SIMON FRASER AT LINFIELD
Saturday, 1 p.m. (PDT)
Maxwell Field, McMinnville, Oregon
 
It's been a while, but Linfield football finally returns in 2021 after the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
The Wildcats will take the field for the first time since Nov. 23, 2019, when they fell short in a 68-65 meeting at Chapman in triple overtime in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs.
 
The 'Cats will storm Maxwell Field in front of their home crowd in a head-to-head matchup with Division II Simon Fraser at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Simon Fraser, a member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and Canada's only NCAA institution, opened its season with a 68-0 loss to Division I Idaho in Moscow on Sept. 4.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Linfield and Simon Fraser have met 10 times prior to Saturday's matchup. The 'Cats took all 10 games, outscoring SFU 335-163. The most recent meeting was a 30-6 Linfield victory in Burnaby, B.C., on Sept. 24, 1994. The closest matchup was a 20-14 win by the 'Cats in 1991, also in Burnaby.
 
LINFIELD OFFENSE
A total of 20 players earned All-Northwest Conference honors for the 'Cats in 2019. Nine of those honorees return this fall, including five on the offensive side of the ball.
 
Quarterback Wyatt Smith, the 2019 NWC Offensive Player of the Year, returns for a fifth year with the program. He led the conference in 2019 with 3,531 passing yards, 353.1 passing yards per game, a 70 percent completion percentage and 43 passing touchdowns.
 
Junior center Matt Metcalf started all 10 games in 2019 and was a unanimous First Team All-NWC selection. Junior Julien Sears also returns to the offensive line after earning second-team honors in 2019.
 
Sophomore wide receiver Colton Smith was named an honorable mention and the NWC Freshman of the Year in 2019, becoming the first Wildcat to earn the award. He appeared in all 10 games, totaling 820 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns.
 
Linfield football doesn't rebuild. It just reloads. The 'Cats count on receivers Devon Murray, Joel Valadez and Chance Sparks, tight end Franco Keplinger and running back Connor McNabb to step into big roles this season. 
 
LINFIELD DEFENSE
A powerful defense has always been Linfield's ticket to success in the NWC.
 
The 'Cats return four All-NWC selections on defense in 2021. Senior defensive end Travis Swanson and junior defensive tackle Chase Lydig will carry the load in the trenches. Swanson earned First Team All-NWC honors after finishing the season with 35 tackles, 2.5 sacks and eight tackles for loss. Lydig also earned first-team honors with 36 tackles, five sacks and 13 tackles for loss.
 
Senior safety Tyler Bergeron and senior cornerback Tyler Sitton are set to anchor the defensive backs this fall. Bergeron earned first-team honors for the second straight season in 2019 after he racked up 47 tackles, two interceptions and two tackles for loss. Sitton also earned a first-team nod with 50 tackles, two interceptions and two tackles for loss.
 
The 'Cats expect defensive tackle Grayson Cosier, defensive end Vinny Niosi, linebackers Zack Kanahele-Mone and Cedric Agcoili-Ostrom and cornerback Jon Sedy to add depth to an already strong defensive lineup.
 
LINFIELD SPECIAL TEAMS
Senior kicker Andrew Starkel and senior punter Colton Ramos bring a lot of experience back to the team on special teams. Sophomores Connor Morton and Paul Thie will serve as the primary kick returner and punt returner, respectively. 
 
SIMON FRASER OFFENSE
Simon Fraser has won two games over the course of its last five seasons, most recently going 1-9 in 2019 with a 24-17 victory over Azusa Pacific on Oct. 19 in Glendora, Calif.
 
In a matchup against Linfield, however, Division II experience and the opportunity to play against a Division I opponent last week may give SFU an advantage in some areas over the 'Cats, who haven't played yet this fall.
 
Simon Fraser only managed 90 yards of total offense in 60 plays in its season-opening loss at Idaho. Sophomore quarterback Brandon Niksich threw for 77 yards on nine completions with one interception against the Vandals. Niksich was the SFU starter in 2019, completing 150 passes for 1,926 yards and 10 touchdowns.
 
The leading rusher for SFU against the Vandals was junior running back Mason Glover with 34 yards on 16 carries. Junior Paul Thomas finished the game with 17 yards on 11 carries. Glover played in nine games in 2019, finishing the season with 21 yards per game as the No. 2 running back.
 
Senior Dallas Dixon and sophomore Riley Morrison were SFU's top receivers against the Vandals with 37 and 31 receiving yards, respectively. Morrison was fifth on the team in 2019 with 12.6 receiving yards per game. Senior Ethan Beselt averaged 46.1 receiving yards per game in 2019.
 
SIMON FRASER DEFENSE
On defense, SFU is led by senior linebacker Griffin Barrett, a First Team All-GNAC selection in 2019. Barrett led the conference with 105 tackles and ranked 13^th in Division II with 10.5 tackles per game.
 
Senior defensive lineman Isaac Evans had 41 tackles and six tackles for loss in 2019 while sophomore defensive back Jerrell Cummings earned second-team honors and was named the GNAC Freshman of the Year after finishing with 30 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble.
 
Barrett led SFU with 11 tackles, six solo, in the loss to the Vandals. Cummings and junior defensive backs Brendan Lowry and Joshua Philips-Verdugo all had eight tackles in the game.
 
COACH JOE SMITH
Joseph Smith is in his 16^th year as head coach of the Linfield football program, holding an overall record of 127-26 and a conference mark of 104-14. He has led the 'Cats to nine conference titles and nine NCAA Division III playoff appearances. Smith's overall winning percentage of .830 sits atop the Linfield all-time list, and his 127 wins is second among Linfield head coaches, trailing Ad Rutschman's 182 wins over 24 seasons.
 
The 'Cats have won 10 of the last 11 conference titles. Smith earned his 10^th NWC Coach of the Year award in 2019. He holds the most Coach of the Year awards in the NWC since the award started in 1996.
 
FEED THE STREAK
Entering 2021, Linfield is riding a string of 64 consecutive winning seasons. The streak, which started in 1956, is the longest in the history of college football at any level. During that span, the 'Cats are 515-118-10 for an .809 winning percentage. The 'Cats are 280-42-4 at home during the streak.