TACOMA, Wash. - The Pacific Lutheran football team takes on Northwest Conference rival Willamette University on Saturday at Sparks Stadium at 12:30 p.m. in the Lutes' annual Military Appreciation Game. The Lutes march into Military Appreciation weekend looking for redemption after falling 55-13 to 19th-ranked Whitworth University last Saturday in Spokane.
This Saturday's game will be the annual Military Appreciation Game for the Lutes. One Lute who knows the military life is sophomore ROTC cadet and football student-athlete,
Liam Nabors. Nabors father served for nine years and was in the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University. Nabors decided to follow in those footsteps joining the PLU ROTC program.
This past summer Nabors spent four weeks at Fort Knox in Kentucky getting an idea of what basic training will be like.
"You get acclimated to what the Army is actually like, it gives you general concepts of drill and ceremony and things like that."
Juggling football, school and ROTC is sometimes a challenge.
"Some days are tough, I don't ever question why I'm doing it, but some days I just have to put my nose down and keep grinding through. It's a great opportunity to learn and grow, and it's not always work, I do have fun too."
This work ethic translates nicely between the football field, classroom and ROTC training.
"ROTC comes first (before football) because that will be my future. This year I want to learn as much as I can to prepare for the leadership opportunities that present themselves junior and senior year," said Nabors.
With freshman year under his belt Nabors is settling into the swing of college life and his abundance of extracurriculars.
"I have worked on time management, and staying on top of classes to balance school, football, and ROTC."
In the limited free time Nabors has he spends it with teammates or sleeping in and relaxing.
The Lutes' are ready for battle this weekend at home and next weekend on the road again to Oregon with a face off against Linfield College.
Socktober: The PLU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is collecting socks at all home events throughout the month of October. Donated socks will be sent to the Tacoma Rescue Mission in time for the holidays.
Oct. 20: PLU vs. Willamette at Sparks Stadium (12:30 p.m.)
Series History: The Lutes and Bearcats have met 48 times since the series began during the 1966 season with PLU holding a 29-17-2 edge in the all-time series. The Lutes have won the last two meetings, including a 27-14 victory last season on Oct. 21 in Salem.
About the Bearcats: Willamette (1-4, 0-3 NWC) heads to Puyallup searching for its first win of the conference slate. The Bearcats downed Occidental College 25-6 in their non-conference finale back on Sept. 15 but have since dropped contests to Lewis & Clark College (39-21), Linfield College (59-0), and George Fox University (28-6).
Last week's game against George Fox saw the Bearcats trailing by just eight until the Bruins pulled away with two touchdowns in the final eight minutes to secure the win.
