The Linfield Wildcats will travel to the Midwest this week to meet the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh Titans at Titan Stadium in Oshkosh, Wis.
 
The second all-time meeting between the two programs and the first in the regular season will be a ranked matchup for both team's second game of the year.
 
Linfield jumped to No. 21 in the D3Football.com Top 25 and No. 16 in the AFCA Division III Coaches Poll this week after a 31-7 win over Denison to open the season, while UW-Oshkosh entered the D3Football.com poll at No. 17 and the Coaches Poll at No. 18 after toppling preseason No. 9 Wheaton 21-14 in Titan Stadium.
 
TICKETS
Tickets can be purchased through the UW-Oshkosh Athletics website up to midnight the day before the game or at Titan Stadium on gameday.
 
All tickets are general admission. Online tickets are discounted at $12 for adults and $8 for seniors, children ages 6 through 17 and students with their school identification.
 
Tickets purchased at the stadium on gameday are $15 for adults and $10 for discounted groups.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
The Linfield Sports Network provides livestreaming audio coverage of all road football games accessible through the Linfield Athletics website.
 
Joe Stuart is in his fourth year as Linfield's lead play-by-play announcer, while Linfield Athletics Hall of Famer Gary McGarvie is in his third season providing color commentary and analysis on the broadcast.
 
UW-Oshkosh will provide live stats and live video coverage through UWOshkoshTitans.com and the WIAC Network.
 
THE LINFIELD WILDCATS
The 'Cats got off to a fast start in their season-opening win, scoring three touchdowns in the first nine minutes of the game and eventually leading 31-0 at halftime.
 
The defense held Denison to just 209 yards of total offense while forcing three turnovers, returning two for touchdowns, while the offense totaled 326 yards with 268 coming through the air.
 
The Linfield coaching staff rotated two quarterbacks in the season opener with two-time all-Northwest Conference selection Blake Eaton, a senior, and junior Luke McNabb.
 
Eaton led Linfield's first scoring drive and eventually finished with 145 passing yards and a touchdown while McNabb added 123 passing yards and a touchdown on 9 for 12 attempts. Both will still likely factor into the offense moving forward.
 
Fifth-year senior Connor Wolfe emerged as the favorite target for both quarterbacks in week one, leading a somewhat unproven group of receivers with a career day of seven catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns.
 
Fellow fifth-year Jacob Slifka added five catches for 30 yards and looks to continue to carve out a role this week.
 
There are question marks at tailback this week due to injury to senior starter Aaron Martinez, Linfield's second most used running back in 2023, after he was forced to leave the game following his first rush of the season.
 
Sophomore Jackson Pfeifer, who led the 'Cats in yards per attempt as a rookie, also left the game towards halftime after totaling over 50 yards of total offense.
 
If neither Martinez nor Pfeifer are available this week the run game may be led by freshmen Matthew Spurbeck and Carson Mullins, who combined for 21 yards on 10 attempts following the injuries.
 
Linfield's defense excelled to start the year, holding Denison to 3.2 yards per play and just 2 for 14 on third and fourth down conversion attempts.
 
The stars shone brightly in week one as fifth-year senior and two-time All-American linebacker Blake Rybar recorded six tackles with 1.5 for loss and returned a fumble for Linfield's second touchdown, and all-region senior cornerback Chance Sparks returned an interception for a touchdown with an additional pass breakup and three tackles.
 
Sparks will look to push his interception streak against the Titans, having recorded seven in his last six games going back to last season.
 
Up front, fifth-year senior Caleb Sell and senior Conner Stevens led the way from the defensive end positions, both totaling five tackles. Sell added 1.5 sacks while Stevens had two tackles for loss and a sack.
 
Additionally, fifth-year defensive tackles Nick Severson and Alex Frazier-Dow will look to get going in Wisconsin, combining for two tackles for loss against Denison. Both were all-conference selections last year.
 
In the secondary, senior monsterback Colby Kalaukoa played well in his first game back after missing the second half of 2023 with injury. He'll look to lead the 'Cats again in Wisconsin after tying Rybar's six tackles last week.
 
THE UW-OSHKOSH TITANS
The Titans turned heads to start the season with their upset of Wheaton, a team they lost to 30-21 in 2023. Last season had solid results for UW-Oshkosh in their first year under head coach Peter Jennings. They finished 6-4 and tied for third in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
 
UW-Oshkosh was fourth in the league for both scoring and total offense and defense and placed 12-players on the 2023 All-WIAC team. Six returned this season.
 
The Titans had a strong showing in week one, leading wire-to-wire and totaling 339 yards of offense while holding Wheaton to 232 yards passing and 84 rushing.
 
The big play was present for UW-Oshkosh on both sides of the ball. The Titans forced two interceptions on defense while four different players recorded plays of 20 or more yards on offense. Both passing touchdowns went over 60 yards.
 
On offense UW-Oshkosh is led by first-year starter Quentin Keene, a junior. In his first career start Keene completed half of his 22 pass attempts for 270 yards, two touchdowns and an interception while taking four sacks.
 
Keene's provided with three main options in the pass game: all-region junior tight end Clayton Schwalbe, first team all-conference senior wideout Trae Tetzlaff and week one breakout star Jon Mathieu.
 
Mathieu was a solid contributor for the Titans last year but posted a career day against Wheaton, leading the team with four catches for 140 yards and a touchdown.
 
Tetzlaff was the top Titan receiver in 2023, finishing top five in the WIAC in receptions, yards and touchdowns. Schwalbe was an elite red zone option as a sophomore with eight touchdowns on 26 catches.
 
Sophomore running back Justice Lovelace led the week one UW-Oshkosh rushing attack to the tune of 54 yards and a touchdown in his first career start.
 
On defense inside linebackers Kyle Dietzen, all-WIAC as a sophomore in 2023, and Bryce Edwards, a senior, did most of the heavy lifting against Wheaton with 11 tackles each.
 
In the secondary junior safety Ben Wellhoefer led the way with an interception, two pass breakups and a tackle for loss.
 
The Titans had five tackles for loss in week one, recorded by five different players.
 
SERIES HISTORY
UW-Oshkosh leads the all-time series 1-0. The only previous meeting came in 2012 … the Titans won 30-24 in overtime in the NCAA Division III quarterfinals in McMinnville … against WIAC teams Linfield is 3-5 all-time, going 2-2 at home and 1-3 on the road; six of the eight games have been in the NCAA D-III playoffs …
 
HEAD COACH JOSEPH SMITH: Joseph Smith is in his 18th season as Linfield's head coach; His overall record of 156-29 (.843) is the highest winning percentage of any head coach in Wildcat football history … Smith's record includes marks of 125-17 (.880) in the regular season, 103-7 (.936) in NWC games, 85-9 (.904) at home and 20-12 (.625) in the postseason … Under Smith Linfield has won 12 NWC titles; 11 of those have been outright, most recently in 2022 … During Smith's tenure, Linfield has put together seven unbeaten regular seasons …
 
ALL-TIME: 2024 is Linfield's 109th season of football, dating back to 1896. The Wildcats' all-time record is 649-272-28 (.699) … Linfield's all-time home record is 361-93-16 (.785), including a Maxwell Field record of 341-81-11 (.800) … Linfield's all-time NWC record is 314-112-11 (.731) in 80 seasons dating back to the conference's initial formation in 1926. In all league games, it is 367-124-11 (.742), which includes games from 1985-1995 when the NWC schools were part of the Columbia Football Association … Linfield has had unbeaten, untied regular seasons 22 times; the most recent was a 9-0 record in 2022 and the first was a 1-0 record in 1900 …