Game 8 – SOU (3-4, 3-3) vs. No. 7 College of Idaho (6-0, 6-0)
2 p.m. Saturday | Raider Stadium | Ashland, Oregon
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ASHLAND – In a welcome turn of events, a Homecoming date isn't the only reason for Southern Oregon University's excitement when it comes to Saturday's matchup with seventh-ranked College of Idaho.

Winners of three straight, the Raiders (3-4 overall, 3-3 Frontier Conference) will get a true test of their recent progress when they attempt to hand the first-place Yotes (6-0, 6-0) their first loss in a 2 p.m. kickoff at Raider Stadium. C of I, which boasts one of the top rushing games in the NAIA, was behind part two of SOU's three-game slide to start the Frontier schedule, but the Raiders have since climbed back into a tie for fourth place. The Yotes haven't slowed down, staying perfect last week with a 16-14 win over Montana Tech thanks Kyle Mitchell's field goal as time expired from a distance of 58 yards – a Frontier record and the longest at any level of college football this year. Dating back to last season, they've won 12 consecutive games.

SERIES NOTES:

• The Raiders have an 11-5 edge in the all-time series with the Yotes, which dates back to 1948.
• Since the Yotes resurrected their program for the 2014 season, SOU is 8-3 head-to-head in Frontier games. That include records of 5-0 at home and 4-0 at Raider Stadium (the first game was played at Ashland High), making it the only conference site where the Yotes have yet to pick up a win.
• In the NAIA Game of the Week on Sept. 14, C of I defeated SOU 41-38 in Caldwell but led 41-24 with two minutes left behind quarterback Darius-James Peterson, who passed for 258 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for an additional TD. The loss spoiled a career day for Raider QB Wyatt Hutchinson: He passed for 351 yards on 25-of-33 accuracy without a pick, ran for 97 yards and accounted for three TDs.
• C of I's visit to Ashland last year, on Sept. 8, resulted in a 35-28 Raiders win in which they rushed for 251 yards.

HOME HISTORY: At Raider Stadium, SOU is 8-5 against ranked Frontier teams and 15-5 against all NAIA Top 25 opponents over the past decade. The last time the Raiders defeated a top-10 team at home was against No. 10 Kansas Wesleyan in the first round of the 2015 NAIA Championship Series; the last time they did it in FC play was against No. 2 Carroll in 2014 at Ashland High; and the only time they've done it in FC play at Raider Stadium was against No. 7 Montana Tech in 2012. SOU brings a 104-60 overall record at Raider Stadium into the weekend, including a 26-7 mark in FC action.

STREAK HUNTERS: If the Raiders can pull off the upset, this would be their eighth consecutive season with a four-game winning streak since joining the Frontier in 2012; Montana Tech has executed four-game winning streaks in five seasons during that span, Eastern Oregon has pulled off the feat in four and no other team has done it in more than three. The Raiders have arrived at this point unconventionally, playing six consecutive games decided by seven points or fewer for the first time in the team's 86-year history. They started the current streak by overcoming a 28-9 deficit with 20 unanswered points in the final 16 minutes against Carroll. In their next win, 21-14 over Rocky Mountain, the defense held after three botched punts, each of which landed the Bears inside SOU's 35-yard line and resulted in zero points. And last week, in a 31-25 win at Eastern Oregon, they overcame four turnovers and a safety – which led to just 12 Mountaineer points – with the team's lowest yardage total (261) in a win since 2011.

HEAVY IS THE HIT: Linebacker Collin Crown's breakout junior season rolled on last week when he became the first Raider since Garret Gelker in 2002 with five tackles for losses in a single game. He had two sacks – giving him a team-high 3 ½, all logged in the last two games – and now ranks second in the Frontier with nine tackles for losses after leading all Raider linebackers with 10 last year. He's up to 65 total tackles on the season, having recorded at least seven in every outing, and his average of 9.7 in conference play stands as the highest for a Raider since Laurence Calcagno posted 10.8 per game in 2014. Crown's career tackle total is up to 141, 105 of which have been of the solo variety.

BRIEFLY:

• Last week, Jordan Suell became the ninth receiver in Raider history to collect 20 career touchdown receptions. Four of those players have appeared within the last five years.
• The Raiders rank 21st on the NAIA's sack leaderboard with 18 and have picked up nine of them in the last two weeks. They'll be facing a Yotes team that has given up seven sacks.
• Sophomore linebacker Jake Regino is coming off of a career-best 12-tackle game at EOU, where he also recovered a fumble. He's recovered two fumbles and forced two, leading the team in both categories.
• Wyatt Hutchinson had both a passing TD and a rushing TD for the third time this season at EOU, finishing 20-of-31 for 182 yards. In 15 Frontier starts over the last two seasons, he's totaled 20 passing TDs, 11 interceptions and eight rushing TDs.
• Christian Graney led the Raiders in reception yards – matching Khalil Hudson with 59 – for the fourth time in six FC games last week. He ranks 21st nationally with 36 receptions and leads the team with 406 reception yards after finishing last season with 73 – the sixth-most among SOU's returners.
• Michael Chisley Jr. is tied for No. 9 on the NAIA leaderboard with four interceptions, attempting to become the first Raider with five in FC play since 2015. In the first matchup with C of I, he brought home SOU's first pick-six since 2014.
• Over SOU's last three games, Hykeem Massey has averaged a team-best 91 all-purpose yards.

TOP 25 WATCH: C of I moved up one spot to No. 7 in this week's NAIA Top 25, while Montana Tech dropped one spot to No. 20 and Montana Western dropped two to No. 24. Tech and UMW are tied in second place with 4-2 records; UMW has lost two in a row, and Tech's only losses have come against C of I with a visit to Ashland on tap next week. Defending champion Morningside (Iowa) is still the unanimous No. 1, as it has been all season, and is one of 10 remaining undefeated teams.

ABOUT COLLEGE OF IDAHO:

• The Yotes possess the nation's third-leading rushing offense at 273.7 yards per game and average six per carry while allowing 2.9. Four individuals have gotten at least 28 carries, and they lean on junior Nick Calzaretta, who last week cracked the 100-yard mark for the fifth time this season and is posting 135 per game – the fourth-most in the NAIA.
• Quarterback Darius-James Peterson has traditionally torched the Raiders, netting 710 rushing yards with 13 rushing TDs in seven career matchups. He has a dicey history at Raider Stadium, however, having been sacked 16 times in his last two trips. The Yotes run on 65 percent of their plays from scrimmage, but Peterson is still averaging 201 passing yards with 10 TDs compared to three interceptions, and adds 47 yards per game on the ground.
• C of I's defense is giving up 4.5 yards per play, the second-best mark in the Frontier, and has yet to allow more than 14 points against any team except SOU. The Yotes rank ninth nationally in sacks per game (3.5) and have gotten a team-high 42 tackles from All-Frontier linebacker Forrest Rivers.
• Dating back to last season, they've won six straight road games by an average of 21 points.