Setting the Scene: Pacific Lutheran closes out its home slate and honors its 2023 seniors today, hosting ninth-ranked Linfield at Sparks Stadium.
Series History: This will be the 76th all-time meeting between the Lutes and Wildcats in a storied rivalry dating back to the 1933 season. Linfield enjoys a 48-21-4 lead in the all-time series, winning the last 22 encounters.
Last season the Wildcats defeated the Lutes 45-0 back on Oct. 22 in McMinnville, Oregon.
About the Lutes: A late rally fell just short as the Pacific Lutheran University football team saw its three game win streak snapped on Saturday night in a 35-25 setback to George Fox University in a Northwest Conference showdown at Stoffer Stadium.
"We're disappointed in the outcome but proud of the team for fighting to get back into it," said Head Coach Brant McAdams.
"We let ourselves get into a hole early and took too long to get out of it."
The host Bruins scored on their opening three drives of the game, controlling the clock and taking a 21-0 advantage into the halftime intermission.
The Lutes (4-4, 3-2 NWC) got on the board on their first drive of the second half with Cole Sargent booting a career long 35-yard field goal with 11:24 left in the third quarter.
George Fox (3-5, 2-3 NWC) answered with another touchdown drive, extending its advantage to 28-3.
Pacific Lutheran responded with a touchdown drive of its own on the next possession with Darius Chaffin hitting Marc Basa for a four-yard touchdown to cap off a 10-play, 63-yard drive.
The Bruins again answered with a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to make it a 25-point buffer.
Chaffin used his legs late in the fourth, scoring from five yards out and eight yards out to close the gap to just 10 with 4:20 left in the game. Unfortunately for the Lutes they never got the ball back as GFU chewed up the rest of the clock to snap PLU's three game win streak.
Chaffin finished 22-for-29 with 240 yards passing. Thor Stepina was his top target with six catches for 91 yards.
Defensively Mouse Williams led the team in tackles with nine, including eight solo takedowns. Kawika Bacos had seven tackles and two TFLs, including a sack while Jesse Canda had a forced fumble.
George Fox punted just one time during the game and controlled the clock, holding the ball for 11 more minutes than the Lutes.
As a team, the Lutes rank 13th nationally in third down conversions (51.9 percent) while sitting 15th nationally in punt return defense (1.25), 16th in fumbles recovered (nine), and 19th in team sacks (3.12).
Individually, Nico Golla is 14th nationally in sacks, averaging 1.0 per game and 19th in TFLs (1.8) while Jesse Canda is 14th in D3 in forced fumbles (0.38 per game). Quarterback Darius Chaffin sits 17th in D3 in completion percentage (68.8 percent) and is 27th in passing efficiency (162.6).
Chaffin has thrown for 1,765 yards this fall with 17 touchdowns, averaging 220.6 passing yards per game. The junior can do it with his legs too, leading the team with six rushing TDs while ranking second in yards with 276 this fall.
Raysen Motoyama leads the ground game with 313 yards and three TDs, averaging 4.5 yards per rush while Jacob Schuh averages 4.3 yards per carry with a TD.
Nine different Lutes have caught a touchdown pass this season. Manuel Felan has been the top target with 36 catches for 502 yards and three TDs. Thor Stepina has 25 catches for 280 yards and three scores while Marc Basa has a team-best four receiving scores.
Kalen Davis-White leads the defense with 68 tackles on the season, including 8 TFLs and 4.5 sacks. Nico Golla has a team-high 14.5 TFLs with eight sacks while Kellen Meade is a ball hawk in the secondary with three picks this fall.
About the Wildcats: Linfield (7-0, 5-0 NWC) has been crushing its opponents since beginning conference play, averaging 53.0 points per game in the five league wins.
The Wildcats hung up 70 on Willamette to ope the conference slate before posting 57 on Lewis & Clark, 41 on George Fox, 55 on Puget Sound, and 42 last weekend against Pacific.
Linfield's win over Pacific included scoring 23 points in the opening quarter en route to the 42-27 victory. The Cats had a balanced offensive attack in the win with Blake Eaton throwing for 240 yards while the ground game racked up 247 yards on the day, averaging 6.9 yards per rush.
The Wildcats and Lutes have a common non-conference opponent this year, both plating University of Redlands. The Bulldogs downed the Lutes 24-14 in the season opener in Tacoma while the Wildcats escaped southern California with a 17-10 victory two weeks later.
Signal caller Blake Eaton has thrown for 1,620 yards with 20 touchdowns and just two interceptions. Eaton's top target has been Devon Murray who has 38 catches for 508 yards and nine touchdowns while Colton Smith has 36 catches for 361 yards and four TDs.
Connor McNabb powers the ground game that averages 187.7 yards per game. McNabb has 524 yards on the season with five scores, averaging 6.6 yards per carry.
Blake Rybar has a team-best 41 tackles while Caleb Sell leads the squad with 4.5 sacks in 2023. Eight players have an interception this fall, including Chance Sparks who has three on the season along with four pass break-ups.
One Weekend. 3 Titles.
It was a historic weekend last week in Luteville as the PLU volleyball, women's soccer, and men's soccer programs all won NWC titles at home, on senior day. See all the celebrations from the weekend in the video below.
Lutetober by the Numbers
Trailblazing NIL the D3 Way: PLU Athletics continues to lead the way nationally in Name, Image, and Likeness, unveiling the Luteville Marketplace last fall through the department's partnership with Opendorse. But don't stay on the sidelines, get involved and connect with PLU student-athletes on the Luteville Marketplace: LINK
The Luteville Marketplace is the first dedicated NIL marketplace in Division III on the Opendorse platform that directly connects student-athletes with fans, supporters, and business partners in an easy to use website.
Stay connected to your favorite teams by downloading the official mobile app of the Pacific Lutheran University athletic department powered by SIDEARM Sports, available in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
Featuring real-time news alerts, schedules, exclusive multimedia content, gameday details and more, the new PLU Athletics app is free and compatible with both iOS and Android devices.
Behind the Scenes on Gameday
Next Game:
Nov. 11 at Puget Sound at 1 p.m.
PLU Non-Discrimination Policy: Pacific Lutheran University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability or age in its programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Title IX Coordinator Jennifer Childress-White; 253-535-7361; TitleIX@plu.edu