By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University junior quarterback Brian Widing (Canby, OR/Canby HS) has been chosen as the Northwest Conference Football Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week for his efforts against the University of Puget Sound on Saturday, Oct. 15. Widing helped the Bearcats defeat the Loggers, 49-31.

Widing complete his first 11 passes of the game, including 10 for 10 in the first half. He led the Bearcats to five touchdowns on seven possessions in the opening half, as Willamette built a 28-0 lead on its way to a 35-14 halftime advantage. Widing threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Jake Knecht (Jr., WR, Issaquah, WA/Skyline HS/Illinois State Univ.) for one of the first half scores.

Early in the second half, Widing drove the Bearcats 72 yards on 11 plays for another touchdown. The scoring drive included a 21-yard pass to Knecht on 4th-and-2 at the UPS 34 to set up the touchdown three plays later.

Widing finished the game 14 of 20 passing for 182 yards and one touchdown. He had one interception late in the game. He also gained 16 yards on four running plays.

So far this season, Widing has completed 52 of 100 passes (52.0%) for 675 yards and five touchdowns. In his WU career, he has connected on 59.0% of his passes (197 of 334) for 3,017 yards and 28 touchdowns.

The Bearcats are 3-3 on the season, with all three losses to teams that were nationally ranked at the time. WU also owns a 2-1 record in the Northwest Conference.

Willamette, which competes in NCAA Division III, will take on NCAA Division I opponent Portland State University (Football Championship Subdivision) on Saturday, Oct. 22 at Jeld-Wen Field in Portland, Ore. Game time is set for 5:50 p.m. (PDT). It will be one of the few games in the past decade between an NCAA Division III team and a fully-funded NCAA Division I FCS opponent.