GAME 10 – No. 16 SOU (7-2, 4-2) vs. Eastern Oregon (5-4, 4-2)
1 p.m. Saturday | Ashland, Oregon | Raider Stadium
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ASHLAND – The postseason is still two weeks away, but the No. 16-ranked Southern Oregon University football team will essentially be playing elimination games from here on out.

If the Raiders (7-2 overall, 4-2 Frontier Conference) are to make their first appearance in the 20-team NAIA Championship Series since 2017, they must first go through Eastern Oregon (5-4, 4-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Raider Stadium. The Mountaineers, coming off back-to-back two-win seasons, are the conference's biggest surprise after being picked to finish seventh in the preseason poll. They made a statement last week by defeating then-No. 24 College of Idaho, 30-24, behind dual-threat quarterback Quincy Glasper's two touchdown passes and 203 rushing yards. The Mountaineers have won five of their last six games, a stretch prior to which they'd won five of 31.

NAIA TOP 25: The Raiders' 21-17 loss last week at Carroll (Mont.) resulted in an eight-spot drop to No. 16 in Monday's latest rankings. What it means is their margin for error is gone: They'll almost certainly need to win out, Saturday against EOU and next week at College of Idaho, to stay in the hunt for an at-large national playoff bid. (The lowest-ranked team to get an at-large berth last year was No. 17. A similar cutoff, give or take a couple spots, is expected this fall.)

C of I (6-4, 4-3) dropped out of the Top 25 after its loss at EOU. Montana Western (7-1, 5-1) stayed at No. 4, Montana Tech (7-2, 4-2) moved up three spots to No. 10, and Carroll (7-1, 6-0) got a seven-spot bump to No. 14. Carroll still has to go to Montana Western this week and Montana Tech next week.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Saturday's matchup will be the 84th all-time between the Raiders and Mountaineers in a series that dates back to 1930. SOU has the 58-22-3 edge, including a 13-8 record in Frontier contests, but EOU has been frisky in Ashland with wins in six of its last eight games at Raider Stadium.

The last meeting was a 41-24 SOU win on Nov. 4, 2023 in La Grande. After falling behind 17-14 early, the Raiders scored 27 unanswered points as Blake Asciutto passed for four touchdowns – two of them to Jackson Clemmer – and the defense blanked EOU on seven straight drives. They made life tough on Mountaineers QB Quincy Glasper, limiting him to 99 passing yards on 29 attempts and three net rushing yards.  Glasper has been much more prolific on the run this season with 76.2 rushing yards per game – he netted 39 in all of 2023 – and seven TDs.

YATES CLAIMS ANOTHER RECORD: A week after breaking SOU's single-season record for rushing touchdowns, Gunner Yates shot to the top of the total TDs list with two more at Carroll. The sophomore is now sitting on 24 rushing and 26 total TDs in 2024, ranking second in both categories on the NAIA leaderboard. Yates has scored 10 more times than any other player in the Frontier. His average of 122.3 rushing yards per game is the third-highest in the country, and with 1,101 total rushing yards he is 602 away from the single-season record his father, Griff, established in 1997.

SENIOR DAY: Southern Oregon will honor 19 seniors playing their final regular-season home game on Saturday. The recognition ceremony is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m.

QUICK HITS:

• SOU's defense had four takeaways and a blocked field goal all in the first half last week, helping the Raiders jump out to a 17-0 lead. They're leading the Frontier in both takeaways (22) and sacks per game (3.1) for the second year in a row. They have 15 takeaways in conference play; no other team has more than 10. Carroll became the 14th of their last 15 opponents that have failed to score 30 points.
• Defensive ends Adonis Jackson (7 ½ sacks), a sophomore, and Gabe Foster (6 ½ sacks), a junior, are second and third on the Frontier sacks leaderboard, and they're top-four in tackles for losses with 10 ½ apiece. SOU's team sack total (28) is the sixth-highest in the NAIA. Foster enjoyed his biggest game as a Raider at Carroll – going for 3 ½ sacks, a forced fumble, and a deflected pass that Ty Glumbik intercepted. He also scooped up Dyllon Daniels' blocked field goal and returned it 31 yards.
• Glumbik's interception was the first of his career. The senior linebacker has appeared in more career games (34) at SOU than anyone on the current defensive unit and is up to 157 total tackles. He has 50 this season to lead the team and rank 13th in the circuit.
• Three of SOU's seniors – Sawyer Cleveland, Rayden Kaneshiro and Adrik Lamar, all receivers – have been with the team since 2019. Cleveland is currently third in receptions (43) and sixth in reception yards per game (67.9) among Frontier players. He needs seven more receptions to reach 100 for his career.
• Despite last week's struggles, the Raiders are still putting up the 11th-most points (44.4) and 18th-most yards (444.9) in the NAIA. Senior Blake Asciutto enters the week third in both completion rate (63.2%) and yards per attempt (8.8) and first in touchdown-to-interception ratio (15-to-2) among Frontier quarterbacks. Over 34 career games, he has logged the third-most TD passes (52) and fourth-most passing yards (6,505) in Raider history.

MORE ON EASTERN:

• Tim Camp, EOU's 17th-year head coach, enters the week with a record of 87-88. He and the Mountaineers have won five of their last six games and are seeking their first road win against a Top 25 team since 2019, when they stole a 24-21 decision at then-No. 20 SOU.
• The aforementioned Glasper is the reigning FC Offensive Player of the Week. He is completing 61% of his attempts for 253.4 yards per game with 19 TDs and five interceptions on the season.
• Glasper has a major weapon in 5-foot-9 senior receiver Malachi Spurrier, who leads the FC in receptions per game (8.1), reception yards per game (118.0) and reception TDs (9). Spurrier has eclipsed 100 receiving yards three games in a row. Last year against SOU, the All-Frontier performer recorded eight catches for 119 yards.
• EOU also has the reigning FC Defensive Player of the Week in senior defensive back Blaine Shaw, who went for 19 tackles at C of I. The Mountaineers' most disruptive defenders are linemen Sam Cadenas (7 ½ TFL) and Gabriel Shukle (5 ½ TFL), who own four sacks apiece. EOU is near the bottom of the Frontier in sacks (12) and middle of the pack in takeaways (14). The Mountaineers are surrendering 28.1 points and 416.1 yards per game. Only Arizona Christian is allowing more passing yards (257.8).

HOME HISTORY: SOU owns a 115-70 all-time record at Raider Stadium, where the team has won six in a row dating back to last year. The Raiders are 40-17 as the designated home team in Frontier play and are 28-4 in Frontier home games against unranked opponents. No unranked opponent has won in Ashland since Eastern Oregon in 2022.

THE FRONTIER FILES: The Raiders made their Frontier debut in 2012 and have gone 71-43 in conference play since, giving them a higher winning percentage (.623) than any other FC team in that span. They've won two titles, in 2012 and '17, and finished among the top-two in six of 11 seasons. Last year's Raiders tied for fourth place at 5-3, their first winning record since 2018. Frontier teams have combined for 19 NAIA playoff wins since SOU joined, and the Raiders have accounted for 10 of those.