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Central Washington Early Preview

G

grizz_guy1

Member
Central Washington Football early preview:



Central Washington is a playoff caliber team at the division 2 level, losing last year in the first round of the playoffs by one score. The Griz have played the Wildcats 3 times, winning all three at home, most recently winning 59-3 in 2021.

Offense:

They return their starting quarterback, who started every game as a redshirt freshman, Kennedy McGill, who has also been named team captain this year. McGill threw for 1724 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2024 while also leading the team in rushing with 1206 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. They lose their leading scorer from 2024 running back Tyler Flanagan, who had 1000 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns and was first team all conference. The offense line is filled with upperclassmen, and rival in size to our offensive line (surprised?). Slade Edwards returns as the Lone Star Conference Offensive lineman of the year, and also was on the Super Region 4 first team O-line.



Defense:

The defense is returning several veteran players and looks strong, (with holes to fill) on the defensive side. Leading the defense at linebacker, redshirt junior Brycen Indell recorded 55 tackles last year, including 4.5 TFL’s and 2.5 sacks. DL Daniel Matagi is a name to look out for on defense as well, recording 9 TFL’s and 5.5 sacks on the DL. The defensive line looses a few players, but still has experience returning. Tyler Volk, a first team all region player and leader in tackles is gone, and signed with the Seahawks. Overall, a lot of veterans returning, but some key players out.



2024 season

Last year, the Wildcats went 8-4, including a loss to FCS San Diego, so they do have experience with higher level schools. When they lost, it was close, and when they won, it was usually a blowout, including 45-3, 36-0, 31-0, and 66-0 victories. That is impressive at any level. Their losses to division 2 schools included two 1 point losses and one 7 point loss in the playoffs. This year, they are ranked 24th in the AFCA division 2 poll, and picked second in the Lone Star Conference. The biggest crowd they played for last year was 6000, not bad for D2, but let’s give them a warm welcome to Montana football.



Coaching:

Chris Fisk is coming into his 7th year coaching the wildcats. He has accumulated a record of 38-20 during his tenure at the school, and has not had a losing season (2020 season played 1 game and lost).



Analysis:

This isn’t some bottom feeding D2 school and we can’t go into it thinking it will be a cake walk (I highly doubt we will after Ferris state). One thing to watch is the dual threat quarterback, which can test teams early that are not prepared. The Griz sometimes get off to slow starts at the beginning of the season, however we should steamroll CWU. Again, if we don’t get caught off guard by the dual threat, there should be no problem. I know some aren’t happy with this game being scheduled, but if nothing else it will be a nice warm up into the season.

Prediction:

Griz win 38-6
It was hard to find info on a D2 school, so let me know if anything is wrong/outdated. I haven’t made one of these in a while
 
Nice write up. A couple things.
I'm not sure that Tyler Flanagen is gone from the roster. I think he's only a redshirt Jr unless he's recently quit the team. I could be wrong but that's what I've heard. Also they have a new RB named Bumgardner that just transfered from Washington that is supposed to be pretty good.
I think should be a good game for the griz to come together and play as a team.
 
And they have a 6'3" WR from WSU, Mason Juergens,and 6'2" WR from Idaho, Jalen Grable, and TE, Camden Loidhamer, who should be good. I've also heard Brett McCalla, LB, should be good as well.
 
Skookum-Jim said:
Nice write up. A couple things.
I'm not sure that Tyler Flanagen is gone from the roster. I think he's only a redshirt Jr unless he's recently quit the team. I could be wrong but that's what I've heard. Also they have a new RB named Bumgardner that just transfered from Washington that is supposed to be pretty good.
I think should be a good game for the griz to come together and play as a team.
Click to expand...
I wasn’t sure either, but after looking at his instagram it looked as though he was done
 
grizz_guy1 said:
Central Washington Football early preview:



Central Washington is a playoff caliber team at the division 2 level, losing last year in the first round of the playoffs by one score. The Griz have played the Wildcats 3 times, winning all three at home, most recently winning 59-3 in 2021.

Offense:

They return their starting quarterback, who started every game as a redshirt freshman, Kennedy McGill, who has also been named team captain this year. McGill threw for 1724 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2024 while also leading the team in rushing with 1206 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. They lose their leading scorer from 2024 running back Tyler Flanagan, who had 1000 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns and was first team all conference. The offense line is filled with upperclassmen, and rival in size to our offensive line (surprised?). Slade Edwards returns as the Lone Star Conference Offensive lineman of the year, and also was on the Super Region 4 first team O-line.



Defense:

The defense is returning several veteran players and looks strong, (with holes to fill) on the defensive side. Leading the defense at linebacker, redshirt junior Brycen Indell recorded 55 tackles last year, including 4.5 TFL’s and 2.5 sacks. DL Daniel Matagi is a name to look out for on defense as well, recording 9 TFL’s and 5.5 sacks on the DL. The defensive line looses a few players, but still has experience returning. Tyler Volk, a first team all region player and leader in tackles is gone, and signed with the Seahawks. Overall, a lot of veterans returning, but some key players out.



2024 season

Last year, the Wildcats went 8-4, including a loss to FCS San Diego, so they do have experience with higher level schools. When they lost, it was close, and when they won, it was usually a blowout, including 45-3, 36-0, 31-0, and 66-0 victories. That is impressive at any level. Their losses to division 2 schools included two 1 point losses and one 7 point loss in the playoffs. This year, they are ranked 24th in the AFCA division 2 poll, and picked second in the Lone Star Conference. The biggest crowd they played for last year was 6000, not bad for D2, but let’s give them a warm welcome to Montana football.



Coaching:

Chris Fisk is coming into his 7th year coaching the wildcats. He has accumulated a record of 38-20 during his tenure at the school, and has not had a losing season (2020 season played 1 game and lost).



Analysis:

This isn’t some bottom feeding D2 school and we can’t go into it thinking it will be a cake walk (I highly doubt we will after Ferris state). One thing to watch is the dual threat quarterback, which can test teams early that are not prepared. The Griz sometimes get off to slow starts at the beginning of the season, however we should steamroll CWU. Again, if we don’t get caught off guard by the dual threat, there should be no problem. I know some aren’t happy with this game being scheduled, but if nothing else it will be a nice warm up into the season.

Prediction:

Griz win 38-6
It was hard to find info on a D2 school, so let me know if anything is wrong/outdated. I haven’t made one of these in a while
Click to expand...
Thanks, sir!
 
grizz_guy1 said:
I wasn’t sure either, but after looking at his instagram it looked as though he was done
Click to expand...
You're probably right. My son had a baseball teammate that was playing RB for the Huskies. He was transferring to Central this year and they were saying that he would probably be splitting reps with Flanagan. That's why I thought he was still playing.
 
I tend to think of GRIZ games versus the likes of central wa to be like GRIZ games against someone like Oregon, only in reverse. First half close, because the quality of starters isn't markedly different. Second half dominated by the higher level team with a final of something like 31-10.

Make no mistake: central will have athletes. But UM's depth should make the difference
 
EverettGriz said:
I tend to think of GRIZ games versus the likes of central wa to be like GRIZ games against someone like Oregon, only in reverse. First half close, because the quality of starters isn't markedly different. Second half dominated by the higher level team with a final of something like 31-10.

Make no mistake: central will have athletes. But UM's depth should make the difference
Click to expand...
I agree, but then again the Griz always find ways to surprise me in one way or another
 
EverettGriz said:
I tend to think of GRIZ games versus the likes of central wa to be like GRIZ games against someone like Oregon, only in reverse. First half close, because the quality of starters isn't markedly different. Second half dominated by the higher level team with a final of something like 31-10.

Make no mistake: central will have athletes. But UM's depth should make the difference
Click to expand...
I'm looking at it as a preseason game but one that actually counts.
With all the turnover all FCS teams face with the new transfer rules it is actually great to have a game like this to test the new players and how they fit into the system.
We should dominate but if not then we will definitely learn something that will make us stronger and better by the NoDak game.

Yes it would be nice to have all our home games be "important" but to have a warmup like this one is OK with me. By "important" I mean that a dominant win won't help our rankings any but we've got an entire season to deal with that.
 
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