Welcome to our Thanksgiving Day special edition playoff game preview. I’m typing this with a cup of hot coco (with mini marshmallows) sitting next to me while my wife and daughter are baking some cookies in the kitchen and the dogs asleep by my feet. Not a bad way to spend your Thanksgiving morning. Speaking of being thankful, we Wildcat fans have much to be thankful for this morning as the ‘Cats are once again playing football on Thanksgiving weekend and get to do it in the ‘Catdome. That’s a double win on so many levels. As we know, the ‘Cats moved on from the first round in a dominating 48-10 win over Whitworth in the opening round of the playoffs. With the win Linfield now host the champions of the Empire 8 conference the Cortland State Red Dragons out of Cortland, New York. The Red Dragons are an impressive football team as Cortland State is big upfront and have a number of play makers lead by the arm of their quarterback, Steven Ferreira.
The Empire 8 is a darn good football conference. D3football.com ranked the Empire 8 conference
the 3rd best conference in division III this season (NWC is ranked 8th)
and it was a battle royal to win their conference championship this
season. That is one thing that Cortland
State has as a true advantage coming into this game over Linfield and that’s being
tested in tight games. The Red Dragons
have won two overtime games and have won five games by 7 points of less this year
against a list of quality opponents.
Cortland State’s strength rests on the diversity of their offensive
attack, physicality, and the ability to turnover teams while on defense while
not giving the ball away.
The Red Dragons are coming into this weekend’s game with the
5th best turnover margin in the county at a +18 (Cortland with only
10 (3 picks/7 fumbles) turnovers while forcing 28 turnovers (12 picks/16 fumble
recoveries)) and that’s a surefire way to be a dangerous football team. While the defense has been an impressive
takeaway unit, the Cortland State quarterbacks Steven Ferreira has been an
outstanding playmaker. Ferreira has
completed 67.1% of his passes for 2,895 yards, 26 touchdowns to only 2
interceptions. That’s pretty stinking good. Typically when you see that high of passing
percentage you might think, Cortland is just running a dink and dunk passing
attack but that’s not the case as Ferreira is averaging 9.5 yards per attempt
and 14.2 yards per completions (Sam Riddle averages 8.9 per attempt and 15.3
yards per completion) which tells you that Cortland will stretch the ball down
the field and attack you with three receivers (Wagner, Mannix, and Smith) that
have 40 or more catches each.
There are only 8 division III football games being played
this weekend and that means 16 teams that are left playing are quality football
teams. Make no doubt that Cortland State has all the tools to fly across the
country and knock off the ‘Cats if Linfield doesn’t play a high quality brand
of football. But this weekend is what I
love about playoff football. You have
two teams and programs that have never met, know little about each other, and
are playing for their playoff lives.
It’s exciting and why these players put so much into their off season
training for moments like this weekend.
I’m fired up to see how the ‘Cats respond to a big challenge
this weekend in the ‘Catdome
Get To Know A Wildcat
#13 Johnny Carroll, Sophomore, Receiver
Hometown: Bend, Or., High School: Mt. View High
Favorite place to eat in Mac: The Grain Station
Favorite Movie: Nacho Libre or Dumb and Dumber
Favorite Music: Hip Hop and Rap, or anything with Rihanna
Favorite TV show: The Office
Favorite Book: The Bible
Class I Most Look Forward to: Marketing with Michelle Nelson
iPhone or Android: iPhone
CPU Homepage: ESPN
Personal Mantra: Hakuna Matata
Social Media of choice: Insta
Car or Truck: Truck
Xbox, PS3, or Wii: Xbox
What first inspired you to play football: My family, they
always encouraged me to try play as many sports as possible and find out which
one(s) I really love. I still can't even choose...
Favorite Coach Smith Saying: "Someone’s got to go to
jail"
Favorite part of playing at Linfield: The bonds I have made
with people that I know will last long past my playing days.
Post Linfield aspirations: Find a job that i know will have
the power to impact people’s lives in a positive way day in and day out.
Wildcat11’s Keys to Victory
Be ready to go this distance: Linfield has to have a mindset of being ready
for a four quarter game. The days of
rolling everyone in their path have come to a close and now it’s time for big
boy football. With only 16 teams left in the country, you know everyone has the
ability to rise up and win. Linfield has dismantled team after teams this
season but Cortland is unlike anyone the ‘Cats have played this season as the
Red Dragons are battled tested and have the firepower to stand toe-to-toe with
the ‘Cats. Linfield has to be ready for a full 60 minutes of football.
Run the Football: When the ‘Cats can run the football, the
Linfield offense is hard stop. Cortland
runs a 3-4 defense with some big bodies upfront and the ‘Cats have to find a
way to be effective against a defense that’s only allowing 3.4 yards per rush. We’ve seen it time and again that if the ‘Cats
can run the ball the rest of the offense will open up.
Limit the Red Dragon Big Play: The Linfield secondary and
linebackers have a big challenge in containing the Cortland State passing
attack. The Red Dragons have hit 62
passing plays of 20 yards or longer with 15 of those being touchdown
connections. Cortland State will throw a
number of short passes and receiver and running back screens but they’ll take a
number of shots down the field to a very good trio of receivers. It will be the secondary’s biggest test to
date.
Pressure: While the
Red Dragons have hit a bunch of big playas on the year, they will also take
their lumps in giving up sacks. Cortland
State has allowed 42 sacks on the season and Linfield has to be able to add to
that number to help disrupt the timing of the passing game and hopefully force
mistakes from a quarterback that doesn’t make many.
Decision Making/Take Care of the Ball: Linfield was
brilliant last weekend in only being penalized twice for 10 yards and not
making any huge mistakes with the ball.
As established above, Cortland State has been a tremendous takeaway team
this season so it’s imperative that Linfield keeps the football protected and
make good decisions with it.
Special Teams: Linfield is facing a special teams unit with
some weapons. Kickoff return man Dylan
Peebles was a 1st team All-American in 2014 and is currently
returning kickoffs for 26.4 yards per kick return and has housed a 97-yarder
earlier this season. Pinning Cortland
and having the ability to flip the field with punt and kickoff returns could
have a critical impact on the outcome of this Saturday’s game.
Overall.
‘Cats by 10. I’m expecting a competitive football game in
the ‘Catdome this weekend. From the
little I’ve seen from Cortland State, they’re a big and well coached team with
guys that can break it open for the big play.
With that said, I truly believe if the ‘Cats bring an “A” effort to the ‘Cats,
Linfield is going to find success and break open a tight game for the 2nd
round victory. Go ‘Cats!!!
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