As is the standard on the Maxwell Field gridiron year in and year out, excellence is once again expected out of the Linfield football program in 2023.
 
After going 11-1 and running the league table on their way to their 12th Northwest Conference title in the last 13 seasons in 2022, the Wildcats have been selected to repeat as NWC champions in the league's preseason coach's poll and sit at No. 7 in the D3Football.com Top-25.
 
The preseason hype comes as no surprise to those around the program as Linfield returns 16 starters on offense and defense and 13 All-NWC selections under eighteenth year head coach Joseph Smith.
 
After sitting out "week one" while much of the rest of the D-III football world began its season last weekend, the 'Cats will open their campaign this Saturday, Sept. 9, at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, in the first ever meeting between the two programs.
 
THE OFFENSE
The Linfield offense has become known around the country for its gaudy numbers in recent seasons under offensive coordinator Brett Elliott. In 2022 it led the NWC in nearly every meaningful offensive stat category.
 
The Wildcats had the fourth-highest scoring offense in the country last year with 44.7 points per game while finishing in the top 35 in total and passing offense.
 
Linfield boasted 435.5 yards of total offense per game, with 277.27 coming through the air and 158.3 through the rushing attack, averaging a blistering 6.2 yards per play.
 
Junior quarterback Blake Eaton will lead the charge once again for Linfield after earning the starting job going into 2022.
 
The Central Point, Oregon, product looks to build on a successful sophomore year in which he was named First team All-NWC and Third team All-Region 6 by D3Football.com.
 
Eaton led the NWC with 2,712 passing yards and 34 touchdowns with a 71.3 percent completion rate, the most accurate season by a Linfield quarterback ever except for Wyatt Smith in 2021 by one one-thousandth of a decimal.
 
Eaton's numbers as a sophomore put him in the top 10 nationally in completion percentage and completions per game, as well as in the top 20 in passing touchdowns and passing yards.
 
He also showed the ability to make plays with his feet, gaining 138 yards and scoring four touchdowns on the ground.
 
Eaton will be joined in the backfield by the familiar presence of fifth-year senior and two-time first team all-league selection Connor McNabb at tailback.
 
McNabb gained 716 rushing yards last year on 130 attempts to average 69.7 rushing yards per game while also catching 16 passes for 208 yards to bring his all-purpose yards per game contribution to over 90 yards on average. He also scored nine touchdowns, with eight coming on the ground.
 
McNabb's numbers were good enough to finish second in the NWC in total rushing and rushing yards per game while finishing third in touchdowns.
 
Heading into his fifth season, McNabb is already among the top 20 in program history in career rushing and all-purpose yards both total and average as well as in rushing and all-purpose touchdowns.
 
McNabb will be backed up in the running back stable by plenty of experience with seniors Aaron Martinez and Tyler Larson. Martinez and Larson combined for over 400 rushing yards and four touchdowns off the bench last year.
 
The Wildcats' weapons also include top-end experience at wide receiver with the return of fifth-year seniors Colton Smith and Devon Murray.
 
Smith turned in his third consecutive First team All-NWC season last year, finishing top five in the conference with 58 catches 678 yards and eight touchdowns.
 
The NWC Freshman of the Year back in 2019, Smith heads into his fifth-year season ranking sixth in program history in receiving yards, fifth in receptions and fourth in receiving touchdowns with 29 in 33 career games played.
 
The 6-foot-3 Murray looks to nab First team All-NWC for the third consecutive season after finishing second in the league for the second straight year in receiving touchdowns with 12 to complement 49 receptions for 495 yards.
 
His 23 career touchdowns are not far behind Smith for sixth all time in program history.
 
Senior Connor Wolfe is expected join Murray and Smith as the third starting wideout. Wolfe caught seven passes for 78 yards and a touchdown as a reserve last season.
 
Fifth-year senior Paul Thie, senior Jacob Slifka and junior Caleb Woodcock are expected to earn reps at receiver as well.
 
A pair of two more fifth-year veterans lead the tight ends with the dynamic Franco Keplinger and Isaac Hoidal, both providing the abilities to block or catch at a moment's notice.
 
Keplinger earned First team All-NWC honors last season, bringing in 14 catches for 121 yards and a touchdown, while Hoidal contributed 21 receptions for 216 yards and a touchdown.
 
The biggest questions for the Linfield offense lie up front, where Linfield graduated four offensive linemen with starting experience including two All-Americans in Matt Metcalf and Julien Sears.
 
But the Wildcats are expected to reload, led by a pair of 2022 all-conference selections on the left side with senior Bailey Lee at left guard and fifth-year Diego Rodriguez at left tackle.
 
The pair will be joined in the starting lineup by sophomore Austin Leykam at center, senior Ethan Hoppe at right guard, and junior Alex Hankins at right tackle.
 
THE DEFENSE
Longtime defensive coordinator Jackson Vaughan put together another immovable object in 2022, leading the NWC and finishing top 20 in the country in both total defense and scoring defense, allowing just 13.45 points and 246.5 yards per game.
 
The Wildcats also led Division-III in sacks per game at 3.91, posted the second-best third-down conversion percentage at .229, and held opposing rushing attacks to just 56.6 yards per game, seventh in D-III.
 
Like the offense, the defense graduated significant contributors along the line of scrimmage and need players stepping into larger roles to deliver.
 
Yet still, talent and experience leads the defensive line with a trio of seniors, highlighted by two-time first team all-league tackle Nick Severson, joined at tackle by Alex Frazier-Dow and at defensive end by Caleb Sell.
 
Severson has already totaled 58 tackles with 13.5 for loss and 10 sacks in his career, while Frazier-Dow and Sell both made impacts last year, combining for 7.5 tackles for loss and four sacks in 2022.
 
Sophomore Grady Kentch and junior Connor Stevens will compete for time at the opposite defensive end spot while junior Kalama Kerr, sophomore Matua Whalen and freshman Conner Dasmann will likely appear in the d-line rotation as well.
 
A familiar "linebacker corps" may be the strength of the Wildcat defense this season, anchored by senior Blake Rybar, fresh off an NWC Defensive Player of the Year season as a junior in which he was also named a D3Football.com Third Team All-American.
 
Last season Rybar racked up 67 tackles including 48 solo, tied for second in the conference, with 13 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.
 
Joining Rybar at starting linebacker is senior and 2022 first team all-league recipient Caiden Biege-Wetherbee. Biege-Wetherbee makes the move from rover, where he trailed only Rybar for second on the team in tackles with 51 to go with a team-leading eight passes defended, two for interceptions.
 
Senior Logan Carr and sophomore Blaze Holani are sure to have presences from the linebacker spot as well. Carr was fourth on the team in tackles as a junior with 43 while Holani exploded onto the scene with seven tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks as just a freshman.
 
Rover is likely to feature both sophomore Johnny Miller and senior Cutter Hillock. Hillock was a fixture in the Linfield secondary last year before suffering a season-ending injury seven games in.
 
Miller, meanwhile, found a way to make an early impact as a freshman, appearing in eight games while recording 12 solo tackles, including two sacks, and forcing two turnovers.
 
Experience fills the rest of the defensive backfield for Linfield after learning opportunities abounded for young players in 2022.

Fifth-year senior Ben Baxter leads the group at safety, looking to return to his 2021 First team All-NWC form after injuries limited him to an Honorable Mention nod last year, when he still managed play in all 11 games and force three turnovers.
 
Colby Kalaukoa is the man at monster after a second-team all-conference sophomore season. Kaluakoa tied Carr with 43 tackles last year, pulled down two interceptions and broke up four more passes.
 
Junior Jett Searle and fifth-year senior Adin Wolf will likely spell Baxter and Kaluakoa at the safety and monster positions.
 
At cornerback, a group that saw repeated injuries last year is ready to gel.
 
Junior Chance Sparks, an honorable mention all-conference standout as a sophomore, will team up with graduate senior Justin Pfau, senior Evan Fisette and sophomore transfer Kenyon Johnson.
 
The 'Cats will be imposing at the corners, with all four listed on Linfield's depth chart at at least 6'2".
 
Sparks, Fisette and Pfau combined for 14 passes defended in 2022, Sparks leading the team with two interceptions and six pass breakups.
 
THE COACH
Joseph Smith has spent over 25 years invested involved in Linfield football as a player and coach and has led the program as head coach since 2006. His 148-28 record holds the second-most wins in program history only to College Football Hall of Famer Ad Rutschman, who Smith played for in the late-80s and early-90s.
 
Smith holds the tenth-most wins of any active Division-III coach, and his 84.1 win percentage is fourth among active coaches and eighth all-time, as well as the highest held by any coach in Linfield history.
 
He has coached Linfield to a 99-6 record against Northwest Conference opponents, 13 NWC championships and 13 NCAA playoff appearances including two trips to the national semi-final and four more to the quarter-final.
 
Smith has been named NWC Coach of the Year 12 times, including in 2022.
 
THE SEASON-OPENER
The Wildcats will travel 2,490 miles to kick off their season this Saturday at 4:00 PST at Piper Stadium to visit the Denison Big Red of the North Coast Athletic Conference.
 
Denison is already 1-0 this year after opening the season last week with a 45-35 win against Capital University. Big Red went 8-2 last season with a 6-2 mark in NCAC play, finishing second to conference champ DePauw.
 
Last year was the ninth straight winning season for Denison under fourteenth year head coach Jack Hatem.
 
Hatem has collected an impressive 79-43 record with Big Red and coached them to back-to-back NCAC championships in 2018 and '19, earning their first NCAA playoff appearance in 33 years in 2018.
 
The Denison quarterback is senior Jimmy Stines, in his first year as the Big Red starter. Stines impressed in his debut, completing 18 of 27 passes for 386 yards and four touchdowns as well as running nine times for 51 yards.
 
But the biggest standout on the Big Red offense is likely senior running back Trey Fabrocini, a D3Football.com All-Region selection in 2022 and a two-time First Team All-NCAC recipient.
 
Fabrocini is coming off a monster junior year, rushing for 1,303 yards and 20 touchdowns, a program record. Averaging 130.3 yards per game he was Division-III's eighth-leading rusher last year, and finished fourth in rushing touchdowns and fifth in total points scored.
 
He opened his senior season right where he left off last year, rushing for 153 yards and two touchdowns on 20 attempts against Capital.
 
Junior Billy Guzzo and sophomore Cade Nowik seem to be ready to claim the top receiver roles for Denison after week one.
 
Guzzo, who was second on the team in yards and touchdowns in 2022 while averaging 26.83 yards per catch, exploded for 168 yards and two touchdowns on just three catches against Capital.
 
Nowik, meanwhile, brought in a team-best four catches for 111 yards and a touchdown last week after catching just one pass as a freshman.
 
The Denison defense in led by fifth year senior Clay Denstorff, an All-Region and First team All-NCAC selection at defensive end. He racked up 16.5 tackles for loss last season, second in the conference, while leading the league in sacks with 7.
 
Denstorff already had three tackles for loss and a sack to his name this year after the win against Capital.
 
Nose tackle Collin Hill could also provide trouble up front, coming off being named to the D3Football.com Team of the Week for recording four tackles and two quarterback hurries.
 
At linebacker both senior Jeff Moore and junior Nathan Hallenbeck were Second team All-NCAC last year, while senior cornerback Roshaune Downie highlights the secondary.
 
Downie is coming off a top-rate season, with All-Region and First team All-NCAC honors to show it.
 
Downie totaled 31 tackles, and led the NCAC in passes defended with a whopping 22. He had four interceptions to lead the league while his 18 breakups were second in D-III.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
The Linfield Sports Network will provide live coverage of all Linfield football games all season long, with livestream video broadcasts of all home games and live audio coverage of all road contests.
 
The homecoming game on Oct. 14 vs George Fox will also be simultaneously broadcast on Portland's CW through a partnership with Linfield Athletics and KOIN/KRCW.
 
For this Saturday's game and all games home and away this year, Wildcat fans will hear play-by-play commentary from Joe Stuart, heading into his third season as the voice of Wildcat Football, and color and analysis from former All-American Wildcat running back Gary McGarvie, joining Stuart in the booth for a second season by tuning into GoLinfieldWildcats.com/watch.
 
Live streaming video of Saturday's game will be provided by the Denison Sports Network at NorthCoastNetwork.com/Denison.
 
SEASON OPENERS
After winning at Huntingdon 41-34 to start 2022, in season-openers Linfield has an all-time record of 65-38-4 (.626); that includes a home record of 35-11-2 (.750) and a road record of 30-27-2 (.525) … Linfield has won its last three season-openers and 10 of its last 11 … Linfield's longest streak of season-opening wins was 11 from 1995-2005 … Linfield's longest losing streak in season-openers was seven, from 1937-46 (no teams were fielded from 1943-45 due to World War II) … Linfield's widest margin of victory in a season-opener was 61 points, coming in 1966's 61-0 home win over Whitworth; the Wildcats' widest margin of defeat in a season-opener was 54 points in the school's first-ever football game, a 54-0 loss at Pacific College (now George Fox) in 1896 … Linfield's highest score in a season-opener was 71 points in a 71-21 win at Hardin-Simmons in 2013; on the flip side, the Wildcats have been shut out 20 times in season-openers, most recently in 1960 in a 33-0 loss at Humboldt State … the most points the Wildcats have allowed in a season-opener was that 54 to Pacific College (now George Fox) in the 54-0 loss in 1896, while Linfield has posted 18 shutouts in season-openers, most recently in 1999's 48-0 home win over Redlands.
 
THE STREAK
In 2022, Linfield had its 66th consecutive winning season; that streak that began in 1956 is the longest string of winning seasons in college football history at any level. The Wildcats' extended The Streak last year by beating Pacific 42-21 in the fifth game of the season … During the streak, Linfield is 536-120-10 for a winning percentage of .812. Linfield's record at home during the streak is 291-43-4 (.867), and at Maxwell Field it is 288-43-4 (.866) … Linfield's Northwest Conference record during the streak is 272-33-5 (.885). In all league games, it is 324-45-5 (.873), which includes games from 1985-1995 when the NWC schools were part of the Columbia Football Association.
 
ALL-TIME
2023 is Linfield's 107th season of football, dating back to 1896. The Wildcats' all-time record is 641-271-28 (.697) … Linfield's all-time home record is 357-92-16 (.785), including a Maxwell Field record of 337-80-11 (.800/) … Linfield's all-time NWC record is 308-111-11 (.729) in 79 seasons dating back to the conference's initial formation in 1926. In all league games, it is 359-123-11 (.739), which includes games from 1985-1995 when the NWC schools were part of the Columbia Football Association … 2022 saw Linfield put together an unbeaten, untied regular season for the 21st time in school history; the most recent had been a 9-0 record in 2021 and the first was a 1-0 record in 1900.