Quote from: MonroviaCat on September 20, 2026, 01:38:32 AMThe play calling on that last series was truly baffling.  I was fine with the pass attempt on first down but after that we should have put McNabb under center, handed it off toe Obaggy with a full head of steam and if Chapman was able to stop him then hats off to them.  The actual play calling was just horrible and was for a lot of the night. 

Special teams killed us (blocked punt for a TD, penalties that negated good returns including the one that led to the fake punt, and of course 3 missed FGs......).  This team can still probably win the Conference (if they play to their potential) and will likely then have a chance to avenge this loss....just an ugly game on all fronts.....

The fake punt was the turning point of the game - without that I'm not sure the rest of the game plays out the way it did. Without that, Linfield gets the ball with just enough time for another drive that could have made it 21-7, then the 'Cats get the ball to start the third quarter.

Instead, Chapman keeps the ball, gets a psychological boost after giving up 14 straight points, and scores to tie the game at halftime. That's a pretty big swing.

Wow - that's a whole lotta self-inflicted wounds by the 'Cats. Hats off to Chapman for taking advantage.

That said, I must be old-fashioned but I figure from two yards out a good team ought to be able to run the ball in ...

Quote from: MonroviaCat on September 14, 2026, 05:00:55 PM

Quote from: Jake Feldman on September 13, 2026, 12:55:26 AMAfter this drek of a football game, coach Falconer needs the boot, along with most of this staff. Someone's gotta get Keanon Lowe on the horn immediately.

Yeah--that was the worst I've seen Pacific play in a long time.  They have been going downhill the last few years and definitely look to be living up to the "P.U." moniker this season.

Given the Willamette U. - Pacific U. merger, doesn't it make that matchup an intramural game?

I for one feel a lot better about this Linfield season than I did when I got up this morning.

Linfield's 110th football season will end Saturday; going into the regular season finale there's no tension over a playoff berth or potential playoff seeding. The saving grace is that 2025's last game is the annual 'Cat Fight between Linfield and Willamette.

The football series between Linfield and Willamette dates back to 1902 with Linfield leading the all-time series 57-36-3. With 96 previous meetings, the series is Linfield's most-played, edging the 90 games against Lewis & Clark through 2025.

In the spirit of century-old college football rivalries, keep in mind that if you're taken aback by the aggregate score of the last five meetings being 361-21 in the Wildcats' favor, it's just payback for the Bearcats' actions in 1934.
 
Without further ado, some highlights from the 96 previous meetings:
 
November 1, 1902: McMinnville College and Willamette University meet for the first time, a 6-6 tie in McMinnville.

October 17, 1903: Willamette wins 27-0 in the first game of the series played in Salem.

November 24, 1922: Willamette wins 36-0 in McMinnville in Linfield's first season of football since 1905. It's also the Wildcats' first-ever Homecoming game.

November 7, 1925: Linfield gets its first win in the series, a 3-0 victory in Salem.

1928-1932: Linfield scores just six points in five games against Willamette; among scores of the losses were 36-0, 47-0 and 48-0.

October 20, 1934: Willamette again spoils Linfield's Homecoming with a 32-7 win. In the aftermath of the game, a Willamette student or students paint "WU" on the doors of Melrose Hall and saw off the goalposts at Maxwell Field.

Linfield President Elam Anderson suspends participation in all athletics with Willamette until the culprit or culprits of the vandalism confess. It takes over a year of negotiation before the Wildcats and Bearcats compete again.

1935: Without Willamette on the schedule, Linfield wins a share of its first Northwest Conference football championship.

November 5, 1949: Linfield beats Willamette 20-0 in McMinnville, ending a 17-game losing streak against the Bearcats dating back to 1927. Earlier in the fall, Linfield President Harry Dillin – responding to claims by his football team that it would beat WU that year – said if the Wildcats ever beat the Bearcats in football while he was still around the College, he'd stand on his head on the 50-yard line. After the game, Dillin keeps his promise.
 
1967: Willamette turns in Linfield for a financial aid discrepancy involving athlete healthcare, leading to the Northwest Conference sanctioning the Wildcats with a ban on team and individual conference championships for a year. Linfield had won four of the last six NWC football titles, four of the last seven men's basketball titles and eight of the last nine baseball titles.

November 8, 1968: Willamette beats Linfield 6-0 in Salem, earning a spot in the NAIA national playoffs and knocking Linfield out of the postseason.
 
1969 – 1982: Linfield runs off a winning streak of its own in the series, beating Willamette 14 straight times, including five shutouts.

November 5, 1983: Linfield, having already won at Pacific Lutheran and seemingly headed to the NAIA Division II playoffs to defend its national title, is upset 26-21 in Salem by a Willamette team that had lost 15 straight games over two seasons.

November 10, 1984: In the regular season finale in McMinnville, Linfield beats Willamette 55-0; late in the first half, the Wildcats call a timeout to be sure they can punch in one more touchdown to make it 49-0 at the break.

The day before, Linfield's student newspaper, The Linews, had published a prank version of the Willamette Collegian - dubbed The Cullegian - and distributed it on the WU campus.

October 12, 1985: Trailing 33-7 late in the third quarter, Linfield rallies for a 36-33 Homecoming win over Willamette.

October 18, 1997: Willamette's Liz Heaston kicks a pair of extra points, becoming the first woman to play and score in a college football game as the Bearcats beat Linfield 27-0 in Salem.

October 17, 1998: Linfield scores in the final minute to beat Willamette 20-19 in McMinnville, clinching the Wildcats' 43rd consecutive winning season. That gives Linfield the record for most consecutive winning seasons in college football at any level, surpassing the 42 of Harvard and Notre Dame in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Linfield students tear down the south goalpost in celebration.

November 1, 2014: Willamette knocks off highly favored Linfield 31-28 in McMinnville, ending the Wildcats' 36-game Northwest Conference win streak.
 
October 17, 2015: Linfield beats Willamette 49-7 in Salem, assuring that the Wildcats will have a winning season for the 60th straight autumn.
 
October 19, 2019: On Homecoming in McMinnville, Linfield beats Willamette 77-0. It is the highest score ever rung up by a team in the series and the largest margin of victory in the series.

Quote from: wildcat11 on October 18, 2025, 07:21:45 PMCongrats to Whitworth.  Played better in all 3 phases of the game today and executed their game plan.

For Linfield, the issues that have been there since day one were again there today and it exposed the 'Cats.  Can't run the ball, terrible special teams play, trouble generating pressure our of the front four, etc, etc.

The 'Cats better have a sense of urgency because there isn't a game left on the schedule I would say Linfield is going to steamroll and then get recruiting their asses off in the off season.

Urgency - or the lack thereof - strikes me as one of the big issues for the 'Cats and that lack shows up every few years. They play pretty well for a while, whether it's a season or a few games, and get to feeling that they can show up with Linfield across the front of their jerseys and that's enough to win; it then takes getting knocked around a bit to reinstall the recognition that they need to be sharp and focused in what they are doing. I wonder if the three-game win streak after UW-Oshkosh triggered a bit of that, pedestrian as those three wins may have been.

There were times Saturday I was encouraged by the offense, when it did seem to be clicking the way you'd like, but it has to be much more consistent. I was surprised to see the defense get pushed around the way it did - it had seemed to be a solid unit thus far this fall.

Here's hoping the loss to a good Whitworth team restores enough of that urgency that the 'Cats show up with a spark at Sparks on Saturday.

One thing that could help the Wildcats' offense quite a bit is consistently getting the snap to McNabb's chest instead of his facemask. A lot of plays' timing was thrown off from the start because he was having to get a handle on the football before proceeding with what the play called for - not to mention the one that bounced off his facemask while he was still positioning the running back. Agree that Spurbeck seemed a much more effective runner Saturday.

Quote from: MonroviaCat on September 09, 2025, 06:28:21 PM

Quote from: wildcat11 on September 09, 2025, 12:49:27 PM

Quote from: olddog on September 08, 2025, 12:43:29 PMNot talking any BS, LF has had UR's number ...but the O line LF put on the field Saturday looked very SCIAC...
One frosh, three sophs, and junior....What is up, where did the upper classmen go ?

Our all-nwc Center transferred to University of Idaho for his senior year (hasn't played through 2 games) and from the sound of it 3-4 other starters on the line were out vs Oshkosh.

Regardless, Linfield didn't look like Linfield.  Super young, not accurate throwing the ball, no push in the running game, gave up too much against the pass, lost a lot of experience off the staff, etc.  Looked bad, IMO.  Not ringing the alarm on the streak yet but this could be a tough year in McMinnville.

The inaccuracy of the passes was the most glaring issue. Trying to make McNabb a pocket passer might not be a great plan.  He seems more comfortable and successful when he's on the move and allowing him to run (it seems like he was told not to run in that game) will open up other aspects of the game.  Hopefully the injured guys can get healthy and the offense can improve in a big way before the Chapman game.  I think our defense played pretty well given how long they were on the field and how little rest the offense gave them.

Agree about the defense - it played well enough to keep the 'Cats in the game for quite a while.

Also agree about McNabb. The past few seasons he's brought a diversity to the offense by running the ball and I also wondered if his lack of rushes was an effort to protect him - when he briefly left the game after being banged up it was an "oh crap" moment  because every other quarterback on the roster is a true freshman. If the 'Cats can manage a few blowout wins to get those new guys some game snaps under their belt maybe they'll turn McNabb loose a bit more.

Quote from: D O.C. on November 18, 2024, 03:55:42 PMOH YEAH THE 1974 NAIA FILM FLIM FLAM GAME WHERE TLU SENT NOTHING ABOUT THEIR WISHBONE OFFENSE THAT RAN ALL OVER US AND LED TO RULES CHANGES ON FILM EXCHANGE.

Vengeance is ours!

Quote from: D O.C. on November 18, 2024, 03:55:42 PMOH YEAH THE 1974 NAIA FILM FLIM FLAM GAME WHERE TLU SENT NOTHING ABOUT THEIR WISHBONE OFFENSE THAT RAN ALL OVER US AND LED TO RULES CHANGES ON FILM EXCHANGE.

What did TLU do - send film from a previous season? And what rule changes did it bring about?

Quote from: catjumper on November 17, 2024, 09:00:02 PMOkay, someone who's been around Linfield a bit longer than I, refresh my memory. Someone involved with the 1974 playoff game at Texas Lutheran - maybe Coach Rutschman or Steve Davis - once told me there was some skullduggery involved that affected that game's 52-8 final score, something along the lines of TLU never sending game films to Linfield. Do any of you recall anything about that?

Mystery solved. A source tells me TLU sent film but the quality was so low the 'Cats weren't able to garner much benefit from it.

Okay, someone who's been around Linfield a bit longer than I, refresh my memory. Someone involved with the 1974 playoff game at Texas Lutheran - maybe Coach Rutschman or Steve Davis - once told me there was some skullduggery involved that affected that game's 52-8 final score, something along the lines of TLU never sending game films to Linfield. Do any of you recall anything about that?

Quote from: George Thompson on November 17, 2024, 05:27:18 PMLinfield gets a bye week.  Good.

George

And a home game, which I really didn't expect.

Quote from: George Thompson on October 28, 2024, 04:38:51 PM

Quote from: wildcat11 on October 28, 2024, 12:17:55 PMUPS is still UPS. Should be an interesting 3 weeks.  I feel Linfield has figured out the QB situation and is in a nice groove with it.

Agree.  Offense is playing well.  This team has good potential.

GT

One perceived difference in this year's 'Cats ties in to that "more focused" observation - without having an exact count, it at least seems like not as many irresponsible personal foul and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties as the past few seasons.

First off, wishing good health to both DOC and George Thompson. Now ...

Saturday is the annual 'Cat Fight as Linfield visits Willamette for the 96th football meeting between the two schools; as such, time for our annual review of the rivalry, currently led by the Wildcats 56-36-3:

November 1, 1902: McMinnville College and Willamette University meet for the first time, a 6-6 tie in McMinnville.

October 17, 1903: Willamette wins 27-0 in the first game of the series played in Salem.

November 24, 1922: Willamette wins 36-0 in McMinnville in Linfield's first season of football since 1905. It's also the Wildcats' first-ever Homecoming game.

November 7, 1925: Linfield gets its first win in the series, a 3-0 victory in Salem.
1928-1932: Linfield scores just six points in five games against Willamette; among scores of the losses were 36-0, 47-0 and 48-0.

October 20, 1934: Willamette again spoils Linfield's Homecoming with a 32-7 win. In the aftermath of the game, a Willamette student or students paint "WU" on the doors of Melrose Hall and saw off the goalposts at Maxwell Field.

Linfield President Elam Anderson suspends participation in all athletics with Willamette until the culprit or culprits of the vandalism confess. It takes over a year of negotiation before the Wildcats and Bearcats compete again.

1935: Without Willamette on the schedule, Linfield wins a share of its first Northwest Conference football championship.

November 5, 1949: Linfield beats Willamette 20-0 in McMinnville, ending a 17-game losing streak against the Bearcats dating back to 1927. Earlier in the fall, Linfield President Harry Dillin – responding to claims by his football team that it would beat WU that year – said if the Wildcats ever beat the Bearcats in football while he was still around the College, he'd stand on his head on the 50-yard line. After the game, Dillin keeps his promise.

1967: Willamette turns in Linfield for a financial aid discrepancy involving athlete healthcare, leading to the Northwest Conference sanctioning the Wildcats with a ban on team and individual conference championships for a year. Linfield had won four of the last six NWC football titles, four of the last seven men's basketball titles and eight of the last nine baseball titles.

November 8, 1968: Willamette beats Linfield 6-0 in Salem, earning a spot in the NAIA national playoffs and knocking Linfield out of the postseason.

1969 – 1982: Linfield runs off a winning streak of its own in the series, beating Willamette 14 straight times, including five shutouts.

November 5, 1983: Linfield, having already won at Pacific Lutheran and seemingly headed to the NAIA Division II playoffs to defend its national title, is upset 26-21 in Salem by a Willamette team that had lost 15 straight games over two seasons.

November 10, 1984: In the regular season finale in McMinnville, Linfield beats Willamette 55-0; late in the first half, the Wildcats call a timeout to be sure they can punch in one more touchdown to make it 49-0 at the break.

The day before, Linfield's student newspaper, The Linews, had published a prank version of the Willamette Collegian - dubbed The Cullegian - and distributed it on the WU campus.

October 12, 1985: Trailing 33-7 late in the third quarter, Linfield rallies for a 36-33 Homecoming win over Willamette.

October 18, 1997: Willamette's Liz Heaston kicks a pair of extra points, becoming the first woman to play and score in a college football game as the Bearcats beat Linfield 27-0 in Salem.

October 17, 1998: Linfield scores in the final minute to beat Willamette 20-19 in McMinnville, clinching the Wildcats' 43rd consecutive winning season. That gives Linfield the record for most consecutive winning seasons in college football at any level, surpassing the 42 of Harvard and Notre Dame in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Linfield students tear down the south goalpost in celebration.

November 1, 2014: Willamette knocks off highly favored Linfield 31-28 in McMinnville, ending the Wildcats' 36-game Northwest Conference win streak.

October 17, 2015: Linfield beats Willamette 49-7 in Salem, assuring that the Wildcats will have a winning season for the 60th straight autumn.

October 19, 2019: On Homecoming in McMinnville, Linfield beats Willamette 77-0. It is the highest score ever rung up by a team in the series and the largest margin of victory in the series.