Game of the Week - Thursday

Humboldt State (1-0) vs. Central Washington (0-1)
CBS Sports Network

So many storylines. A budding rivalry. Chance of a shift in conference superiority. Round one of two games this year. Game one on national TV.

It wasn't too long ago when Central Washington would have this game won by the end of the half. Times have certainly changed. That's not to say that Central Washington is getting worse. On the contrary, but what HSU head coach Rob Smith and crew have done in his three-plus years at the helm in Arcata is certainly noticeable within the GNAC and with a national TV audience watching from afar, the nation might see what many in the GNAC have been talking about for a while.

Humboldt State has a couple of obvious advantages. The Lumberjacks have the pleasure of playing at home in front of what is hoped to be a sold out Redwood Bowl. The Lumberjacks also have the good momentum-building feelings of a 29-3 win last week over Colorado Mesa, while CWU is licking its wounds from a 21-10 defeat at home and a short week (which includes a 16-hour bus trip) to get over it.

First things first, in order for the Wildcats to be a threat the offense will have to produce. Quarterback Ryan Robertson didn't have a completion until a few minutes into the SECOND quarter. When the team did get rolling it was derailed by an unforced fumble in the first half and a game-clinching (for Texas A&M-Kingsville) interception in the second half. The team totaled less than 70 yards on the ground and less than 160 yards in the air. That doesn-t set a team up to win a lot of games.

Defensively, CWU gave up way too many yards on the ground to an admittedly athletic Kingsville team, but rush defense was what the Wildcats have been known for.

They'll be put to the test again this week, however Humboldt possesses a very solid quarterback in Mike Proulx (Kingsville went with a two-quarterback system) and an absolute stud running back in Lyndon Rowells. The good thing for CWU's defense is the fact that they know HSU so well, the bad thing for CWU's defense is they know how effective the HSU offense can be.

Proulx has his choice of multiple receivers and all of those receivers have experience in the system. Patrick Gondkoff had the look of a beast with 158 yards against Mesa last week. Chris Bolt is such a threat at so many levels.

It's difficult to see how good Humboldt's defense is this year as Colorado Mesa looks to be a middle-of-the-road team in the RMAC. However, the 'Jacks certainly didn't play down to their opponent at all, not allowing a touchdown and yielding just three CMU drives that totaled more than 30 yards.

It is difficult to expect CWU's defense to shut down both the HSU running and aerial attacks, but it certainly can have success in limiting the weapons. However, to keep the pressure off the defense CWU's offense is going to have to improve significantly from its performance last week.

Humboldt can't waste its biggest home game in years. Right now, on paper, the Lumberjacks have more offensive weapons than CWU, but also counter that with a solid defense.

It's too early to say if the winds of change are upon the GNAC as the teams play once more this season, but Humboldt takes a big step toward the title that eluded the squad last year with a 24-16 victory.

Saturday's games

Simon Fraser (1-0) vs. Western Oregon (0-1)

Both teams experience two totally different story lines last weekend. Simon Fraser opened its second season in the NCAA with a strong showing against a Pacific team still in its infancy of football, but The Clan will still take the win. A few thousand miles away, Western Oregon went into one of the most intimidating places (15,000 fans at Lubbers Stadium) to battle one of the most intimidating teams (Grand Valley State) and came back with a few lessons learned.

Western Oregon is going to pose some matchup problems for SFU that Pacific didn't do. Simon Fraser is nothing like Grand Valley.
Offensively, Simon Fraser will challenge people with either Gabriel Ephard or Bo Palmer on the ground. Palmer tallied 181 yards against Pacific last weekend. However, The Clan is very limited offensively, as proven with just 52 yards in the air against a second-year Division III team.

The same can be said about SFU's defense, as it was pretty solid in limiting Pacific on the ground (40 yards) but yielded more than 340 in the air.

WOU quarterback Evan Mozzochi should really take advantage of that glaring statistic. What the Wolves showed last weekend was its ability to share the possessions between six different receivers.

The Wolves certainly will need to take the road trip seriously against a league opponent, but they're certainly tested already with their week one battle in Michigan. WOU showcases its depth and ability to bounce back from a tough one on the chin with a win over SFU, 31-13.

Dixie State (0-1) vs. Colorado Mesa (0-1)

Yet another game for Dixie with a team from the RMAC before the GNAC round robin schedule takes over.
Dixie lost to an Adams State team picked to finish fifth in the RMAC, which happens to be one spot ahead of where Colorado Mesa is picked.

Mesa lost last week to a superior Humboldt State squad that did well offensively and completely shut the Mavericks down defensively.

Dixie State's two scores didn't come via clock-eating drives. In fact the first touchdown was a 100-yard kickoff return by Cache Morgan. The second score originated from an Adams State fumble deep in the Griz's own territory. One play later, DSC quarterback Cody Stevenson found Zack Fox for the seven-yard score.

But the fact remains that even though Adams (and this week's opponent, Mesa) isn't a dominant program, DSC could only muster 111 yards of total offense (nine of which came on the ground). The Red Storm only had one drive total more than 40 yards (it ended in an interception).

Mesa will get a second crack at a GNAC team and come out with the win, 27-10.

Jon Guddat covers the GNAC for D2football.com