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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Nothing ordinary about this

Whitworth College coach John Tully is hoping his Pirates approach this afternoon’s Northwest Conference showdown against Linfield as just another football game.

But it’s probably not going to happen.

Not with unbeaten Linfield (3-0 overall, 1-0 in the NWC) coming in as the defending NCAA Division III national champion and ranked No. 1 in country. Certainly not with the Pirates (2-1, 0-0) having lost 13 straight to the Wildcats of McMinnville, Ore.

“Obviously, you try to focus on just one game at a time,” Whitworth senior defensive tackle Austin Richard said earlier this week. “But I know since the summer that a lot of us guys who stayed here to work out have been talking about this game.”

And why not?

The opportunity to test yourself against the best rarely presents itself. Linfield, with a super-charged offense led by record-setting quarterback Brett Elliott, is the best that D-III football has to offer.

“They’re well-coached, they have some very, very talented players, and they have a great history of success,” Tully said of the Wildcats, whose streak of 49 consecutive winning seasons in the all-time best at any collegiate level.

“They advanced all the way in the playoffs last year, which gave all those kids five extra games, and they have a lot of returning players with a lot of experience.”

The best of those is Elliott, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound senior who transferred in last fall from Utah, where he had been starting ahead of last year’s No. 1 NFL draft pick Alex Smith, prior to suffering a broken wrist in early September 2003.

During Linfield’s march to last year’s national championship, Elliott posted nearly unfathomable numbers, throwing for a school-record 4,595 yards and 61 touchdowns – the most in a single season by a college quarterback.

In addition, he was named a first-team All-American by Football Gazette and the American Football Coaches Association.

“He’s a very gifted player with a very strong arm,” Tully said of Elliott, who has completed 70 percent of his passes for 954 yards and 14 touchdowns this year.

“He has to be a good player if he started at Utah.”

In last year’s 48-37 win over the Pirates in McMinnville, Elliott torched the Bucs for 486 passing yards and five touchdowns. But Whitworth managed to stay close thanks to the 502 yards of total offense produced by quarterback Joel Clark, who threw for 366 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 136 yards.

The Pirates are hoping their offense can keep them hanging around for four quarters in today’s matchup, as well.

“There’s no doubt in my mind about what our offense can do against them,” Richard said. “Really, what beat us last year was just the big plays, and that’s what we’ve really worked on this week. We’re going to force them to beat us underneath, and I think that will really help keep us in the ballgame and give our offense a chance to put up points.”

Clark is looking forward to the challenge, but insists that Linfield’s defense remains vastly underrated.

“They’ve got a great offense, but their defense is the best in the league, too,” he said of the Wildcats, who have outscored their first three opponents 136-27.

“We still think we have a chance to put up big numbers, but their defense is obviously overshadowed by their offense.”

In last week’s 24-14 loss at Eastern Oregon, the Whitworth outgained the Mountaineers 451-324, with Clark, a junior, throwing for 276 yards and two TDs.

“Joel Clark is a very difficult quarterback to defend,” said Linfield coach Jay Locey. “He’s more active and hard to bring down. If he can buy time in the pocket, he can find receivers downfield, but we’re going to try and minimize those opportunities.”