1-- In mid-March 2020 Simon Fraser University (SFU) Athletics said Linfielder Thomas Ford stepped down as SFU head football coach to take a “coaching role at an FBS Power 5, NCAA Division 1 program.” Later, it was revealed that Coach Ford is in charge of football quality control for the Pac-10’s University of Washington Huskies in Seattle. (SFU, an NCAA DII member, is in Burnaby, B.C., Canada.)
2-- On April 20, 2020, Catdomealumni Football/Ryan Carlson tweeted “Tough news as Rowan has informed Linfield they will not travel to Oregon in September over concerns of Covid-19.” That game was to have been played Sept. 12 in McMinnville. (Rowan University is in New Jersey.)
3-- On May 5, 2020, Catdomealumni Football tweeted that Linfield had found an opponent to succeed Rowan: SFU. Game between Wildcats and Clan will be played in Burnaby on Sept. 12, 2020. (The two teams will also play Sept. 11, 2021, in McMinnville.)
4-- Linfield Football record book shows that Linfield and SFU have played 10 times, with Linfield winning all. First time the teams played was 1985. Last time was 1991 in Burnaby. Story about the 1991 game:
LINFIELD GOOD ENOUGH LONG ENOUGH TO TRIP SIMON FRASER
Oregonian, Oct. 13, 1991
Linfield played just well enough just long enough to beat Simon Fraser 20-14 Saturday in a Columbia Football Association non-league game at Burnaby, British Columbia.
The Wildcats' defense pitched a shutout for 51 minutes and then withstood the Clansmen's late flurry. Simon Fraser pulled within six points on a 20-yard touchdown pass with 54 seconds to go, but Linfield ran out the clock after Ritchie Martin recovered an onside kick.
``Our offense didn't play as well as it has been playing, and we probably played too conservative,'' Linfield coach Ad Rutschman said.
Linfield, ranked sixth in NAIA Division II, improved to 3-1 on the sunny day. Simon Fraser slipped to 2-3.
``We were very frustrated in the first half, made some adjustments that got us moving but couldn't overcome our mistakes,'' Simon Fraser coach Chris Beaton said.
The Wildcats came into the game determined to stop junior Dino Bucciol, who fired four touchdown passes against them in last year's 35-27 Linfield win.
Bucciol hardly had a chance Saturday. He was rushed in waves, and his receivers were smothered. Bucciol completed only 12 of 32 for 119 yards and had three interceptions.
The key series was a Linfield goal-line stand at the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth quarter. Simon Fraser failed to reduce its 17-0 deficit despite having a first-and-goal situation from the 4-yard line. The Wildcats stopped runs on second-and-1 and third-and-1. In a bit of desperation, the Clansmen tried a rollout pass on fourth down, but the receiver was dropped at the 5.
Defensive tackle Pat Richards made the hardest hit of the stand, slamming into running back Bruce Reid in the backfield for a 1-yard loss on third down.
``Their offensive line took some wide splits, which made it look like they were going to run outside,'' Richards said. ``I just shot through. No one touched me.''
Linfield, which has a 7-0 all-time record against Simon Fraser, settled for a 33-yard Kunle Thomas field goal early in the second quarter when one drive stalled. A few minutes later, Simon Fraser blocked a 38-yard try by Thomas.
The Linfield offense was sputtering so much that Rutschman took out starting quarterback Slade Crooks in the second quarter. On came Shannon Sells, who had started the last two games but was nursing a sore shoulder.
The only play that consistently worked for Linfield was the power run by fullback Shaun Aguano. His 23-yard burst behind a wedge set up Linfield's first touchdown, on a 6-yard run by Aguano. Aguano finished with a game-high 96 yards rushing on 16 carries.
Simon Fraser's top back, Rick Walters, sat on the sidelines until the score reached 17-0 late in the third quarter. Walters, suffering from a bruised leg, immediately sparked the Clan attack. He scored Simon Fraser's first touchdown on a 6-yard blast with 9:13 left in the game.
Linfield made it 20-7 with 2:36 left on a 37-yard Thomas field goal. The score came after an interception by end Todd Shirley at the Clan 30.
Bucciol finally hit a couple of big passes, however, to give Simon Fraser a chance. On fourth-and-10, he connected with Rod Farquharson for 27 yards to the Linfield 20. Then, on third-and-10, he found Walters behind the secondary for a too-little, too-late touchdown.
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