2015 NWC Pick 'Em Contest: Week 6

Hey You! Get to the game this weekend.

Don’t have a long time to talk…been a hectic week so we’re going to just do a quick recap of the NWC action.  Fox had to put their starters back into the game vs L&C which doesn’t bode well for GFU’s current depth, UPS and PLU are in a battle for historically bad NWC rushing offenses, Whitworth is really good, Willamette still has some dudes but not very explosive on offense, and that had to be the longest bus ride from McMinnville to Forest Grove for Pacific last week.

LET’S DO IT!!!

Northwest Conference Games of the Week:

#2 Linfield (4-0) over Willamette (1-3) (at Will): (509)Rat says Linfield: Cat fans can talk all they want about 2014, but there is absolutely no chance this game resembles last year. Willamette is way down and Linfield is very very good. All of the "one game at a time" and "not looking ahead" cliche's that will get thrown around this week are pointless. Linfield just needs to get off the bus Saturday.

Whitworth (5-0) over Pacific Lutheran (0-4) (at Whit): The Rats continue to be very impressive to me.  Get get a bad field with terrible weather and the pass happy Rats grind it out on the ground and dominate UPS defensively.  Again, the Rats should be a top 25 team and get one more tune up before the NWC game of the year in McMinnville next week.  PLU is super young and haven’t looked very good on offense. Rats roll.

(509)Rat says Whitworth: I'm not sure if PLU can make this a game. 264 yards of offense like they had against Willamette last week isn't going to cut it. They still can't run the football so they better force a bunch of turnovers if they'd like to keep Whitworth out of the endzone. Or better yet, pray for miserable conditions like last week that force Whitworth to run the ball 61 times. PLU will be better in a couple of years, I just don't see this game as a confidence booster for a young team. This year or in the years to come.

Puget Sound (2-2) over George Fox (3-2) (at UPS):  This should be a very interesting game.  UPS has ZERO running attack but they don’t care.  Their short passing attack is their rushing attack and while Fox has been impressive on offense, the Bruin defense has been giving up 316 yards a game through the air and I think that’s where this game is won or loss for both teams.  This is like the 2nd tier NWC championship game and I’m going with the Loggers.

(509)Rat says UPS: George Fox won't sack UPS 7 times and probably won't hold them to -37 yards rushing as Whitworth did last week.

Pacific (3-2) over Lewis and Clark (0-4) (at L&C): Just what the doctor ordered after getting ushered out of the ‘Catdome with a 67 point loss.  The Boxers did have a tight one with L&C last year so I think the Pios surprising Pacific this year is out the window. 

(509)Rat says Pacific:  Perfect opponent to take out some post-monkey stomp frustrations out on. Pacific wins big but doesn't feel a whole lot better about themselves afterwards.

West Region Game of the Week

St. Johns (4-1) over Gustavus Adolphus (6-0) (at SJU):   GAU quarterback Mitch Hendricks is throwing for 1,584, 20 TDs, and has a completion percentage of 78.8%.  That is pretty darn good but what makes it worse for SJU fans is Hendricks played his first year at SJU and transferred because he thought he would never get a shot.  The biggest knock on SJU this season (as with recent seasons) is their QB play so Johnnie fans get a look at “what could have been” this weekend.  GAU may be 6-0 but they haven’t played anyone yet. Their last four games of the year are: SJU, Bethel, Concordia-Moorehead, St. Thomas.  Good luck with that.  Sura leads SJU to victory this week.

(509)Rat says SJU: West region and national games have been bad for me and so was the last time I picked the Johnnies. However, my prognosticating skills are on par with the Gustavus Adolphus defense. A loss for the Gusties moves Whitworth closer to the top 25


National Games of the Week

Berry (5-1) over Hendrix (4-1) (at Berry): Not a top 25 tilt but fun because these are two 3rd year programs meeting this late in the year with a combined 9-2 record and playing for the lead in the Southern Athletic Association. Berry just knocked off a top 25 team for the first time in program history (Chicago) and have been doing in with defense.  Hendrix might have more offensive punch but I’m going with defense.

(509)Rat says Berry: Of course now that I'm picking Berry to win, they will blow it. But Berry has been playing good defense against what looks like the toughest stretch in their schedule. Hendrix offense has been explosive all season and they may be able to outpace Berry even if they do end up allowing the Vikings their largest point total of the season. Hopefully I'm not putting too much faith in the upstart football program just because of the Chicago win.
Alfred (4-1) over Cortland State (at Cort): I should take Cortland State here but I made fun of Batman’s butler last year and the Saxons made me pay.  As punishment, I’m picking them this year to win so that pretty much means Cortland State should roll.

(509)Rat says Alfred: I'll take the better defensive team again. Cortland state has been living on the edge all season with 4 games being decided by a score. Buffalo state showed that a good team can slow down the red dragon offense and I think Alfred does the same this week.

Wildcat11’s Week 6 Northwest Conference Power Rankings

1.    Linfield – Until proven otherwise
2.    Whitworth – Looking to be the ones to prove Linfield differently
3.    Pacific – That’s how big the gap is right now between Linfield/Whitworth and the field
4.    UPS – Been mostly solid this year
5.    Fox – Looking to climb up the ranking this weekend
6.    Willamette – I like their defense but the offense is on the struggle bus
7.    PLU – Just a hard year to be a PLU fan
8.    L&C – Another week, another search for a silver lining