GAME 1 – SOU (0-0) at Rocky Mountain (0-0)
5 p.m. PDT Saturday | Herb Klindt Field | Billings, Montana
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ASHLAND – The wait will finally end Saturday for the Southern Oregon University football team, 651 days after it began. And only one this is certain about the Raiders' return to the field and Frontier Conference play at Rocky Mountain (Mont.) after a year away: They ought to be fresh.

Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. Pacific Time (and 6 p.m. local) at Herb Klindt Field. The Battlin' Bears are only four-plus months removed from a brief spring season that saw them go 1-3 and their losses decided by 12 points combined. The Raiders were one of three Frontier teams to opt out of the spring, making what's coming this weekend all the more mysterious – especially considering their new lineup of coordinators and the wildfire smoke that kept them inside for a large chunk of camp.

"Those are challenges, there's no doubt, and I wish we'd had more prep time, but we've dealt with smoke in the preseason before and the way the season's laid out [with a Week 3 bye] the first two games can be almost an extension of camp," fifth-year SOU head coach Charlie Hall said. "Things are going to happen that we'll have to address on the spot and a lot of talented players are going to get the opportunities to earn or solidify their positions. But after the bye week, I expect us to be all set."

SERIES NOTES:

• SOU is 9-2 all-time against RMC in a series that dates back to 2001. The Raiders have won six of eight Frontier matchups.
• In games played at Herb Klindt Field, the Raiders are 4-2, including a 2-2 mark in conference games. The most recent affair in Billings, on Oct. 6, 2018, was a 34-21 Bears win that snapped SOU's 14-game conference winning streak.
• The Raiders have won six of the last seven matchups, including two of three under Hall.
• The most recent meeting – a 21-14 SOU win on Oct. 12, 2019 in Ashland – featured career days for two individuals slated to be in the lineups Saturday: Raiders running back Hykeem Massey rushed 21 times for 120 yards and a touchdown, and Bears receiver Lucas Overton made 11 catches for 147 yards.

THE FRONTIER FILES: Since joining the Frontier in 2012, SOU is 56-24 overall in conference play. No other Frontier team has won more than 50 conference games in that period. The Raiders are also 25-15 in Frontier road games, and 22-7 against unranked opponents on the road. They'll be following up on what was a 4-6 campaign in 2019 – their first sub-.500 Frontier record – when they couldn't dig out of a 0-3 hole that was created by nine combined points.

BRIEFLY:

• Of the Raiders' projected starters this week, 11 have started at least one game before at SOU – four on offense and seven on defense.
• Tre Holmes is the lone returning all-conference player, receiving second-team recognition in 2019. The senior defensive lineman has totaled 17 tackles for losses and 12 ½ sacks while attracting heavy attention from offensive lines in his career.
• Christian Graney ranked second among all FC receivers with 59 receptions in 2019. He averaged 10.9 yards per catch and scored three touchdowns.
• The Raiders are expected to use two quarterbacks in the opener: junior returner Trent Banner and senior transfer Matt Struck, a Crater High product. Banner passed for 304 yards on 39 attempts in his only career start (despite playing running back prior to that appearance), and Struck threw for 20 touchdowns in 2019 at Idaho State before going 3-1 as a starter last spring at Missouri State.
• SOU head coach Charlie Hall enters the season with a 22-12 record. In 2017, he led the Raiders to an unbeaten conference record, the NAIA semifinal round and a No. 4 postseason ranking.
• The Raiders were picked to finish fifth in the Frontier preseason coaches' poll. They've finished lower than second place just twice in eight FC seasons.
• Each of SOU's first six conference games in 2019 were decided by seven points or fewer.
• The Raiders are 5-3 in Frontier openers. Over the last 20 seasons, they've gone 12-8 in openers.

AROUND THE LOOP:

• Preseason Frontier favorite Eastern Oregon, ranked No. 18 in the NAIA Top 25, opens Saturday at Montana Tech, which opted out of the spring season.
• College of Idaho has won 19 of its last 20 FC games going into its opener at MSU-Northern. The Lights haven't won a conference game since 2016.
• Carroll (Mont.) was the FC's representative in last spring's NAIA Championship Series after prevailing by tiebreaker criteria over C of I and EOU. The Saints open at Montana Western, which opted out of the spring but returns seven starters on offense from a team that averaged 433 yards per game in 2019, all-star quarterback Jon Jund being one of them.

ABOUT ROCKY MOUNTAIN:

• In addition to Overton, a 2019 Frontier all-star who owns 166 career receptions, the Bears will feature another dangerous receiver in Donavan Sellgren. In four spring games, Sellgren averaged 100 reception yards.
• During spring play, the Bears ranked first among Frontier teams in passing offense and last in rushing. For the first time since 2016, they'll be without starting quarterback Drew Korf. In his place is redshirt-freshman Jonathan Morris, and in front of Morris is an offensive line made exclusively of freshmen and sophomores.
• The Bears also topped the Frontier in scoring defense (20.9 points) and sacks per game (4.8) during the spring. Alex Bush, who recorded 22 tackles and five sacks in three games, is back on the defensive line.
• Head coach Chris Stuzriem is entering his third season at RMC with a 5-10 record, including a 1-6 mark at home. He took over the year after the Bears won their first conference title since 1999.

COMING UP: SOU will make its Raider Stadium debut on Sept. 4 against MSU-Northern, kicking off at 1 p.m. Per new school policy, all fans 12 and older will be required to show proof of vaccination against Covid-19 or a negative test upon entry. Click here for more information.