‘Cats Win!!!! Linfield blazes a trail in 49-14 win at Lewis & Clark.

It was a party in the Endzone for #6 Chidubem Nnoli and #87 Jacob Calo

Photo Courtsey of JD Humburg of Oregonlive.com: View Photos Here

It wasn’t the prettiest of victories for Linfield but there were some very good developments along the way in the ‘Cats 49-14 road win over Lewis & Clark.  The Pioneers are an improved program and gave the ‘Cats offense some issues early in the first half as Aiden Wilder made his first collegiate start at quarterback for Linfield.  Starter Troy Fowler was out due to illness so it was Wilder’s opportunity to show he could command the Wildcat offense behind center.  It started off slow for Wilder and the ‘Cats as four of the first five possessions the ‘Cats had to punt it away, but as Wilder settled down, the ‘Cats offense started to produce in TD’s in four of the next six possessions.  During that stretch, Wilder went 11 of 12 passing for 159 yards, 2 TDs against 1 pick. While it took more than a quarter to find that groove, once he did, Wilder showed he can be someone to move this offense effectively.

Defensively, the ‘Cats did what they’ve been doing all season long and chewed up the opposing offensive line and turn a team one-dimensional.  The Pios did have one legit drive against the ‘Cats in the 1st half but Linfield provided a major assist in giving a second opportunity to L&C on a missed field goal/roughing call the kicker call.  Pioneer QB, May, did put the ball on the money to his lengthy TE in the back of the end zone for L&C’s only score against the ‘Cats first defensive unit.  Besides that blemish, the ‘Cats defense made it miserable on the Pios in forcing L&C to give the ball back to the ‘Cats in 9 of 10 of their first possessions.

Overall, this was not the most emotionally involved I’ve seen this team during the 2017 season.  The team was still fired up to play but I could tell that edge wasn’t there but I’m not going to be overly harsh on that aspect of Saturday.  The ‘Cats handled their business, had a number of new faces make great contributions (even more so than in the blowout against Willamette) and set the table for another big NWC showdown in the ‘Catdome this weekend. We’ll talk plenty about George Fox, their outstanding 2017, and what I think should be a hotly contested game this weekend on Wednesday. Until then, let’s talk about the good, bad, and ugly from this past Saturday up on the hill.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good

Red Zone Offense:  The Wildcat offense made the most of their trips to the red zone in going 5 for 5 and all of the trips converting for the touchdown. It was the ‘Cats best red zone performance of the season, with four scores coming via the ground and one score through the air.

3rd down offense/defense: Both the Wildcat offense and defense had a good day in the office as the Wildcat defense turned away the Pioneers early and often on third down in holding L&C to only 4 of 14 on third down opportunities (including 8 three and outs).  Once the Wildcat offense got rolling the ‘Cats converted on 9 of 14 third-down chances.  That is how you win football games.

Rush Defense: The Wildcats defensive front was once again stellar against the rush in limiting the Pioneers to 72 rushing yards on 34 attempts (an average of 2.1 yards per rush).

Offensive Responses: While it was not fun to have the Pioneers score two touchdowns against the Wildcat defense, what I did like was the response by the Wildcat offense in shutting down any Pioneer momentum by marching right back down the field and answering with a touchdown of their own. That is a quality you like to see with any football team and I hope the ‘Cats can continue with that kind of trend.

Going to celebrates some 1st here: Congrats to @awilder13 for throwing his first career college TD last Sat vs L&C in a 49-14 win. #Catdome pic.twitter.com/eBsTEcJDqF

— Catdomealumni.com (@catdomealumni) October 16, 2017

Offensive line shuffle: The offensive line did an admirable job in having to shuffle the starting line up once again with starting center Gabe Mojarro and right tackle Ryne Fuhrmark both out of action as they recover from injury. Will Heck slid over from guard to center (where he started in 2016), offensive guard Matt Matteo logged his first start of the season at right guard, and tackle Cody Mitchell had his second consecutive start at right tackle. While injuries stink, the experience Matteo and Mitchell are receiving will only lead to improved depth upon Mojarro and Fuhrmark return to the lineup for the Wildcats front five.

Youth being served on offense:  Out of the 7 touchdowns scored this past Saturday, five of the touchdowns were scored by sophomores (Wilder, Nnoli, and Torgerson) and two by freshmen (Kimball, and Marshall). The ‘Cats have a truckload of young talent and we’re seeing that youth establish itself more and more as the season progresses.

#17 Kyle Kimball catches what the coaches hope will be one of many touchdowns for the 'Cats.

Photo Courtsey of JD Humburg of Oregonlive.com: View Photos Here

The Bad

Giving up 4 sacks: While I thought the retooled offensive line overall played a solid football game the one area where I thought we could have done much better was on protecting the quarterback.  I do put one of the sacks on not getting rid of the ball soon enough, 3 of the 4 sacks killed Linfield drive opportunities and this needs to get better in a hurry as the ‘Cats will be facing a much better defensive front this upcoming Saturday.

Kickoff Team: This group is still not playing very good football.  L&C started drives off of kickoffs as followed: 43-yard line, 25-yard line, 35-yard line, 21-yard line, 41-yard line, 34-yard line, 48-yard line, and 23-yard line.  Starting field position of the 34-yard line or more on 5 of the 8 possessions.  This is putting the defense and Wildcat offense in a bad position as it shortens up fields for the opposing offense and makes the field longer for the Wildcat offense. The kickoff team has to get better in order for this team to get to where they want to go.

Giving away a TD:  Look, the Linfield defense has been great all season long but there have been a few times where the defense has been their own worst enemy in the red zone in getting needless penalties to allow the opposition another crack at it.  That happened again on very benign and inadvertent contact on Lewis and Clark's placekicker on a missed field goal attempt in the 2nd quarter. The kicker collapsed upon the light contact and got the flag and L&C cashed in a few plays later.  The ‘Cats can’t give teams new life when a drive gets snuffed out.

The Ugly

Nothing: Playing up on Palatine Hill is a good time.  Lewis & Clark does have a nice backdrop with all the trees and their stadium has been polished up a little bit.  Granted, the Pioneers have almost minimal crowd support but it was a beautiful Northwest day in October and the ‘Cats won another football game. It was a good day.

Shout out to @KelaMarshall for his 1st career college rushing TD in Linfield's 49-14 win over L&C! #Catdome pic.twitter.com/qyupqg86hg

— Catdomealumni.com (@catdomealumni) October 16, 2017