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| Jason Farlow (#35) and the 'Cats defense played tough against the Cru's offense |
| Photo Courtesy of Brad Thompson: View Brad's Photos Here. |
Flipping over to the other side of the coin, the Linfield
defense balled. However, the Wildcat's
defense made one early game mistake on an assignment and UMHB made the
‘Cats pay on an untouched 74-yard TD run on a veer option keeper on the
Crusaders second play of the game. Once
that dust settled, the Wildcat defensive performance was outstanding. The ‘Cats
physicality up front was impressive as well as their ability to pressure the QB
on passing downs. UMHB also tested the
‘Cats defense often on the edges and Linfield’s speed on the outside was up to
the task. The Wildcat defense flew to the football and didn’t allow the Cru’s short passing
game break for significant gains. The
outcome of the game left over the 3,200 fans in attendance disappointed in the
end results, but at the same time, hopeful that this team does have the talent and
skill to develop into something electric as the season progresses.
On a side note, I loved the changes that the athletic
department put into the Linfield game day experience. “Streak Street” has some real potential just
right outside the stadium, the student section rebranding was great, and all
the new signage and additional booths, including a beer garden were a smash
hit. My only request is they either
crank up the volume on that 3rd down siren or just cut it off all
together. The low volume on that siren
doesn’t inspire at all. Make that LOUD.
So where do the ‘Cats go from here? Well, the playoffs for
Linfield started as soon the clock hit 00:00. If this Wildcat team has
aspirations to make the division III playoffs then the margin of error is
razor thin. That means the path runs through
the NWC and the goal of winning the conference championship and the automatic
qualifier. But this is far from a
shoe-in for the ‘Cats. Coming to the
‘Catdome in two weeks is the best Whitworth team that I can remember. Yes, better than the 2007 team that went
undefeated in the regular season, beat Linfield, and hosted a playoff
game. What has made the Pirates so
dangerous this season is not entirely their electric offense (52.7 PPG through 3 games) but
it’s their new found defensive prowess.
The 2017 Rats defense is only allowing 7.7 PPG and combine that with
their pinball like scoring offense and you have a dangerous football team. I think
our defense is tremendous but Whitworth is going to probe and test our
defensive secondary like the previous two games couldn’t and our young offense
is going to battle another excellent defense as well. If the ‘Cats don’t fix what has hampered them
the first two game, Linfield will be looking at a 1-2 start and behind the 8
ball in terms of this programs long term goals. I’m not trying to be a Debbie
Downer but I’m just laying out the clear facts of this season. The 2017
Wildcats have a chance to be excellent but the maturation process has to be
accelerated.
Success for this 2017 team isn’t going to come in a flashy
video promo or a new game day experience at the ‘Catdome. Nope, success for
this team is going to start Monday afternoon and it will come dressed in
overalls and a hard hat in the form of hard work and attention to the smallest
of details. The ‘Cats have two weeks to figure it out and I’m looking forward
to the response.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The Good
Tremendous defensive effort: You take away the blown
assignment long-TD run by T.J. Josey and the Linfield defense pretty much
squared up the Crusaders offense until the late 4th quarter drive
where the exhausted defense gave up the their only sustained drive of the
night. I thought the ‘Cats defensive
line front played a fantastic game in terms of creating stalemates on the line
of scrimmage and pressuring the quarterback.
There was a little bend at times up the A gaps but overall, the ‘Cats
defense was as advertised, fast and physical.
 |
| #98 Tony Kraus racked up one of Linfield's 7 tackles for loss against UMHB. |
| Photo Courtesy of Brad Thompson: View Brad's Photos Here. |
No Turnovers/Low Penalties: The ‘Cats certainly didn’t hurt
themselves on Saturday and that is a marked improvement over the opening game
down in Chapman. That was even more
impressive considering the defense the ‘Cats offense was facing with the Cru. I know this is a bit of reach in trying to
find silver linings in getting bullied offensively but eliminating turnovers
was a positive takeaway.
‘Cats legs: Freshman Punter Colton Ramos continues to
impress (but has been kicking way too much for any Wildcat’s liking). Ramos assaulted the football on Saturday with
an average of 42.2 yards per punt, including a beauty that should have been
downed at the goal line. Place kicker Willy Warne continues to show his growth
and should be a critical weapon for the Linfield offense this season. Warne was 1 of 2 on attempts this weekend but
nailed a 51-yard attempt right at the end of the first half in a pressure
situation.
The 51-yard FG by Will Warne against UMHB is the first 50+ yard field goal by a Linfield kicker since 2008 (Scott Birkhofer - 56 yards) pic.twitter.com/kxtdSFkvdF— Catdomealumni.com (@catdomealumni) September 18, 2017
The Bad
That kickoff return for a touchdown: Any momentum the ‘Cats had going into the
half down 10-3 evaporated on a 95-yard kickoff return by Bryce Wilkerson to
start to second half. Linfield didn’t
even get a finger on Wilkerson as he split the coverage team like a hot knife
through butter. It sucked because I thought our special teams had a solid day
in coverage up to that point. UMHB had three big plays against Linfield and
this was an ugly critical one.
Not making enough plays on the ball: Linfield had a few big
of opportunities to make plays on balls on the air to possibly stem the tide of
the game but couldn’t convert and it cost the ‘Cats. We have dudes that can get
behind defenses and the speed to keep up with receivers but we had to be better
on winning the ball.
Not in-sync offense: It was a pressure cooker of a test for
this offense and the ‘Cats couldn’t find answers offensively. Linfield blew a great opportunity during the
first drive to strike for the touchdown but overthrew a wide open Tyler
Torgerson, missed the field goal, and could find their foothold against an iron
curtain defense after that. For most of
the game it seemed that our receivers would be zigging and our QB’s would be
zagging in terms of the passing game were not one the same page. I still feel this group will find themselves
as they get more game action together but there is no chance to breathe with
Whitworth coming into town.
34 yards of rushing: 29 rushing attempts for a net total of
34 yards. The Crusaders flat owned the attack on the line of scrimmage. The
‘Cats HAVE to be a threat in the rushing game if this offense is going to be
productive for the rest of 2017. It
kills me writing this, because I love this group of guys and still believe they
have the potential to be excellent, but they have to gel and get better or
Linfield is going to struggle to finish 3rd in the NWC.
The Ugly
Being Kept out of the End Zone: For the second game in a
row, the Crusaders have kept the Linfield offense from scoring a touchdown. That stings.
Look, we’re talking about the best defense in the country at our level
and possibly the best defensive line I’ve seen since watching DIII football but
it sucks that our offense has been completely neutralized by the
Crusaders. To put it bluntly, UMHB
physically owned us at the point of attack and UMHB’s speed at Linebacker
cleaned up any hope of out flaking the push upfront. Saturday was a gauge to
see where this offense is at and the result was a Christmas list length of
items for the ‘Cats to try to fix in a hurry before Whitworth’s steamroller of
a team comes to the ‘Catdome.
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