CWU FOOTBALL GAME DAY
Central Washington University Wildcats (5-3, 4-1 GNAC)
vs. Humboldt State University Lumberjacks (6-1, 4-0 GNAC)
Date: Saturday, October 23, 2010
Time: 1 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time
Site: Tomlinson Stadium (Natural Grass; 4,000 capacity), Ellensburg, Wash.
All-Time Series: Central Washington leads 16-6-1
Last Meeting: HSU 25, CWU 24 (Oct. 2, 2010 at Arcata, Calif.)
Buy Tickets: Click here or buy at the gate
Game Notes: Download
Television: None
Radio: KXLE-AM 1240 (Ellensburg)
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GAME OVERVIEW: EXPANDED
• Central Washington plays the first of three consecutive home games to close out the 2010 regular season this week against Humboldt State. The Wildcats still have half of their home schedule remaining to be played over the final four weeks, with tilts against HSU this week, Simon Fraser on Nov. 6, and Western Oregon on Nov. 13. CWU will need its recent home success (28-6 over the past seven seasons at Tomlinson Stadium) in order to earn its 33rd all-time football conference championship, as they trail Humboldt State by one-half game in the GNAC standings.
• The Wildcats are looking to get back in the series win column after having a 16-game series win streak snapped by the Lumberjacks three weeks ago. Central has a 16-6-1 all-time record against Humboldt State on the gridiron, including wins in each meeting between 1998 and the end of last season, but saw their series streak fall by the wayside with a 25-24 defeat at Arcata.
• Central has won eight consecutive home meetings with Humboldt State. The Wildcats have been dominant against the Lumberjacks inside Tomlinson Stadium since their last home defeat against HSU in 1997, with several notable scores and performances along the way. CWU has won by at least 23 points in each of Humboldt State's last five visits to Ellensburg, and only once since the 1997 season has the final score been decided by fewer than 10 points (21-16 in 2003). Over those eight meetings, Central is averaging nearly 35 points per game while allowing fewer than eight.
• This week's game is the annual Homecoming contest on the Ellensburg campus. Dating back to the first Homecoming game played at CWU in 1925, the Wildcats have a 52-27-2 all-time record on Homecoming, including wins in nine of their last 10 Homecoming games. Humboldt State is Central's Homecoming opponent for the second consecutive year and for the fourth time in the past 10 seasons.
• Central has not been swept in a multiple-game season series against an opponent since 1993. The last team to defeat the Wildcats twice in the same season was Pacific Lutheran in '93, which handed CWU its only two losses—once in the regular season and once in the NAIA Division II national quarterfinals. The last team to sweep the Wildcats during the same regular season was Eastern Washington in 1967. Notable, however, is that Central Washington did not play the same team more than one time in a regular season between 1971 and 2003.
• The Wildcats have won their last two games by shutout and have not earned three straight shutout wins since 1984. Since losing at Humboldt State three weeks ago, Central Washington has not allowed a point to its opposition, shutting out Southern Oregon 27-0 and Western Oregon 19-0. Over the course of that span, they have allowed a combined 210 yards of offense, including limiting one of the GNAC's top offenses (Western Oregon) to just 98 yards last week at the Battle in Seattle. The last time Central held three consecutive opponents scoreless was from Sept. 15-29, 1984, when they combined to outscore Eastern Oregon, Whitworth, and Lewis & Clark by a 119-0 count over three games.
• Central is 7-0 in school history in its first game following the Battle in Seattle. Of those seven post-Battle victories, five have been against Humboldt State (2003-05, 2008-09) and the other two were against Augustana (SD) during the Wildcats' days in the now-defunct North Central Conference.
• CWU has a 28-2 record in the month of October over the past seven seasons. The month of October has, by far, been the most successful for Central Washington football in its recent history. Dating back to the 2004 season, the Wildcats have won 93.3 percent of their games in the month of October. Over the same time span, Central has a 19-9 record (67.9 percent) in the month of September and a 9-5 mark (64.3 percent) in the month of November.
• The Wildcats have their lone bye week of the 2010 season next week. While many of the teams across the country and in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference did not begin their seasons until the week of September 4, Central Washington played its season opener on August 28 against Minnesota Duluth and has played every week since. However, with an odd number of teams in the GNAC, there is guaranteed to be at least one team with either an open date or a non-conference game each week of the conference schedule.
• CWU head coach
Blaine Bennett has a 7-2 all-time record against Humboldt State, including a 4-1 mark with the Wildcats. Bennett won three of four meetings against HSU while at Western Oregon, as the two schools were Columbia Football Association foes from 1997-2000. Conversely, Bennett's opposing coach, Rob Smith, has a longtime relationship facing the Wildcats, as he was head coach at Western Washington for 17 seasons before taking over the reins at Humboldt State in 2008. Smith is 9-17 all-time versus CWU.
• Central has an all-time record of 8-4 on Oct. 23, including a 13-3 win at Humboldt State six years ago. However, only three of their previous 12 games on the date have been played in Ellensburg—1931 versus Grays Harbor College, 1936 versus Lewiston State Normal School (now Lewis-Clark State), and 1982 versus Oregon Tech. This year also marks the first time that the Wildcats will play their Homecoming game on Oct. 23.
CENTRAL NOTES
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TOP-NOTCH DEFENSIVE EFFORT: Central Washington's defense has been on the top of its game over the past two weeks, allowing grand totals of 210 yards of offense and 1 net rushing yard to Southern Oregon and Western Oregon in posting consecutive shutouts. The Wildcats held the Raiders to plus-2 rushing yards two weeks ago before limiting the Wolves to minus-1 in last week's win. Through the air, those two opposing offenses completed just 24 of 57 passes (42.1 percent) for 209 yards with Central intercepting a pair of passes. Over that two-week span, Central's rankings in the NCAA Division II national statistics have climbed significantly—leaping from 55th to 15th in total defense and from 46th to 16th in run defense.
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HOW THAT DEFENSE STACKS UP: As far as rankings go, Central Washington now ranks second in the 31-team Super Region Four of the NCAA Division II in both total defense and rushing defense. The only team ahead of the Wildcats in both categories is Texas A&M-Kingsville, which currently leads the nation in rushing defense (45.8 yards per game) and is eighth in total defense. Coincidentally, TAMUK, whom CWU is currently scheduled to open the 2011 season against, is 6-1 overall and second in the Lone Star Conference's South Division standings.
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LONG SCORELESS STREAK: Central will take a shutout streak of 121 minutes, 12 seconds into this week's game against Humboldt State. In fact, it was the Lumberjacks who last scored against the Wildcats when Brian Blumberg kicked a game-winning 18-yard field goal three weeks ago in Arcata. Central's current streak without allowing a touchdown has reached 127 minutes, 3 seconds, while the Crimson and Black has not allowed an extra point in more than 2 1/2 games.
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THE SACK ATTACK IS BACK: A large factor in the Wildcats' defensive success over the past two weeks can be attributed to their pass rush and the team's ability to stop opposing offenses behind the line of scrimmage. Over those two weeks, Central has a combined 26 tackles for losses and nine quarterback sacks, including 16 TFLs and seven sacks. Leading that defensive charge in last week's game were senior
Adam Bighill (Montesano) and junior
Andrew Oney (Spanaway/Spanaway Lake HS), who combined for 9 1/2 tackles for losses, five sacks, and a fumble recovery against the Wolves. In the Southern Oregon game two weeks ago, it was the combination of Oney, senior
Eugene Germany (Pomona, Calif.) and senior linebackers Bighill,
Jared Silva-Purcell (Honolulu, Hawaii/St. Louis HS), and
Paul Wright (Martinez, Calif./De La Salle HS) that totaled 10 tackles for losses and two sacks against the Raiders.
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BIGHILL IS GNAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior LB
Adam Bighill became the third different Central Washington linebacker to earn Great Northwest Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors following the Western Oregon game. Bighill had one of the best performances of his storied Wildcat career against the Wolves on his 22nd birthday, totaling 12 tackles including five for losses with three quarterback sacks. Also earning GNAC Defensive Player of the Week honors this season have been
Paul Wright and
Jared Silva-Purcell.
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IT'S BEEN AWHILE: Sophomore kicker
Sean Davis (Federal Way/Todd Beamer HS) attempted five field goals at last week's Battle in Seattle versus Western Oregon, marking the first time since Sept. 22, 1984, that a Central Washington player had attempted five field goals in the same game. Unfortunately for Davis, he made just two of his five tries against the Wolves, including a pair of misses from inside 30 yards. The last player with that many attempts in a game was CWU Athletics Hall of Famer Craig Warmenhoven, who made three of five attempts in a 36-0 win over Whitworth 26 years ago.
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BIG NUMBERS FROM THE BIG TIGHT ENDS: The Central Washington offense has put the tight end position to better use in 2010 than in past years, as three different tight ends have been big (and productive) targets for Wildcat quarterbacks. Junior
Demetrius Guice (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic HS) has the top receiving numbers of any tight end in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, ranking 10th overall in the league in receiving yards with 268. That total is also the second-highest number for a Central pass-catcher this season, trailing only senior WR
Chris Smith (San Diego, Calif./Helix HS). In addition to Guice's prowess as a pass-receiving tight end, mid-season transfer
NaDerris Ward (Oakland, Calif./McClymonds HS) from the University of Oregon and redshirt sophomore
Griffin Squires (Chehalis/W.F. West HS) have also been formidable receiving options this season. Ward has five receptions for 67 yards in just two games played, while Squires has four catches for 58 yards while appearing in all eight games.
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GNAC INDIVIDUAL LEADERS: The duo of senior RB
Bryson Kelly (Mukilteo/Kamiak HS) and
Sean Davis rank one-two in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in scoring with 8.0 and 7.5 points per game, respectively. Kelly is third in rushing yards and all-purpose yards, but he still leads the GNAC in rushing touchdowns despite missing each of the past two weeks. Davis is tops in the league with 11 field goals made and currently ranks fifth in the NCAA Division II in field goals made per game. The only other Wildcats to currently lead the conference in a statistical category are senior DT
Eugene Germany in sacks (6 1/2) and senior LB
Adam Bighill in tackles for losses (11 1/2). Central is dominant in both categories, as Germany and DE
Andrew Oney are second and third, respectively, in tackles for losses among conference players, while Oney and Bighill are second and fourth, respectively, in sacks. Bighill and senior LB
Paul Wright are among the top five in the GNAC in total tackles.
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GNAC TEAM LEADERS: Central Washington currently leads (or is tied for the lead in) the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in 11 of 33 team statistical categories. In addition to being tops in total defense (268.6 ypg) and rush defense (87.1 ypg), the Wildcats also have the best averages for net punting (35.9 ypp) and net kickoffs (42.7 yds). Their sacks-per-game average of 2.62 leads the conference, while they also lead in the following categories: first downs per game (20.8), opponents' third-down percentage (30.2%), opponents' fourth-down percentage (40.0), time of possession average (32:43), red-zone efficiency (78.8 percent), and opponents' on-side kick percentage (0 for 1).
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NATIONAL RANKING SUCCESS: Although no longer ranked in the NCAA Division II national polls, Central has had a successful run in the national polls since becoming a NCAA member prior to the 1999 season. The Wildcats own a 41-11 all-time record (78.8 percent) when ranked among the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) top 25, including the program's first-ever number one ranking in the nation at the end of the 2009 regular season.
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TEAM CAPTAINS: Three seniors and a junior were selected as team captains for the 2010 season. Taking on the captaincy role for the Wildcats this season are seniors LB
Adam Bighill, RB
Bryson Kelly, and WR
Jamal Weems (Seattle/Cleveland HS), as well as junior DE
Tyrell Nielsen (Woodland/Woodland HS). All four were voted as team leaders for the first time in their respective careers.
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TWENTY-SEVEN WINS FOR BENNETT: While the significance of 27 wins for head coach
Blaine Bennett is minimal in the grand scheme of Central Washington's illustrious football history, the significance of that victory milestone for the coach himself is quite great. He earned his 27th win as the Wildcats' head coach in just his 33rd game in Ellensburg, and picked up that victory against his former employer, Western Oregon, whom he led to 27 wins (in 59 games) over six seasons. As far as where Bennett currently ranks among Central's all-time wins leaders, he is now sixth in school history, while his .818 winning percentage ranks second to Mike Dunbar (54-9-1, .852). Next on the coaching wins list is Jeff Zenisek, who won 35 games and a co-NAIA national championship from 1992-96.
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2010 Roster
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2010 Schedule
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2010 Statistics
