ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The 13th-ranked Central Washington University Football Team (5-2, 5-0 LSC) will be back home in Ellensburg this weekend when they play host to the visiting UT Permian Basin Falcons (5-2, 4-1 LSC) this Saturday at 6:00 p.m. from Steve Hertling Field at Tomlinson Stadium.
 
The U.S. Marine Corps will be helping the Wildcats give away a wireless Bluetooth speaker as the Wildcat gameday sponsor on Saturday for one lucky fan.
 
GAME INFORMATION:
 
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QUOTING CWU HEAD FOOTBALL COACH SCOTT POWER:
 
"They've had a good start to their year. In league play they're 4-1. They have played strong defense, have forced a bunch of turnovers I think they lead the country in interceptions. Offensively, they have a balanced attack. They have an effective run game and a good receiving corps that have help from a bunch of senior offensive lineman. They went on the road a couple of weeks ago and beat a ranked Northeastern State team which was a big quality win for them. Last week, the Western Oregon game I don't think anyone was surprised, not in a bad way, I think most around the league think that Western Oregon is a better team than their 0-4 record going into last week, and so we knew it was probably only a matter of time before they got somebody.
 
UTPB has postseason experience and championship experience, so they know what it looks like and they know what it takes to win in big games. They know what it takes to win championship games. They know what it takes to win tight ball games. There's a lot of experience on this roster and they've done a good job of bringing in talent. On their offense alone there's close to 20 transfers that have come in. It's a place that I know from side conversations that they've always done a good job of always being hungry and hot on the recruiting trail. They've been pretty aggressive in the portal and pretty aggressive in the transfer market, I'd say this years group is no different and it will be a big test for us."
 
LAST WEEK:
 
The Wildcats opened the scoring with a big defensive stop, but Texas A&M-Kingsville struck first with a 32-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead. CWU responded with a 38-yard touchdown run by Ryder Bumgarner, who found the end zone again from one yard out later in the first quarter to give the 'Cats a 14-3 advantage. The Javelinas opened the second quarter with a 5-yard touchdown run, but Antoine Lee answered with a 6-yard scoring run to extend CWU's lead to 21-10. After a fumble on the ensuing kickoff gave the Wildcats possession at the Javelina 18-yard line, Bumgarner scored on the very next play. He added another touchdown from three yards out later in the quarter, helping CWU build a 35-13 lead before Texas A&M-Kingsville scored just before halftime to make it 35-20. The Javelinas opened the second half with an 80-yard touchdown pass, but Bumgarner responded with a 4-yard scoring run. Justin Brennan then connected with Isaac Torres for a 26-yard touchdown to put CWU ahead 49-34. Texas A&M-Kingsville fought back in the fourth quarter, scoring a touchdown and a two-point conversion before tying the game at 49-49 on a 40-yard touchdown run by Levi Fontenot. CWU responded with a lengthy drive, and David Weber drilled a 32-yard field goal with 1:48 remaining and Isaiah Paul intercepted TAMUK on the first play after the field goal to secure the 52-49 win for the 'Cats.

Brennan completed 19 of 27 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown without throwing an interception. The Wildcats' offense was powered by its ground game, which produced 325 yards and six touchdowns on 52 carries. Bumgarner led the way with 165 rushing yards tied a CWU school record with five touchdowns on 27 carries to earn LSC Offensive Player of the Week honors. Lee added 110 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, averaging 8.5 yards per attempt. Through the air, Mason Juergens led the Wildcats with nine receptions for 60 yards. Torres hauled in four passes for 51 yards and a touchdown, including a 26-yard scoring catch in the third quarter.

Defensively, Kam Watkins-Hunter and Omar Lazcano led CWU with six tackles apiece. Watkins-Hunter also recorded two pass breakups, while Lazcano added half a tackle for loss. Brady Phillips finished with five tackles, and King Williams and Joseph Jefferson II each recorded four tackles. Hudson Hardy added four tackles and a tackle for loss, while Chris Hauss made a major impact with four tackles, a sack for 21 yards, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a pass breakup. Brycen Indell and Isaiah Paul each intercepted a pass. Connor Goff also recovered a fumble after a kickoff return.

On special teams, Weber converted all seven extra-point attempts and connected on his only field goal attempt of the game, a 32-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter. He also punted three times for 114 yards with one placed inside the 20-yard line. Weber handled all nine CWU kickoffs with five touchbacks. Featherstone returned six kickoffs for 141 yards while Bumgarner added two kickoff returns for 85 yards, including a long of 76 yards. Juergens returned one punt for eight yards.
 
SCOUTING THE FALCONS:
 
The Falcons new coaching staff has started their UTPB tenure with a bang, off to a 5-2 start with a 4-1 LSC record. UTPB began their season with a 44-0 setback at NCAA Division I UTRGV but bounced back with three-straight victories to begin LSC play. They first took down Western New Mexico 69-14 at home before defeating Sul Ross State and Eastern New Mexico on the road by scores of 66-7 and 56-10. They rounded out their nonconference schedule with a 38-27 victory over then 21st-ranked Northeastern State on the road before earning another conference victory, defeating West Texas A&M on the road 24-17. Last week they suffered their first conference defeat, falling to Western Oregon at home by a score of 38-19.
 
UTPB is currently outscoring their opponents by a 38.86 to 22.43 margin. The Falcons are getting outgained by their opponents in the air by a tight 258.57 to 255.14 margin per game. The ground game for the Falcons has been outgaining their opponents by a 143.7 to 126.6 margin per game.
 
The Falcons are converting on 30.59 percent of their 3rd down attempts while they've been allowing their opponents to convert on 3rd down at a 34.58 percent clip. The Falcons are 7 of 15 on their 4th down tries while their opponents have converted on 9 of their 22 4th down attempts. Opponents have been holding onto the ball longer than the Falcons by a 30:52 to 28:33 margin. Opponents have averaged more penalties than the Falcons with UTPB accumulating 73.43 penalty yards per game while opponents have averaged 82.29 penalty yards per game.
 
Quarterback Nate TenBarge has had a strong start to his season completing 107 of his 197 passes for 1,398 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. He's added 153 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground. Cheno Navarrette and Camden Tyler are leading the ground game for UTPB with Navarrette accumulating 249 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns while Tyler has added 237 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Solomon James and Khalil Eichelberger have both contributed three touchdowns as well. Traylen Suel and Tre Brown lead the receiving corps with Suel racking up 390 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns while Brown has added 359 yards and 2 touchdowns. JT Seagreaves has also added 150 receiving yards and 3 more touchdowns.
 
McKyle So'oto leads the Falcon defense with 50 tackles, adding 4 tackles for loss, a sack, 2 interceptions, a pass breakup, a quarterback hurry, and 2 forced fumbles. Nicholas Elko leads UTPB with 7 tackles for loss for a total of 43 yards including 6 sacks for 40 yards. Layne Horak and Nicholas Butler each have 3 interceptions to lead a Falcon defense that has forced 16 interceptions already this season. Elijah Robinson, Jaden Welch, and Butler lead the defense with 6 pass breakups. Eli Leiataua and Isaiah Mathews lead UTPB with 8 and 7 quarterback hurries respectfully. 7 different Falcons have recovered a fumble while Elko and So'oto each have forced 2 fumbles. Elko has 2 blocked kicks while Malotumau Fano and Joey Lealao have ached blocked 1.
 
Matthew Sebade has 27 punts for a total of 1,129 yards with 10 landing inside the opponents 20-yard line. Diego Chavarria has been successful on 7 of his 9 field goal attempts with his longest coming from 42-yards out. Chavarria has been the primary kickoff kicker, kicking off 33 times for a total of 1,847 yards. Heston Kelly has 9 punt returns for a total of 60 yards. Micai Thompson has 2 kick returns for 118 yards and a touchdown while Kelly has added 3 kick returns for 56 yards.
 
UP NEXT:
 
The Wildcats will head back on the road for a spooky matchup against a team with another new coaching staff in the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds (0-7, 0-5 GNAC). The 'Cats and 'Hounds clash on Halloween at 1:00 p.m. from Al Whitehead Field at Steve Loy Family Foundation Stadium in Portales, N.M.