2016 NWC Post 'Em Contest: Week 10

Fox brought a butter knife to a gun flight last weekend at the 'Catdome.

Don't have a ton of time to chat this week about the conference.  I'm trying to pack for tomorrow's game up at Puget Sound and (509)Rat couldn't get his picks to me this week.  He said something about a Twilight movie marathon he was in the middle of. Who knows...

Short and sweet this week so let's get to the picks!

Northwest Conference Games of the Week:

Whitworth (6-2) over Willamette (3-5) (at Whit): This should be a runaway victory for the Rats on Senior Day and too bad they don’t finish the season tomorrow as they have to have the season finale at Lewis & Clark next week (talk about anti-climactic). What this is really about is two programs headed in opposite directions as Whitworth is positioning itself up for a big 2017 run at the NWC title as Willamette has become more lost in the woods the further the Bearcats get away from the Speckman era.

Pacific Lutheran (4-3) over Lewis and Clark (0-7) (at PLU): Talk about another snoozer. What I’m most interested in is who is going to be playing quarterback for the Lutes and this is mainly for selfish reasons since PLU is at Linfield next week. The one thing I’ll say about the Pios is that they’ve lost their last two games by 11 (to UPS) and 14 (to Willamette). It may sounds funny but that is a positive sign of growth for the Pios who are not getting run out of the building in every game like they in the middle of their season. Who knows, with the way PLU like being in close games maybe this will only be a single digit victory?

Pacific (3-5) over George Fox (3-5) (at GFU): Biggest tossup of the week, IMO.  I wasn’t impressed with George Fox. They have some size up front on the defense line but they are not very dynamic players and only have one good LB. The QB play for both teams is very spotty as both Summerfield and Schroder can fall on the range to decent to terrible from play-to-play. The biggest advantage Pacific has is their pass rush, linebacker play, and if Kobe Williams can get loose on offense (if he’s able to catch the ball). While I think GFU is a more discipline football team, I think Pacific will win the battle of trenches for a hard fought win.

West Region Games of the Week:

#25 Monmouth (8-0) over St. Norbert (6-2) (at Mon):  There is only one quarterback in the country that’s having a more efficient season at Quarterback than Sam Riddle (191.2) and that’s Monmouth’s Tanner Matlick (217.6). The Scots QB has tossed 22 QBs to 1 pick but he’s playing against Lewis and Clark level defenses each week. This is for all the marbles in the Midwest Conference as both teams are undefeated in conference play but the Scots not only putting up the points but have played great defense this year as well. Great Scots for the win.

Eureka (8-1) over Northwestern (8-1) (at EC): This is a 50/50 game for the conference title in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference. Both teams haven’t been lighting the world on fire on offense but have been good enough to be standing on their conference pile at the end of it. I don’t know anything about either team but just taking Eureka based off my gut….but it just might be indigestion.

National Games of the Week:

#16 St. Lawrenence (8-0) over Hobart (7-1) (at SLU):  Big shout out to the Saints.  This is their best football team in a long time, and in fact, St. Lawrence was 0-10 back in 2012.  But they turned it around in 2013 and have been a Liberty League contender since then. Hobart has been the LL bully for the past six seasons so there is a changing of the guard feel to this one and I’m jumping on the Saints bandwagon.

#19 Wabash (7-1) over Denison (7-1) (at Denison): In looking up the history, Wabash owns Denison and that’s good enough for me. Wabash always best Denison.

Wildcat11's Week 10 Northwest Conference Power Rankings 

1. Linfield: The 'Cats left no doubt who is running the NWC last week.
2. Whitworth: Offense puts up crazy offensive numbers and terrible defensive ones as well.
3. Pacific: The middle of the NWC is a mess and the Boxers have a chance to claim it this weekend.
4. George Fox: Man, that had to be a long 20 minute bus ride from McMinnville last weekend.
5. PLU: Just haven't been the same since the 4th quarter of the Whitworth game.
6. Willamette: Well earned.
7. UPS: Get their shot to tug on superman's cape.
7.  Lewis & Clark: Been competitive the last two weeks...that something.