The Linfield football team hits the road for a short trip down to Salem on Saturday to take on Willamette at McCulloch Stadium.
 
The Wildcats remain unbeaten at 7-0 overall and 5-0 in Northwest Conference play while the Bearcats sit in a tie for seventh place at 1-7 overall with a 0-5 conference mark. Linfield holds on tight to its No. 7 ranking in the latest D3football.com Top 25 and its No. 6 spot in the America Football Coaches Association (AFCA) poll.
 
The game kicks off at 1 p.m. Willamette will provide a live video broadcast stream as well as live stats. Linfield will provide a live audio stream broadcast on the Linfield Sports Network with commentary from Joe Stuart and Dave Hansen. The LSN's coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. with the Farnham Electric Pregame Show. Links to both broadcast streams and live stats are available above.
 
ADMISSION
All fans will be admitted free of charge. Willamette asks fans to then dedicate the money they would have spent on tickets toward supporting the Marion Polk Food Share and/or dropping off canned food items.
 
THE WILDCAT OFFENSE
Linfield leads the Northwest Conference in scoring offense with 49.6 points per game. The Wildcats have the top passing offense in the NWC, racking up 310.6 passing yards per game and leading the conference with 479 yards of total offense per game. The Wildcats are second to Pacific with 168.4 rushing yards per game.
 
Senior Wyatt Smith continues to prove that he is the top quarterback in the NWC. He sits atop the conference rankings with 174 completions on 254 attempts for a 68.5 completion percentage and 24 touchdowns. He averages 294.4 passing yards per game and has been intercepted just twice. Smith has also rushed for four touchdowns.
 
Leading the running game for Linfield are sophomore running backs Connor McNabb and Connor Morton. McNabb is averaging 5.6 yards per play and 65.1 yards per game on the ground with six rushing touchdowns, ranking tied for third in the NWC. Morton has five rushing touchdowns on the season and ranks eighth with 51 rushing yards per game. McNabb and Morton both have two touchdown catches.
 
Smith has an army of targets at his disposal. Sophomore wide receiver Devon Murray has caught 35 passes for 406 yards and a NWC-leading seven touchdowns. Joel Valadez leads the Wildcats with 60.86 receiving yards per game to go with five touchdowns. Colton Smith also has five touchdowns to his name while senior tight end Sam Paris is averaging 21.50 receiving yards per game.
 
THE BEARCAT OFFENSE
Willamette averages 18.3 points and 238.5 yards of total offense per game, 66.4 on the ground and 172.1 through the air.
 
Senior quarterback Aidan Kuykendall has completed 114 passes for 1,068 yards and 10 touchdowns with nine interceptions. He has also rushed for 85 yards and a touchdown. Kuykendall's 52.5 completion percentage ranks seventh in the Northwest Conference.
 
The ground attack is led by freshman running back Joseph Castillo, who has rushed for 39.8 yards per game with three touchdowns. His yards per game ranks 10^th in the NWC while Dylan Sparks is 18^th with 17.1 yards per game.
 
Leading the receiving corps is freshman Noah Niblett, who has caught 35 passes for 41.5 yards per game and four touchdowns. Senior Max Andersen and sophomore Jared Paredes have three touchdown catches apiece. Andersen is ranked No. 12 behind Niblett with 40.3 receiving yards per game.
 
THE WILDCAT DEFENSE
While the Linfield offense is as efficient as it gets, the Wildcats' defense is just as impressive. The Wildcats allow their opponents just 11.6 points per game, leading the Northwest Conference. They also lead the NWC with 30 sacks and have allowed opposing offenses to convert on just 15 of 98 (15.3 percent) third downs.
 
Senior defensive end Travis Swanson will be in the running for NWC Defensive Player of the Year. He enters the week with a team-leading 32 tackles, 20 solo, with two pass breakups and three quarterback hurries. Swanson leads the NWC with 18 tackles for loss and 10 sacks.
 
On the opposite side of the line, junior defensive end Vinny Niosi has 17 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss on the season, including three sacks, four pass breakups and a forced fumble. Junior tackle Chase Lydig has 13 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss while freshman Nick Severson has 3.5 sacks.
 
Freshman linebacker Blake Rybar was named the NWC Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week and was one of three linebackers selected to the D3football.com Team of the Week after his performance last week against George Fox. He led the Linfield defense with 11 tackles, nine solo, with 4.5 tackles for loss, a sack and a QB hurry. All marks were season highs.
 
Freshman rover Caiden Biege-Wetherbee has registered 25 tackles, 16 solo, with 3.5 tackles for loss, an interception and four pass breakups while senior linebacker Cedric Agcoili-Ostrom has 14 tackles.
 
With senior safety Tyler Bergeron out with an injury, the secondary will rely on senior cornerback Tyler Sitton and sophomore monsterback Ben Baxter, who lead the team with two interceptions apiece. Baxter has tallied 28 tackles, 18 solo, while Sitton has 23. Senior cornerback Jon Sedy also has an interception, which he returned for a pick-six in the season opener against Division II Simon Fraser. 
 
THE BEARCAT DEFENSE
Willamette ranks tied for fourth in the Northwest Conference with 18 sacks for a loss of 128 yards. The Bearcats have allowed their opponents an average of 42.38 points and 381 yards of total offense per game.
 
Linebackers, sophomore Dylan Hall and senior Christian Tovar, lead the team in tackles with 49 and 43, respectively. Hall's 49 tackles are the third-most in the NWC this season.
 
Seniors Keaton Adams and Dom Torres have anchored the defensive line this season. Adams has 42 tackles on the season, 25 solo. He ranks second to Swanson with nine sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss. Torres has 35 tackles, 22 solo, with six tackles for loss, four sacks and a forced fumble.
 
Senior Dylan Streett is the top threat to the Wildcats in the Bearcat secondary. He leads the defensive backs with 38 tackles, 22 solo, to go with an interception and a pass breakup. The Bearcats will also rely on senior Albert Ramon Jr., who has 34 tackles on the season.
 
WYATT IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Wyatt Smith's pass completion percentage of 68.5 sits in third place all-time in program history. Smith's 69.6 completion percentage in 2019 ranks second while Brett Elliott (2004-05), the Wildcats' co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, still holds the record at 69.9 percent.
 
Smith is first all-time in Linfield history with 1,070 pass attempts, 713 completions and 8,981 passing yards. He is second to Elliott with a 66.6 percent career completion percentage and third with 92 passing touchdowns. He needs five more passing touchdowns to come into a tie with Sam Riddle (2013-16) at 97. Elliott holds the record at 110 passing touchdowns.
 
THE SERIES
Linfield and Willamette have met on the gridiron 92 times. The Wildcats lead the series with a 53-36-3 record. The Wildcats are 23-25-1 in Salem but have won the last five matchups, three by shutout. Linfield toppled Willamette, 59-0, in McMinnville in 2018 before completing a 77-0 rout of the Bearcats in 2019, also in McMinnville.
 
WILLAMETTE COVID-19 PROTOCOLS
Everyone ages 12 and older will be required to provide proof of being fully vaccinated to enter McCulloch Stadium. A photo of your card is acceptable, but all information must be visible in the photo. A person is considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19 at least two weeks after receipt of the second dose in a two-dose series (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) or at least two weeks after receipt of the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Masks must be worn by spectators over the age of 5 unless actively eating or drinking. The full Willamette University spectator policy and COVID-19 protocols can be found above.