October 23rd, 2026 9:00am
By Chuck Bitner and Craig Fenn, D2Football.com
The latest kickoff of the weekend will deliver one of the most anticipated matchups from around the nation as UT Permian Basin (5-2, 4-1) travels to No. 7 Central Washington (5-2, 5-0) for a Lone Star Conference showdown. Kickoff from Tomlinson Stadium in Ellensburg, Washington is scheduled for 6:00pm, local (8pm, for UTPB’s home time zone and 9pm for those on the east coast). Coverage will be available on FloCollege.
UTPB is looking to rebound from a difficult home loss to Western Oregon last week. The Falcons had a slim 13-10 lead at halftime in that contest but were outscored 28-6 in the second half. Western Oregon dominated the line of scrimmage, rolling up 219 rushing yards while holding UTPB to -2. The Wolves sacked UTPB quarterbacks five times, accounting for the negative yardage, but the longest rush of the night went just eight yards. It was a rather shocking result for a UTPB team that entered the day a perfect 5-0 against Division II opponents, while Western Oregon had lost four in a row and had yet to win a conference game.
UTPB will have to get back on the horse in a hurry as they make the fly-away trip to Washington to face a streaking CWU team that has won five straight, including a victory over the Western Oregon team that just dispatched the Falcons last weekend. The Wildcats boast one of the top scoring offenses in the country, averaging 39.1 points per game overall and 48 points per game in conference. The only opponents to hold CWU under 40 points this year are Ferris State and D1 Cal Poly.
Here is a look at the matchup from Craig Fenn’s LSC column.
UT-Permian Basin (5-2, 4-1) at No. 7 Central Washington (5-2, 5-0)
Series History: Tied 2-2
Last meeting: 2025 (Central Washington won 27-14)
Central Washington’s last home conference loss came two seasons, a 14-13 decision to to UTPB. After Western Oregon took UTPB out of their offensive rhythm last week and took away their running game, I am curious what CWU will do defensively, especially after their defense bent so much that the rubber band was starting to crumble but held together just enough to hold off TAMUK.
The main difference I see in this matchup is that CWU shows a very strong offensive balance, averaging over 230 yards rushing and passing, and while not great defending the run (204 yards per game), they are decent against the pass (214 yards per game). UTPB is very good against the run, giving up 127 yards per game, and middle-of-the-pack against the pass, giving up 259 yards per game, but on offense they are a much better passing team than rushing (255 passing yards and 144 rushing yards per game).
I think this game will actually be more of a defensive than an offensive game. I think that whoever can be more efficient with their drives will have the upper hand, and I think that even though UTPB is known for its ball hawking defense, CWU is the best team they’ve faced all season when it comes to taking care of the ball, and I think that is the deciding factor in CWU’s favor. Central Washington by 7 points
Here are some additional resources to get you ready for this primetime LSC matchup
Central Washington pregame story
UT Permian Basin pregame story
Lone Star Conference statistics
We’ll recap this contest and many more on Inside D2Football, live on Sunday night.