Before opponents shake in their boots about Saint Mary's 73-5 blowout of Central Washington in Moraga, CA, on Saturday, it would be useful to remember that the Gaels have played several games already and the Wildcats hardly any.

And Saint Mary's assistant coach Andrew Cook said the game was a little tougher than the final score indicated.

"I thought we came out really well prepared," Cook said. "Our guys were excited to get some more competition with Central Washington because they hadn’t played a game against stiff college competition in a while, now. We came out and did what we wanted to do in the first 25 minutes."

While the floodgates seemed to open up late, But Cook added the Gaels had to work through phases to get tries early in the game.

"It wasn't like they were all just missed tackles and breakaways," he said. "Our set piece went really well on the day and we were able to execute what we practice, which was good."

The usual suspects all performed well, but the big question is who of Saint Mary's newer players is making an impact? Derek Ellingson, a hockey player in high school, is working his way through the system. He's one to track going forward after coming on as a sub and scoring on Saturday.

And scrumhalf Sean Yacoubian, taking over from graduated All-American Holden Yungert, also scored and has been outstanding for Saint Mary's.

“He's got big shoes to fill and he’s a good player," Cook said. "So far he and [flyhalf] Mike McCarthy have been a good pairing. Sean’s got a good head for the game.”

So what brings these guys down to earth? Maybe not much, but the message from the coaching staff has been that the Gaels weren't perfect by any stretch.

"There’s a ton of improvement to do in terms of how we recognize on attack," Cook said. "Are we running the movements we want, or are we just running hands until somebody beats a man? We have to look at that. That game is done, and we need to keep focused on the next match and keep doing what we need to do."