfield because that’s where he’ll be taking up residency on Saturday.

West Region Game of the week

Redlands over East Texas Baptist (at ETB): Almost took ETB here but the Dawgs do have 35 year old Dan Selway back at QB and he’s a good one. It will be a scrap but I see the Redlands getting off on the right foot.

National Game of the week

#10 Delaware Valley over #20 Washington & Jefferson (at DelVal): Don’t know much about either school except it seems that Washington & Jeff always seemed to get housed in big games. Del Valley has been a solid program over the past 5-7 years and look for them to take the home victory.

Game 1 Preview: Linfield @ California Lutheran University

It’s here! Game week. This is what every ‘Cat fan has been waiting for since the middle of December when the ‘Cats 2009 season came to an end. In what has become the normal trend for Linfield, the ‘Cats open up with a large and great challenge to open up the season. Linfield will be flying down south to take on the defending SCIAC champions and #25 California Lutheran Kingsmen in the first game of a 2-year home-and-home deal.

This had developed into a unique situation because the ‘Cats ended CLU’s season last year in the opening round of the NCAA playoffs with a 38-17 victory at the ‘Catdome. So for CLU this will be their second game played in a row vs the same opponent. I think it’s safe to say that this game has been on CLU Head Coach Ben McEnroe’s mind since the bus ride back to PDX as the Kingsmen’s roster has had a metamorphous into a much larger squad with a large number of DI, DI-AA, DII, JC transfers. Obviously, Coach McEnroe didn’t want to wait a few years to bring in and develop a large frosh class as he knew that two year window vs the ‘Cats would close fast and hard if he didn’t try to shoot the moon.

For Linfield, while they just played CLU this past November they are facing a starting line-up that will have a much different look and M.O. than in Cal Lu’s previous season. It’s intriguing to think that the ‘Cats are headed into such a challenging game with a so many unknowns about the opponent. However, that’s the beauty of that first game, we get to find out if the ‘Cats are worthy of the preseason love folks have been heaping on the ‘Cats. Will this Linfield team keep the ball rolling and be able to handle another long road trip? Can the new faces on the offensive line stand in and protect Boehme and open up running lanes? Can the ‘Cats defensive line and new LB’s stand toe-to-toe with 300 pounders and limit the CLU running game? So many questions and they get to be answered in a few short days. To me…that’s is something to savor and welcome.

Get to Know an Opponent's key player

#10 Jake Laudenslayer - Quarterback

The 6’ 3” 220 lb transfer form Marshall will be the man behind center for the Kingsmen this Saturday. Laudenslayer spent one year at Marshall before landing at CLU. The Kingsman QB played his first two seasons at Mendocino JC where he piled up 2,884 passing yards, 30 TDs, and 10 pics during the 2008 season.

Here is his highlight video from his 2008 season:



Wildcat11’s Key To Victory:

Riding the first wave: What I mean by that is that CLU’s staff, fans, and players are going to be sky high for this game. With so many unknown aspects of how CLU is going to attack us there is going to be some on the fly adjustments Linfield is going to have to make. So it’s important for the ‘Cats to maintain their composure and just worry about their own execution and communication during that blitz of energy during the early portions of the game.

Run The Dang Football: The ‘Cats peeled off 6.2 yards per rush during last season’s playoff game so you have to know the CLU staff has been putting a premium on limiting the ‘Cats rushing attack and putting hits on Aaron Boehme if and when he carries the ball. Linfield HAS to be able to gash CLU in order to open up the other aspects of the offense and it starts up front for Linfield. A major test for this new Linfield offensive line.

3rd down defense/pressure: The ‘Cats defense is going to be facing a balanced attack and being on the road, Linfield needs to be strong on 3rd down stops. You can say every down is important, and that’s true, but a key for this game is going to be not allowing CLU to extend drives and that comes off of 3rd down stops.

Special Teams: Linfield wasn’t great last season on kickoff coverage and it came back to bite the ‘Cats a few times. In a game with two talented teams the momentum of the game can change on special teams and that’s why the ‘Cats need to be excellent in their coverage and make hay in the return game. I’m telling you a big play in this game will happened during the special teams phase.

Meet the Physical Challenge: CLU is going to want to be the more physical team. That’s why their staff brought in so many big bodies. With that in mind I don’t think we’ll be seeing some fluffy offensive or cute defensive scheme from the Kingsmen. I think they are going to try to out physical the ‘Cats so our players need to be ready to rise to the challenge.

Fundamentally Sound: Yes, it’s cliché but for a good reason. Football comes down to throwing, catching, tackling, etc, etc. Linfield needs to be sharp and not hamper themselves with bad exchanges, poor tackling, pad level, etc. It’s going to be a tough enough game without self-inflicted wounds. Just clear your mind and rely on the training you’ve been going through while at the ‘Catdome. Keep it simple.

Overall:

‘Cats by 7. What an Awesome challenge the ‘Cats have to open the season. On the road against a team that’s been circling Linfield the moment they stepped off the Catdome sod last season. Make no mistake, CLU is going to be a playoff caliber squad and could be the most talent rich team the ‘Cats face this season. With that said, I believe in this Linfield team and the talent the ‘Cats have back. It’s going to take a team effort but in the end I know Linfield has in place the players to walk away with a hard fought victory.

2010 Fall Camp: Interviews with Jackson Vaughan and Jim Nagel

Wildcat11 caught up with the 'Cats Defensive coordinator, Jackson Vaughan, and Offensive Coordinator, Jim Nagel, after Saturday's scrimmages to pick their brains about where they think the team is with regards to the upcoming season. Both of these coaches have their hands full during the first couple of weeks of the season but have been great, as usual, in getting both sides of the ball tuned up for action.

Fall Camp: Final Scrimmage Highlights

The clip above is from the 'Cats final scrimmage that took place this past Saturday at the 'Catdome. Like I mentioned below there was a lot happening over the 3 hours the 'Cats spend pealing off live situation plays and the this clip just gives you a sample taste of what you'll be seeing on Saturday's this season.

We have a busy week here on the ADvantage. Later today we'll have two more videos as we had quick interviews with Linfield Def Coordinator Jackson Vaughan and Off Coordinator Jim Nagel. Those will be up after lunch today. Tomorrow we'll have our Linfield @ CLU game preview, Thursday will be our Google Map/NWC week 2 pick 'em, and Friday will take your Around the 'CatdomeO'sphere. Go 'Cats! HUGE WEEK!

2010 Scrimmage is in the books.

Your Linfield Wildcats wrapped up their fall camp this past Saturday with their annual scrimmage held at the 'Catdome. The 'Cats ran through 3 hours of game situation tempo action as the 'Cats prepare of the 2010 season.

Like I've been writing all fall, I like the make-up of this team up to this point. There are some questions that need to be answered and that won't happen till Linfield lines up against CLU to find out the answers. We'll be posting up some action for the scrimmage and interviews with Linfield Defensive Coordinator, Jackson Vaughan and Offensive Coordinator, Jim Nagel.

Around The CatdomeO'sphere

Hey it's Friday so you know what that means? Yes, it's time to take a trip around the CatdomeO'Sphere. For those of you that are new to the ADvantage, every Friday during the season we compile a list of news links of stories on your Linfield Wildcats and of the entire NWC. Don't expect too many stories on L&C because those are like spotting Bigfoot, you may hear of sightings but they don't really exist. On another note, sorry for the lack of video this week but WC11 had to make a decision...work on the videos for the blog or try to wrap up the Scoreboard video for this season. The Scoreboard video won. However, WC11 will be at the scrimmage tomorrow that starts at 9:00 AM and will bring you a report and interviews either on Saturday or Sunday.

The Examiner: Linfield preps for 55th conecutive winning season

OregonLive: All eyes are on Linfield

OregonLive: "Rocketman" and Fish are SCFB players to watch

News-Register: Yamhill County Football Preview (Linfield starts on page 4)

PortlandTribune: 'Cats ranked 4th, Bearcats 18th

Linfield Review: Linfield opens up fall camp

CLU The Echo: CLU HC says the most talented Kingsmen line up for the 2010 footbal season that he has ever had.

VCstar: CLU has brought in a lot of beef this offseason

Statesman-Journal.com: Linfield, Willamette, and some state school opens up camp

WAOW.com (with Video): Stevens Point opens with Will-A-Met

KXLY.com:Rats Open Up Camp

NCAA.com: Rats and Cowboys return injured stars

Spokesman-Review: Rats trying to right the ship.(See what I did there?)

Statesman-Journal: WU Pineda and Schottgen are players to watch

OregonLive: Boxers open up first camp in 19 years

Palo Alto online: Menlo HC says by going .500 last season the Oaks have learned how to win. Huh?

The News-Tribune: UPS now has EXTREAM DESIRE!!!!!

NWC Pick 'em: Week 1

Oh Yeah! It's time for Northwest Conference Pick 'em! No more messing around this season as I’m in it to win it! My faithful dogs, Mack and Maddy, will not be making picks this season. The 11’s are in the midst of getting ready for Baby 14 and so our crazy dogs are on the shelf this season. Enough of the talk, let’s get to Wildcat11’s week 1 picks!

Wildcat 11's week 1 picks:

Northwest Conference:

Willamette over UW-Stevens Point: This is a tough one to call as I went back and forth for a few minutes. Stevens Point is considered the 2nd best team in the WIAC behind UWW and have a huge offensive line and a pair of 6’4” WR’s (one of them a pro prospect). Also, getting to Stevens Point is a pain in the backside and makes for a long road trip. A case against Willamette starts building up pretty fast but I think facing the Fly offense for the first time is going to cause pains for Stevens Point and Willamette will pull out a huge early season win.

Hardin-Simmons over Whitworth: The Cowboys are 0-2 in games out in the Pacific Northwest. Of course, both of those losses came at the ‘Catdome so it’s pretty understandable. HSU All-American candidate (who Linfield blasted last year) Justin Feasters is back along with a fast pace offense. The Rats have 2x NWC Offensive POY, Adam Anderson (RB), back running Whitworth’s ball control offense. I’m not convinced Anderson’s ankle is 100% and if he’s not anything but 100% then I’ll take the Cowboys on the road.

Puget Sound over Pacific: A lot of new smells in this rare NWC non-conference tilt. UPS has a new coach, former Redlands assistant Jeff Thomas, who’s bring “EXTREAM DESIRE” to the loggers, along with new all-white lids (*eye roll*), a new spread and a new attacking 3-4 defense. Pacific….they are just new….again. I like MEANTLY TOUGH UPS to edge out Pacific mainly on the back that the Loggers have a lot of guys with game experience and Pacific doesn’t. I think talent wise it’ll be a level playing field.

West Region Game of the Week:

Wartburg over Monmouth: Yeah, I know Monmouth is ranked and Wartburg isn’t but I usually stick to the rule that top ½ of the IIAC, MIAC, WIAC, NWC over the number 1 of the MWC 10 out of 10 times. This one might come back to bite me but I’ll still take the Knights.

National Game of the Week:

Miss College over Millsaps: Most people are taking Millsaps here but I like the ASC school on the road.