GAME 5 – No. 7 SOU (4-0, 1-0) at No. 16 Montana Tech (3-1, 1-1)
12 p.m. PT Saturday | Butte, Montana | Alumni Coliseum
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ASHLAND – The No. 7-ranked Southern Oregon football team came out of the last two weeks as a bona fide candidate to make its long-awaited return to the postseason, passing back-to-back major tests at Raider Stadium with flying colors. This week at No. 16 Montana Tech, the Raiders will find out how they stack up on the road in one of the most hostile environments the NAIA has to offer.

Kickoff between is set for noon PDT on Saturday at Alumni Coliseum as SOU (4-0 overall, 1-0 Frontier Conference) meets its third consecutive Top 25 opponent. The Diggers (3-1, 1-1) are fresh off their first loss of the season, a 45-37 overtime decision at College of Idaho in which their potential go-ahead point-after attempt was blocked in the final minute of regulation. It left the Raiders and Carroll (Mont.) as the only remaining unbeaten teams in FC play just two weeks into the nine-week slate.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Raiders will attempt to snap a six-game losing streak in the series against Tech. Three of those were in Butte: one in overtime, another by a field goal, and the most recent a 45-21 decision in 2022 when Gunner Yates' coming-out party – an 18-carry, 212-yard, three-touchdown performance – was interrupted by injury shortly after a 70-yard score that cut the Diggers' lead to 28-21 in the third quarter. Tech won last year's matchup, 31-21 in Ashland, by turning around a 14-10 third-quarter deficit. It marked the Raiders' seventh loss in eight games dating back to 2022; they've won 10 of 11 ever since.

The Diggers lead the all-time series, 11-7. They feature an All-Frontier senior quarterback in Blake Thelen, a third-year starter, and one of the circuit's most powerful runners in 6-foot, 230-pound senior Landers Smith, who has gone for 100-plus yards in three of four games. Filling in last year for injured all-star Blake Counts, Smith rushed 22 times for 110 yards at Raider Stadium. Star receiver Wyatt Alexander, now a senior, made seven catches for 143 yards that same afternoon.

NAIA TOP 25: For the second week in a row, SOU made the biggest climb of any team in Monday's latest Top 25 coaches' poll. After moving up six spots on the heels of a 45-27 win against then-No. 9 College of Idaho, the Raiders jumped seven more to No. 7 following their 28-26 upset of then-No. 4 Montana Western. They've now held a top-10 spot in eight different seasons since joining the Frontier in 2012, though this is the first since 2018. UMW consequentially fell five spots to No. 9, while College of Idaho moved up five to No. 14 on the strength of its win over Montana Tech. The Diggers fell to No. 16 from No. 10. They opened the season at No. 21, but immediately started climbing after starting the campaign with a 29-22 home upset of then-No. 3 Georgetown (Ky.).

BRIEFLY:

• The Raiders have knocked off consecutive top-10 foes in the regular season for the first time in their Frontier era (2012-present). The next challenge is to end a six-game Top 25 road losing streak that dates back to 2018. The last time they defeated a ranked opponent on the road in Frontier play was Nov. 18, 2017, when they completed an undefeated conference season at No. 22 Montana Tech.
• Sophomore running back Gunner Yates is the first Raider since the turn of the century to rush four multiple touchdowns in four consecutive games. He had two more last week as part of a 154-yard performance against UMW, bringing his season total to 11 – the second-highest in the NAIA. Through just 20 games, he is already one rushing TD away from becoming the 10th player in team history with 20 in a career. Yates leads all NAIA players in rushing yards per game (157.0) – he's accumulated 100-plus in three straight – and is second in yards per carry (7.4) among those with at least 60 attempts.
• Senior quarterback Blake Asciutto is in the midst of the best stretch of his career, having completed 68% of his passes for 282.3 yards per game and 10.7 per attempt over his last three games. He is at eight TD passes and one interception this season; going back to 2023, he's thrown for 14 TDs and two picks in his last eight starts. He is five TD passes away from becoming the fourth Raider to reach 50 in a career.
• Sawyer Cleveland, an All-FC second-team pick last year, has accumulated 290 yards on 18 receptions in his last three games. Seven of those catches went for 20-plus yards; three resulted in touchdowns.
• The Raiders have scored a touchdown in 15 of 16 quarters played, the exception being the fourth in their season-opening blowout of Lincoln (Calif.). They're 13th nationally in yards per game (462.5), 12th in third-down conversion rate (49%) and sixth in red-zone touchdown rate (85%, 17-of-20).
• Dating back to 2023, the Raiders have allowed fewer than 30 points in 10 consecutive games. UMW had gone over 30 points eight games in a row prior to last week. The SOU defense has yet to surrender a point on an opponent's opening drive.
• Gabe Foster is sixth on the Frontier leaderboard in tackles for losses (4 ½) and Adonis Jackson is eighth (4). Iona Purcell leads the team in total tackles (23), but Jaxon Jedrykowsi led the team each of the last two weeks with career-highs of seven followed by eight.
• For the second year in a row, the Raiders are leading the Frontier in sacks per game (2.8).

MORE ON TECH:

• Last year's Diggers made the program's first NAIA Championship Series appearance since 2016, bowing out in the first round against Dickinson State (N.D.). They went 6-2 in the Frontier to tie for second place and were picked to finish fourth in this year's preseason poll.
• Their skill players are dynamic around Blake Thelen, who is at 47 passing TDs and 18 interceptions in his career and threw for 2,900 yards a season ago. His numbers are down slightly this fall – averaging 226 yards per game on a 55% completion rate – but he still has a pair of All-Frontier targets. Wyatt Alexander is fresh off a six-catch, 219-yard performance and posted over 100 yards per game last season. Kyle Torgerson is in his sixth year with the team (he missed last season) and sitting on 1,492 career years.
• Behind Yates, Landers Smith has the fourth-highest rushing average in the country at 121.3. He's getting nearly 24 touches per game.
• The Diggers will rely on a pair of All-Frontier linebackers, Matt Whitcomb (41 tackles, 4 TFL, 1 INT) and Cole Wyant (33 tackles, 1 TFL), to slow down Yates. In the backfield, they added University of Washington transfer Demario King (37 tackles, 1 INT) to a group that also includes All-FC selection Angel Sanchez (21 tackles, 1 INT) and NAIA interception leader Jadyn Downs (4 INTs). Despite the impressive personnel, they gave up 432 passing yards last week at C of I.