The Linfield University football team (No. 5 on AFCA, No. 9 on d3football.com) is poised to clinch its 67th consecutive winning season during Saturday’s 2023 Homecoming Weekend game against rival George Fox University.
The stakes are high: George Fox is Linfield’s nearest competitor in the Northwest Conference, located just 14 miles away in Newberg. The rivalry between the two schools stretches back to Oct. 31, 1896, when Linfield (then known as McMinnville College) played its first-ever football game against George Fox, then known as Pacific College. Both current head coaches — Joseph Smith of Linfield and Chris Casey of George Fox — are Linfield alums who played under legendary coach Ad Rutschman.
The Wildcats are the winningest football team in college history and The Streak, as it’s called, is a major point of pride at Linfield. Since The Streak began in 1956, the Wildcats are 539-120-10 for a winning percentage of .813. Linfield’s conference record over that time is 273-33-5 (.886). The second-longest winning streak is decades behind the Linfield mark, held by University of Mount Union (Ohio), at 44 years.
Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. at Maxwell Field and Memorial Stadium on the McMinnville campus. Tickets range from $5-$35 and may be purchased on GoLinfieldWildcats.com.
STATS:
THE STREAK:
- With one more win in 2023, Linfield would extend the longest string of winning seasons in college football history at any level; The Streak began in 1956 and reached 66 consecutive seasons in 2022
- The Wildcats extended The Streak last year by beating Pacific 42-21 in the fifth game of the season
- During the streak, Linfield is 550-120-10 for a winning percentage of .813.
- Linfield’s record at home during the streak is 292-43-4 (.867), and at Maxwell Field it is 289-43-4 (.866)
- Linfield’s Northwest Conference record during the streak is 274-33-5 (.886).
- In all league games, it is 326-45-5 (.874), which includes games from 1985-1995 when the NWC schools were part of the Columbia Football Association.
THE SERIES:
- Linfield’s series vs. George Fox dates back to the first game of Linfield’s football history, played in Newberg on October 31, 1896, with George Fox winning 54-0. Linfield was then known as McMinnville College and George Fox as Pacific College
- Linfield leads the all-time series 15-4; the Wildcats are 9-3 against the Bruins in McMinnville and 6-1 in Newberg
- Linfield has won the last 15 games in the series, including 2022’s 37-10 win in Newberg
- The last game in McMinnville was in 2021, a 38-7 Linfield victory
- George Fox’s last win in the series was in 1898, a 6-0 victory in McMinnville; the Bruins’ last win in Newberg was in 1896 by a 54-0 score in that first-ever Linfield game
- The series resumed on a yearly basis in 2014; prior to that, the teams hadn’t met since 1942, a 50-0 Linfield win in Newberg; before that game, the last meeting had been in 1926, a 52-0 Linfield win in McMinnville
- Linfield’s widest margin of victory was 59-0 in 2014 in McMinnville, while George Fox’s widest margin was 56-0 in a second meeting in 1896, in McMinnville. Linfield’s widest margin in Newberg was 50-0 in 1942, while George Fox’s widest margin in Newberg was that 54-0 win in the first meeting of 1896
- Of the 19 previous meetings, only 7 games have seen both teams score. Linfield has posted 8 shutouts and George Fox 4.
HOMECOMING:
- In Homecoming games, Linfield has an all-time record of 70-20-3.
- This is the first time Linfield has played George Fox in the Wildcats’ Homecoming game.
- Homecoming began at Linfield in 1922, the first season football returned to the school after a 16-year absence; it became an annual event in 1927, including a 1928 “Reunion” game in Portland
- After beating Redlands 21-3 in 2022, the Wildcats’ most recent football season, Linfield has won 25 straight Homecoming games, the longest streak of Homecoming wins in school history.
- The last defeat was a 20-13 loss to Eastern Oregon in 1996
