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Central Washington University Athletics

Football

CWU Football Game Day: Outright Conference Title on the Line as Wildcats Host Wolves

CWU FOOTBALL GAME DAY

Central Washington University Wildcats (7-3, 6-1 GNAC)
vs. Western Oregon University Wolves (7-3, 5-2 GNAC)
Date: Saturday, November 13, 2010
Time: Noon Pacific Standard Time
Site: Tomlinson Stadium (Natural Grass; 4,000 capacity), Ellensburg, Wash.
All-Time Series: Central Washington leads 28-16
Last Meeting: CWU 19, WOU 0 (Oct. 16, 2010 at Seattle, Wash.)
Buy Tickets: Click here or buy at the gate
Game Notes: Download
Television: None
Radio: KXLE-AM 1240 (Ellensburg)
Live Stats: Click here
Live Audio: Click here
Video Stream: Click here

GAME OVERVIEW: EXPANDED
• Central Washington closes out the 2010 regular season against Western Oregon. The Wildcats are hoping that this week's game won't be their 2010 finale overall, with postseason aspirations still alive, but they must improve upon their number eight regional ranking from earlier this week. Central must climb to at least sixth in the final regional poll in order to secure their fourth straight Division II playoff berth—meaning they must defeat WOU and get some help from elsewhere in the Super Regional Four. Immediately in front of the Wildcats in the poll are Missouri Western State in sixth and Midwestern State (Texas) in seventh.

• The Wildcats can clinch the 2010 Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship outright with a win over the Wolves. Central Washington enters the final week of the regular season with a one-game lead over both Western Oregon and Humboldt State, therefore already having clinched at least a tie for the GNAC title this season. Already with their 33rd all-time football conference championship in place, the Wildcats are looking to win their sixth outright GNAC title in the eight-year history of the conference.

• Central has won the last 13 meetings with Western Oregon, dating back to the 2001 season. The Wildcats' last loss to the Wolves was a 14-2 defeat in Monmouth on Oct. 20, 2001, and the last home loss to WOU was three years earlier—a 40-39 loss on Oct. 24, 1998. Overall, CWU leads the all-time series by a 28-16 count and is 13-7 versus Western Oregon at home.

• The Wildcats are looking to finish with one or fewer home losses for the 18th time in the past 25 years, including the 10th time in the last 12 years. Since 1986, Central has had two losses in a home season just seven times, and the Wildcats enter this week's game with a 4-1 home record this year. Central's last two-loss home record was in 2006, and prior to that was 2001.

• This week's game is the latest regular-season home finale on the calendar for the Wildcats since the 1999 season. As far as all regular-season games are concerned, Central last played on or after November 13 during the 2003 season, when they visited UC Davis in that season's finale on Nov. 15.

• Twenty CWU seniors will play their final collegiate home game inside Tomlinson Stadium on Saturday. With seniors ranging from one to four seasons with the Wildcat football program, these 20 student-athletes will be recognized prior to the game against Western Oregon for their contributions to the CWU program over the course of their careers. The most notable seniors playing their final home game on Saturday are LB Adam Bighill (Montesano/Montesano HS), a four-year starter who ranks among the all-time leaders in numerous defensive statistical categories, RB Bryson Kelly (Mukilteo/Kamiak HS), who is the second-leading rusher in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and a career 1,000-yard rusher, and DL Eugene Germany (Pomona, Calif./Pomona HS), the current league leader in sacks and a player who may be on the radar screen of professional scouts. Twelve of Central's seniors will have played just one season for the Crimson and Black.

• CWU has a 10-5 record in the month of November over the past seven seasons. The Wildcats' 66.7 percent winning percentage in the month during that span is actually its lowest of the three major months of the gridiron season (September through November), with a pair of playoff losses included among the five November defeats since 2004. Central's strongest month has been October, with a 29-2 record in that month over the past seven seasons.

• The Wildcats can lock up their fifth eight-win season in the past six years with a victory on Saturday. Central won a school-record 12 games last season and had 10-win campaigns in both 2007 and 2008. The only season with fewer than eight wins since 2005 was a 6-5 campaign in 2006—the Wildcats' first season in the now-defunct North Central Conference and the final coaching season in Ellensburg for John Zamberlin.

• CWU head coach Blaine Bennett is 5-0 against Western Oregon, whom he coached for six years from 1995-2000. Bennett is 1-0 against the Wolves in Ellensburg, 2-0 in Monmouth, and 2-0 in Seattle since taking over the Wildcat program prior to the 2008 season. His counterpart, Arne Ferguson, is winless in five previous meetings against his former boss and is 0-8 all-time against Central Washington.

• Central has an all-time record of 3-5 on Nov. 13, and the Wildcats are winless in two previous meetings with Western Oregon on the date. The last CWU game on Nov. 13 was 11 years ago, when they defeated Simon Fraser at home, and the Wildcats' last loss on the date was in 1982. Central's largest loss in the head-to-head series with Western Oregon was a 47-7 decision 39 years ago Saturday (1971 in Monmouth).

CENTRAL NOTES
• SOLID DEFENSE LEADING THE WAY: Central Washington's defense continues to lead the way as the Wildcats enter the final game of the 2010 regular season. The Wildcats lead the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in total defense, run defense, and pass efficiency defense, and their seven takeaways last Saturday against Simon Fraser upped their team total to 23 takeaways on the season. Over their current four-game winning streak, Central has allowed just 25 total points and a miniscule average of 159.3 yards of total offense per game.

• HOW THE DEFENSE STACKS UP IN THE REGION: Within the NCAA Division II Super Region Four, which features 31 championship-eligible teams (and 33 teams overall), Central continues to rank second behind Texas A&M-Kingsville in both run defense and total defense. The Wildcats continue to improve upon their numbers, lowering their run defense to 77.70 yards per game (seventh-best in NCAA Division II overall) and their total defensive numbers now sit at 257.60 yards per game to tie for 12th nationally.

• ROBERTSON, LANGLOW EARN GNAC PLAYER OF WEEK HONORS: Sophomore QB Ryan Robertson (Sammamish/Eastlake HS) and redshirt freshman S Stan Langlow (University Place/Curtis HS) both earned Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors following the win over Simon Fraser. Robertson completed 12 of 16 passes for 211 yards and one touchdown en route to the best single-game quarterback rating of his career (206.40). Langlow, meanwhile, became the first CWU player in 40 years to intercept three passes in the same game as the Wildcat defense picked off SFU quarterback Greg Bowcott six times in last Saturday's 34-7 win.

• NOW THAT'S EFFICIENCY: While Ryan Robertson's 211-yard passing effort was just his fourth 200-yard passing game of the season, it was undoubtedly his most efficient contest of the 2010 campaign. In fact, Central's 17 total pass attempts (16 by Robertson, 1 by sophomore David Weisner (Walla Walla/Walla Walla HS) in relief) were the fewest by a Wildcat team since Oct. 30, 2004, when CWU attempted just 17 passes in a win over Western Washington. In that game against the Vikings, however, quarterback Brian Baugh completed just seven of his attempts for 110 yards. The last time the Wildcats had 200 or more passing yards with 17 or fewer pass attempts was Oct. 31, 1992, when the Jon Kitna-led Central squad had 275 passing yards on just 8 of 15 in a 66-7 win over Whitworth.

• LANGLOW RANKS HIGH AMONG DIVISION II LEADERS: Thanks to a monstrous defensive performance last weekend against Simon Fraser, Stan Langlow has vaulted up the NCAA Division II national leaderboard in interceptions. Now with seven INTs on the season, Langlow currently ranks fourth in Division II in interceptions per game and is the Great Northwest Athletic Conference leader in the category. He became the 12th player in school history with seven or more interceptions in a season, and the first since J.R. Jamerson had seven in 2005.

• WELCOME BACK, BRYSON: Senior Bryson Kelly (Mukilteo/Kamiak HS) returned to the lineup last week against Simon Fraser after missing the previous month due to injury. His response was a 110-yard rushing effort (on just 16 carries) with two touchdowns against the Clan, marking the third time this season (and the first time at home) that he had run for 100 or more yards in the same game. Kelly's rushing total actually kept him right at his season average of 109.4 yards per game, which enters this week's finale as the second-best average in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference—just one-half yard behind Lyndon Rowells of Humboldt State (109.9 ypg).

• DAVIS CLOSING IN ON NATIONAL FIELD GOAL LEAD: Although his accuracy rate has gone down slightly over the past few games, sophomore Sean Davis (Federal Way/Todd Beamer HS) is closing in on the NCAA Division II national lead in field goals per game. Davis made two more field goals last week against Simon Fraser and has multiple field goals in six of eight games played this season. His current average of 1.88 field goals per game is just .02 shy of the Division II lead, which is currently held at 1.90 per game by both Dan Fisher of Bloomsburg (Pa.) and Gareth Rowlands of Tusculum (Tenn.). Davis' 15 made field goals this season (in 23 attempts) are five shy of former teammate Garrett Rolsma's school record of 20, set in 13 games last season.

• ACADEMIC ALL-STARS: Three Central Washington players were named to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Academic All-Conference Team earlier this week. Senior LB Adam Bighill, sophomore C Joey Tivnan (Centralia/Centralia HS), and sophomore QB Ryan Robertson all earned the distinction by owning cumulative grade-point averages of 3.20 or better in at least their second season of competition at CWU. Bighill has a 3.67 GPA in exercise science—the highest GPA of any senior student-athlete in the conference—and also added CoSIDA/ESPN Academic All-District VIII College Division Team honors for the second straight season. Tivnan has a 3.56 GPA as a math teaching major, while Robertson is undeclared with a 3.28 GPA. The Wildcats' three academic all-conference team selections were their fewest since 2001, due in part to the large number of transfers and redshirt freshmen on the roster this season (who are not eligible for selection to the team). The CoSIDA/ESPN team to which Bighill was named was selected by sports information directors at all classifications (NCAA Division I, II, III, and NAIA) within the West region (District VIII).

• GNAC TEAM LEADERS: Central Washington's team statistical leads in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference are exclusively in defensive and special teams categories. In addition to their commanding leads in rushing defense and total defense, which rank among the best in the NCAA Division II, the Wildcats are also tops in the conference in net punting (37.3 average), kickoff coverage (43.3 net average), quarterback sacks (23), first downs (20.5 per game), fewest opponent first downs (15.4 per game), lowest opponents' fourth-down percentage (33.3 percent), and time of possession (33 minutes, 5 seconds per game).

• GNAC INDIVIDUAL LEADERS: RB Bryson Kelly and K Sean Davis are the top two scorers in the conference in points per game with 8.6 and 7.9 points per game. Kelly is tied for the conference lead in rushing touchdowns with 10, matching Lyndon Rowells of Humboldt State, who has played in three more games ... QB Ryan Robertson has the top passing average in the GNAC at 190.4 yards per game, and his 62.7 percent completions is also tops in the conference ... In the special teams department, Davis remains the top kick scorer, while junior Dominique Gaisie (West Covina, Calif./Bishop Amat HS) is tops in punt return attempts (31) and kick return attempts (19). However, Gaisie is second in punt return average and fourth in kick return average ... The Wildcats' defensive leaders among the GNAC statistics include Stan Langlow in interceptions (7), DT Eugene Germany (Pomona, Calif./Pomona HS) in sacks (6.5), and Adam Bighill in tackles for losses (14.5). Bighill also became the school's all-time leader in TFLs during last week's game.

• NATIONAL RANKING SUCCESS: Although no longer ranked in the NCAA Division II top 25—the Wildcats are 30th this week—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.

• 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.



• 2010 Roster
• 2010 Schedule
• 2010 Statistics









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