It’s been 44 years since the Pacific University football team has started a season with a 2-0 record.
The Boxers have gotten off to a hot start with victories over Adrian College and Occidental College.
Last season the Boxers were able to come away with three victories, all while on the road.
This season’s victory over the Adrian Bulldogs was no different as the Boxers won 20-10 on Sept. 6 in Adrian, Mich.
This trip was the longest in program history and the first game the Boxers have played east of the Rocky Mountains.
The Boxers got their second victory on Sept. 14 in a 67-30 win over the Occidental Tigers.
This time it was here at their own Lincoln Park Stadium.
The last time the Boxers won a game at home was the monumental victory against Puget Sound on Oct. 29, 2011.
This was the first victory since reinstatement in 2010.
“After putting in all the hard work, it felt great to finally win in front of our fans and give Pacific students a football team to be proud of,” said senior quarterback P.J. Minaya.
One of the biggest reasons the Boxers have had so much success is because of their defense.
Through the first two games, the Boxer defense has forced six turnovers.
Senior defensive back, Craig Bailey, has been one of the defensive standouts.
Bailey caught three interceptions, those interceptions led the Boxers to three offensive touchdowns.
Bailey had two picks in the first game against Occidental, as well.
He was rewarded with his hard work by being named the Northwest Conference’s Football Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week.
He was also selected to the D3Football.com Team of the Week.
Coming into the season, one of the biggest questions was about the quarterback situation. More specificly, who it would be.
Senior quarterback T.C. Campbell struggled in the first game against Adrian.
But he came firing back against Occidental to lead an offensive explosion.
In the eyes of Pacific Football Head Coach, Keith Buckley, there is no issue at the quarterback position.
“We have two guys who have proven they can exceed,” said Buckley. “We’ve got something that nobody else has and that is two, true, starting quarterbacks and as we’ve seen, we got two very successful starting quarterbacks.”
In the win over Occidental, both Minaya and Campbell combined for 384 yards in the air.
Together they scored six touchdowns, throwing three a piece.
Even though the Boxers have been on a hot streak, Buckley feels there is still room for improvement.
“It’s early in the season and we got a lot to get better at,” said Buckley.
“We’re trying to continually improve who we are and how we play. By no means are we a finished product,” he said.
“The guys have had a taste of success and want more of it. There’s a lot of work still yet to do to make that happen.”
The Boxers will travel to Atherton, Calif. and Spokane, Wash. to face off against the Menlo Oaks and the Whitworth Pirates, respectively.
The next home game will be on Oct. 12 against Puget Sound, also the homecoming game.
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