Game 4 – #9 Southern Oregon (1-2, 1-1) at Carroll (1-2, 1-2)
12 p.m. PT Saturday | Nelson Stadium | Helena, Mont.
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ASHLAND – Southern Oregon and Carroll (Mont.) have never failed to deliver entertainment throughout the years, but the intrigue surrounding Saturday's game in Helena, Mont., has a slightly different flavor this time around.

How will the Saints (1-2 overall, 1-2 Frontier Conference) respond to one of the most shocking losses – last week's 28-14 setback at Montana State-Northern, which had been winless since the 2014 season – in Mike Van Diest's 18 years as head coach? And how will the ninth-ranked Raiders (1-2, 1-1) fare in their first road game with a new quarterback, a week after eking out a 24-20 home win in the final minute against Montana Western?

Those questions will be answered starting at 1 p.m. Mountain Time at Nelson Stadium, where Carroll has dropped two of its last four home games after winning 61 of its previous 64. With another loss, the Saints would drop to 1-3 for the first time since 1998.

Series History:
– Carroll leads SOU 5-4 in the all-time series, which dates back to its 16-13 win in Ashland in the 2001 NAIA quarterfinals.
– Since the Raiders joined the Frontier Conference they've gone 4-3 against the Saints (including 2014's national quarterfinal game, a 45-42 Raider win), but neither team has won consecutively.
– Of the nine matchups between the teams, only one has been decided by more than six points: Carroll's 48-30 win in Helena on Nov. 2, 2013.
– Last year's 28-27 SOU overtime win on Oct. 17 in Ashland was as wild as any: With 3:41 left in regulation of a tie game, Carroll's 18-yard field-goal attempt was denied by the right upright; and with the score still tied at 21 and one second left, the Saints lined up for a potential 28-yard game-winning field goal before botching the snap. Sean Tow scored on SOU's first overtime possession, and the Raiders clinched the win when they knocked away Mac Roche's pass on an attempted two-point conversion.
– Saturday will mark the first time SOU has faced an unranked Carroll squad.

Meet the New Boss…: SOU quarterback Jack Singler was voted the conference's offensive player of the week after completing 32 of 49 passes for 389 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in his first start as a Raider. The redshirt-senior – taking over for Tanner Trosin, who is out due to injury – completed five of seven passes for 99 yards on SOU's game-winning drive, including the decisive seven-yard score to Zack Davis with 51 seconds left (which was set up by Singler's 49-yard completion to Davis).
 
Six different Raiders have made starting debuts at QB since the start of the 2010 season. Here's how Singler's stacked up:
– Tanner Trosin: 13-22, 167 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT, 92 rushing yards; Sept. 19, 2015 at College of Idaho (42-27 win)
– Kamerun Smith: 14-36, 183 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs; Sept. 5, 2015 at Carroll (26-20 loss)
– Austin Dodge: 25-44, 249 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT; Sept. 17, 2011 at Willamette (31-9 loss)
– Mike McDonald: 21-40, 346 yards, 4 TDs, 3 INTs; Aug. 28, 2010 at Eastern Oregon (34-30 win)

Briefly:
– Another key to last week's win was SOU getting its first two red-zone stops of the year, denying UMW thanks to AJ Cooper's end-zone interception (which was first tipped by Mylz Blake) and Armando Gauger's fumble recovery (which was forced by Colin Davis). Raider opponents have scored on 13 of 15 red-zone trips with 11 TDs.
– Although he was flagged a couple times, Cooper had a big day at corner with nine tackles, a forced fumble and three pass-breakups to go with SOU's first interception of the season. Julius Rucker joined him in the secondary with 12 tackles and owns a team-high 24 on the season.
– Zack Davis, who is establishing himself as SOU's primary deep-ball threat, has 11 catches for 295 yards and three TDs. In seven games last year, he totaled 19 catches for 319 yards and three scores.
– With nine more catches for 100 yards last week, Matt Retzlaff has surpassed 100 receiving yards in four of his last six games and 11 times in his career.  With 32 TD catches, he needs one more to match Dylan Young's SOU record; and with 2,746 career receiving yards, he needs 81 more to catch Young for that record. His next TD in any form will also be his 40th as a Raider.
– Sean Tow found the end zone again last week, marking the seventh straight regular-season game in which he's done so.
– SOU ranks last in the FC with one sack, but its pass-rush improved against UMW with its first sack of the season (from Sage Delong and Kalan Hoedl) and five quarterback-hurries, including two apiece from Sam Woods and Jacob Proul.
– The Raiders are 32-10 in conference play since joining the Frontier in 2012, giving them more wins than any team in that time. On the road, they're 14-7 in the Frontier.
– With another nail-biter in the books, nine of SOU's last 10 regular-season games against the Top 25 have been decided by seven points or less.
– The Raiders had won 13 straight against unranked opponents prior to their season-opening loss at Eastern Oregon, which is now No. 15 in the poll.

About Carroll:
– The Saints have lost two straight, 21-10 at Rocky Mountain and 28-14 at MSU-Northern. Their lone win, a 27-24 home upset of Montana Tech, was decided by Colter Hamel's 45-yard field goal as time expired. They'd trailed that game, 24-10, at one point in the fourth quarter.
– Dating back to last season, the Saints have lost seven of their last nine.
– First-year starting QB JT Linder, a senior, ranks 13th in the NAIA with 260 passing yards per game. He's thrown five TD passes and three interceptions, and his favorite target, Connor Fohn, ranks fourth in the nation with an average of 135 receiving yards.
– The Saints run on 44 percent of their offensive plays, but they're only generating three yards per carry. At MSU-Northern, they rushed 24 times for 49 yards.
– After last season, Carroll graduated three starting linebackers and three starting defensive backs.
– Junior defensive end Alec Basterrechea's 7.5 tackles for losses rank fourth in the NAIA, and he's also recorded 3.5 sacks.
– Van Diest has led the Saints to 14 Frontier titles. Under his watch, they've never missed the postseason back-to-back years.