Heading into last season the prevailing opinion in D2 football circles was that the west coast was headed for extinction, and that the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, in danger of losing earned access due to a lack of football-playing members, was on its last legs. The departure of associate members Dixie State and South Dakota Mines to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference were supposed to be the final nail in the coffin.
But apparently someone forgot to tell Humboldt State, Azusa Pacific or Western Oregon. Each of top three teams in GNAC football scheduled tough out-of-conference games, which proved to be more than enough for Humboldt to earn the GNAC’s first playoff bid since 2009. Ironically, the GNAC may have been helped by the “closed” conference-only scheduling by the Great American Conference and the MIAA when the Super Regional 3 playoff field was announced last season.
With GNAC football down to five teams, resulting in a double-round robin conference schedule, it will be interesting to see how the GNAC stands against out-of-conference competition this season. If Humboldt State, for example, can steal a win against perennial South Atlantic Conference powerhouse Carson-Newman in college football’s first game of the season, it would more than likely send shockwaves across the D2 football landscape, and an important message from the West Coast: ‘Don’t sleep on the GNAC.’
What follows are the preseason GNAC BennettRanks, a list of the returning all-GNAC players from last season and a team-by-team capsule preview of each team.
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| BR | TEAM | OVERALL RECORD | GNAC RECORD | COACHES POLL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Humboldt State | 10-2 | 6-0 | 1st |
| 43 | Azusa Pacific | 6-4 | 3-3 | 2nd |
| 74 | Western Oregon | 7-4 | 5-1 | 3rd |
| 91 | Central Washington | 5-5 | 3-3 | 4th |
| 139 | Simon Fraser | 0-9 | 0-6 | 5th |
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RETURNING 2015 ALL-GNAC PERFORMERS
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
RB: Ja’Quan Gardner, Jr., Humboldt State
RB: Kurt Scoby, Soph., Azusa Pacific
WR: Chase Krivashei, Sr., Humboldt State
WR: Jesse Zalk, Sr., Central Washington (First Team KR)
WR: Paul Revis, Jr., Western Oregon (First Team PR, Second Team KR)
OL: Alex Cappa, Jr., Humboldt State
OL: Lucas Govan, Sr., Humboldt State
TE: Derek Brown, Sr., Humboldt State
TE: Andy Avgi, Sr., Western Oregon
K: Cameron Southward, Sr., Humboldt State
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
DL: George Swartzlender, Sr., Western Oregon
LB: Jonathan Thropay, Sr., Azusa Pacific
LB: Kevin Haynes, Jr., Central Washington
LB: Jordan Herdman, Sr., Simon Fraser
LB: Justin Herdman, Sr., Simon Fraser
DB: Chris Hannible, Sr., Humboldt State
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
QB: Chad Jeffries, Jr., Azusa Pacific
RB: Ante Milanovic-Litre, Sr., Simon Fraser
WR: Ethan Zeidler, Sr., Azusa Pacific
WR: Justin Buren, Jr., Simon Fraser
OL: James Moore, Soph., Central Washington
OL: Josh Hanson, Jr., Humboldt State
OL: Bryson Dizon, Jr., Western Oregon
K: Sean McDonald, Sr., Central Washington
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL: Billy Tanuvasa, Sr., Azusa Pacific
DL: Jeremy Moore, Sr., Western Oregon
LB: Cameron Buell, Sr., Humboldt State
LB: Tyler Johnson, Jr., Western Oregon
DB: Taliuaki Suliafu, Jr., Azusa Pacific
PR: Tarik Myles, Sr., Azusa Pacific
P: John Kuhn, Jr., Central Washington
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