The 20th class to enter the Pacific Lutheran University Athletic
Hall of Fame will be its biggest - by any measure - as four
national championship football teams will be inducted at a dinner
scheduled for Friday, Oct. 2, in Olson Auditorium.
The 1980 Lutes won the school's first-ever national title, the
first of three National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
(NAIA) Division II football crowns. The other two titles came in
1987 and 1993. The 1999 PLU football team won the school's only
NCAA Division III championship.
There were several common denominators on those title teams -
longtime PLU football head coach Frosty Westering; Scott Westering,
Frosty's son, who played on the 1980 title team before serving as
offensive coordinator; and Paul Hoseth, the defensive coordinator
for the first three title winners and PLU's athletic director in
1999.
1980
After falling short in a sub-freezing national semifinal the
year before, the Lutes entered the 1980 season at the top of the
NAIA Division II national rankings. Led by the "Great Scott" duo of
senior All-Americans, safety Scott Kessler and tight end Scott
Westering, the Lutes fell two points short of a perfect season and
"settled" for an 11-1 record and the first national championship in
PLU athletic history.
The Lutes left little doubt about their claim to the top spot in
NAIA Division II, outscoring their three postseason opponents by a
105-30 margin. In the championship game against Wilmington (Ohio)
at Tacoma's Lincoln Bowl, PLU scored 21 unanswered points in six
minutes and led 31-3 at halftime. With the 38-10 victory in hand,
head coach Frosty Westering was able to give every member of his
team a chance to play in the championship game.
The "Great Scotts" became the first pair of Lutes to earn first
team All-American honors. Fellow seniors and co-captains Guy
Ellison (running back) and John Bley (offensive line) earned second
team honors, as did junior linebacker Scott McKay. For the season,
the Lutes outscored their opponents 397-132, and shut out four
teams on their way to the championship.
1987
After years of preaching the "Double Win
Philosophy," Frosty Westering's 1987 team experienced it in a
whole new way when it tied Wisconsin-Stevens Point 16-16 for the
NAIA Division II national championship. Frosty's "Double Win
Philosophy" teaches that playing to one's potential is equally
important to victory on the scoreboard, and that there are no
losers when everyone plays to his potential.
"What a tremendous game," Westering said at the time. "We
knew there was no overtime. A tie was a win."
Although the final score revealed a co-championship and the NAIA
record books show a shared title, Wisconsin-Stevens Point vacated
its share on May 7, 1988, after it was discovered that the team had
played two ineligible players throughout the season. With the final
tie changed to a win, the 1987 championship capped an 11-1-1 season
for EMAL football.
Senior linebacker Keith Krassin led the Lutes with 116 tackles
and earned the Columbia Football League Northern Division's
Defensive MVP as well as NAIA first team All-America honors.
Defensive end Jon Kral and defensive back Craig Mathiasen earned
second team selections, while offensive lineman Sam Kurle and place
kicker Eric Cultum were named to the honorable mention offensive
squad.
1993
The 1993 PLU football team finished with a 12-0-1 record and won
the school's third NAIA Division II national championship.
The Lutes opened the season ranked No. 5 in the NAIA Division II
Top 25 National Poll and squared off against No. 2-ranked Linfield
College in the Tacoma Dome. The only blemish on what was an
otherwise perfect season came that night, when the Lutes and
Wildcats battled to a 20-20 standoff.
PLU rolled to an 8-0-1 regular season record and a Mt. Rainier
League crown. Once in the playoffs, the Lutes were virtually
unstoppable. A title-game showdown with Westminster (Penn.) at
Portland's Civic Stadium was never in doubt, as record-setting
All-America quarterback Marc Weekly passed for 441 yards and four
touchdowns to carry PLU to an easy 50-20 victory.
The Lutes' "Big Play" offense was led by Weekly,
talented all-purpose back Chad Barnett and sure-handed tight end
Gavin Stanley. An experienced offensive line was anchored by center
Brian Flattum and guard Jeff Douglass. The 1993 team still holds
school records for total points (573), average points per game
(44.1), total offensive yards (6,105), yards per game (469.6),
total passing yards (3,829) and passing yards per game (294.5).
Head coach Frosty Westering earned NAIA and league Coach of the
Year honors and Weekly was picked as the league's Offensive Player
of the Year.
1999
The 1999 Pacific Lutheran football team accomplished a first in
NCAA football, winning five playoff games on the road to garner the
Division III national championship. The Lutes finished the season
with 13 wins - a school record for victories in a season
- against just one defeat.
After finishing the regular season with an 8-1 record, the Lutes
earned an at-large berth in the national playoffs, where they faced
Willamette in a playoff-opening rematch. The Lutes scored three
touchdowns late in the final quarter for a 28-24 victory, and they
were on their way to playoff airplane and bus trips that totaled
about 16,000 miles during the five weeks of the postseason.
PLU proved victorious against unbeaten Wartburg (Iowa), Saint
John's (Minn.) and Trinity (Texas). In the national title game
against Rowan (N.J.) the Lutes raced out to a 27-7 halftime lead on
the way to a 42-13 victory.
Fullback Anthony Hicks established school records with 1,633
rushing yards, 27 touchdowns and 164 total points, and he also set
a NCAA playoff mark with 11 touchdowns. Quarterback Chad Johnson
averaged more than 200 passing yards per game and finished the
season with 22 touchdown passes.
Head coach Frosty Westering earned Division III Coach of the
Year honors from the American Football Coaches Association.
- PLU -
