Abilene Christian 51, Western Oregon 35.
Western Oregon matched Abilene Christian pretty much blow-for-blow in the opening half in Texas on Saturday. It looked as though the Wolves would go into halftime with the game tied at 14 apiece before ACU QB Mitchell Gale ran it in from seven yards out. Sure, the Wolves were down by just one score, but that looked like it could turn into a domino effect.
Or did it?
ACU would tack on a field goal to extend the lead to 10 in the third quarter, but then WOU's Evan Mozzochi connected with Josh McFarland for a 73-yard score and all of a sudden it was a three-point game again. ACU then scored two touchdowns within a minute (a four-play, 59-yard drive; a 55-yard punt return) and that three-point lead ballooned to 17 points.
What was good? Mozzochi threw for 365 yards. McFarland (6 receptions, 114 yards) and Trevor Gates (7-111), were his primary targets. Mozzochi didn't throw a pick. As a team, the Wolves netted 474 yards.
What was bad? ACU gained 503 yards. Gale threw 29 completions to nine different receivers. ACU possessed the ball for 19:06 in the second half to WOU's 10:54. Basically, when WOU really needed to play catchup, the offense was on the sidelines. Speaking of the second half, of ACU's seven possessions in the second half, the Wildcats scored six times (30 points).
Just as the Grand Valley game has been for the Wolves, these games are learning experiences for the squad. Learning experiences don't mean squat for the Win/Loss record, but it does add fuel to the fire for the return game next year. Did the better team win on Saturday? Yes, but it doesn't mean WOU didn't have any business to be at Shotwell Stadium. The Wolves just ran out of gas and had a few difficult calls and plays go the other way.

Central Washington 37, Simon Fraser 17
Central Washington's Wildcats got a big monkey off their back by winning for the first time this year against a Simon Fraser team who at first looked like the Clan would continue the trend of what opposing teams have been doing against Central...winning.
The Wildcats held SFU to a three-and-out, and rode Ryan Robertson's arm (4-for-4, 41 yards, touchdown to Justin Helwedge). The Clan hopped on Bo Palmer's back for 27 yards, driving to the CWU 10 in a matter of six plays. The CWU defense held and Simon Fraser put just three points on the board. The Wildcats held the Clan outside of the end zone, but SFU's 1-2 combo of Palmer and Cole Tudor looked like it would be difficult to maintain. They were, and the 'Cats D bent, but never broke.
The Wildcats would score on their next three possessions to make it 24-3 very early in the second quarter. By halftime it was 31-3.
CWU had 211 yards rushing and 205 yards receiving. Levi Taylor rushed for 153 yards and score. Robertson - who threw three picks against Western Oregon two weeks ago - was interception-free and had three touchdowns.
Palmer had the bulk of the Clan's offense (239 total yards) with 141 yards on the ground. As expected, SFU's passing game wasn't too effective, netting just 68 yards on Trey Wheeler's 10-for-23. In all fairness to Wheeler, many of his incompletions were dropped passes by his receiving corps.

Humboldt State 56, Dixie State 27
Humboldt State scored 28 points in the air in the first half. The Lumberjacks scored an identical 28 points in the second half on the ground. Humboldt State did what it does best by combining a punishing running game (215 yards) with an effective passing attack (376 yards). Dixie did what was expected, relying less on the run (53 yards) and more on the pass. But Dixie, using three quarterbacks on the day, did complete 21 passes for 317 yards.
Unfortunately for the Red Storm, this game was pretty much over by the end of the first half.
The most prominent stat for Dixie this year has been sacks. Humboldt brought down the quarterbacks eight times (and 11 total tackles for loss). Dixie continues to be the most sacked team in the entire nation, sufferering 33 sacks over five games.
But it's not as though Humboldt played flawlessly. The Lumberjacks were tagged with eight penalties for a staggering 157 yards.