Special teams.

I'm sure that's what many coaches, players and fans are thinking about for Central Washington. One missed PAT, one missed two-point PAT, 1 blocked field goal, 1 fumbled snap on a field goal that resulted in an immediate Humboldt State touchdown late in the first half. It's easy to tally a few of those and compare it to Thursday's two-point loss.

Humboldt State took advantage of those miscues and took a huge step toward its first GNAC title. Sure, that was game one of a two-game series with CWU and yes, the Lumberjacks need to beat Western Oregon, Dixie State and Simon Fraser still, but it can't be denied the significance of this game.

Even when Lyndon Rowells wasn't at his best (two fumbled possessions in the second half) and go-to receiver Patrick Gondkoff was hurt in the first quarter, the 'Jacks still found a way to thwart each CWU attempt at a comeback in the second half. Actually, saying Rowells wasn't at his best is a bit unfair, since the back had 111 yards and three touchdowns, but his two fumbles on consecutive drives resulted in 10 points for Central in the fourth quarter. That causes a coach to bite a few nails.

For Central Washington, as inconsistent as the entire offense was against Texas A&M-Kingsville last week, it showed big-time improvement, especially in the aerial attack. Ryan Robertson wasn't mistake free, but certainly was more aggressive than the previous week, throwing for 315 yards (on 27-for-39 passing, 69%) and two touchdowns with no interceptions. His counterpart Mike Proulx (21-for-33, 64%, 289 yards, 1 touch) looked pretty distraught on the sideline when his only interception was returned 22 yards into HSU territory by Stan Langlow. At that point there was less than four minutes on the clock, CWU had a one-point lead and the momentum it seemed.

However, the Wildcats netted two yards in three plays and stalled big time. Humboldt didn't stall when they regained possession at the 2:14 mark. Proulx connected with Dirk Dallas twice for a total of 35 yards and Rowells rushed three times for 23 yards. Humboldt was in fast-forward mode and Central was literally on its heels. After trying to position themselves for a better look at a field goal, Brian Blumberg made a field goal as the clock ticked down to zero, living every dream every kid who has played football has dreamed.

It's difficult for Wildcat fans to see this, however, Anthony Spain was a force. He tallied 11 catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns, including a 30-yard catch down the sideline where he had to dive a few yards, hitting that turf hard, but still coming up with the catch. What that should signal to the Wildcat contingent is this junior can play and will create big plays.

It may also be difficult for the team to admit just two games into the season, but the highly-regarded Wildcat defense isn't as dominant as it has been in the past two years, although defensive lineman Mike Reno and defensive back Genesis Fonoimoana are the real deal. You play as a team, but those two shone brightly.

As far as entertainment value, this is how TV execs want a national televised game to end. And give Humboldt State credit, their fans were rabid, the Redwood Bowl was overflowing and they didn't disappoint their fans. An ending to Thursday night like that pretty much guaranteed that every HSU professor had an uphill battle keeping students on task in the classroom on Friday (on the idea students even showed up).

It's going to be difficult for the rest of the GNAC to come close to the entertainment bar that was set pretty high last night.

Jon Guddat covers the GNAC for D2football.com.