GAME 1 – SOU (0-0) vs. Lincoln (Calif.) (0-2)
1 p.m. Saturday | Raider Stadium | Ashland, Oregon
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ASHLAND – The 90th season of Southern Oregon University football begins Saturday at Raider Stadium, where the Raiders kick off their 11-game schedule with a 1 p.m. matchup against Lincoln (Calif.).

The game is the first of three SOU plays before entering Frontier Conference play. It arrives with a welcome backdrop of renewed expectations: Under second-year head coach Berk Brown, the Raiders are coming off their first winning season since 2018, were picked top-three in the FC preseason poll for the first time in five years, and have 13 starters back.

ABOUT THE OPPONENT: The matchup is the first between SOU and Lincoln. The Oaklanders are 3-32 since introducing their program in 2021, playing exclusively on the road. They're 0-2 this season – losing 45-7 on Aug. 24 at College of Idaho, and 66-6 last Saturday at Northern Arizona. They don't belong to a conference or a national division, though last season they matched up against eight different NCAA FCS opponents. Through two games, quarterback Jack Clavel has completed 17-of-33 passes for 112 yards, Darius Maxwell has collected six receptions, and their defense has allowed an average of 397 total yards and 6.6 yards per rush.

MILESTONE WATCH: SOU's next victory will mark the 400th in team history. The Raiders' all-time record of 399-390-15 dates back to 1927. They notched their 100th win in 1962, their 200th in 1984, and their 300th in 2006. Only 23 other active NAIA programs have reached the 400-win mark.

NAIA TOP 25: The Raiders were the first team out of the preseason NAIA coaches' poll, receiving votes for the first time in five years at No. 26 overall. A strong showing against Lincoln would likely get them in when the first Top 25 of the regular season is released next Monday: Of the 13 teams ahead of them that have already played, five opened with losses.

AROUND THE FRONTIER: Montana Tech, ranked No. 21 in the NAIA preseason poll, gave the Frontier a national boost by debuting with a 29-22 upset of No. 3 Georgetown (Ky.) last week in Butte. College of Idaho, ranked No. 4, is 2-0 after blowouts of Lincoln and next week's Raider opponent, Simpson (Calif.). SOU and C of I play a non-conference counter Sept. 21 in Ashland before the Raiders open Frontier play Sept. 28 at home against No. 11 Montana Western, the defending FC champion.

ON OPENERS: The Raiders will attempt to collect a season-opening victory for the first time since 2018. They're 4-6 over their last 10 and 10-10 over their last 20 debuts. The last time they debuted with a nonleague game at Raider Stadium predates the Frontier era (2012-preseason): It was Aug. 29, 2009, when they celebrated a 32-28 win against Eastern Oregon. They bring a 110-70 all-time Raider Stadium record into the season.

BRIEFLY:

• This year's Raiders will seek the team's first NAIA Championship Series berth since they made their seventh appearance in 2017. The postseason format changed last year as the field expanded from 16 to 20 teams – 13 automatic (conference champion) and seven at-large qualifiers. It now includes five rounds, though the top-12 seeds get a bye through the first.
• Second-year assistant coach Ty Currie's recent promotion made him SOU's fifth different offensive coordinator in five years. He inherits a veteran unit that last year posted the team's highest points average (30.6) since 2018. Senior quarterback Blake Asciutto has started games over each of the last three seasons and enters 2024 with the sixth-most passing touchdowns (37) and ninth-most passing yards (4,327) in team history. His top-four targets from last year are back, including All-FC second-team selections Jackson Clemmer (25 receptions, 434 yards, 8 TDs) and Sawyer Cleveland (40 receptions, 527 yards, 3 TDs). Sophomore running back Gunner Yates (10 TDs, 6.0 yards/rush in 11 career games) is back after a redshirt season, as is Isaiah Hidalgo, who was second among Frontier players in yards per rush (5.9) last year. They'll run behind an offensive line that returned four starters.
• SOU's defense last year topped all FC teams during the conference schedule in opponents' points (17.6) and yardage (286.3), as well as takeaways (14) and sacks (29). It had to replace nine seniors, though two sophomores – All-FC honorable mention recipients Adonis Jackson at defensive end and Iona Purcell at linebacker – will be looked upon to keep up their promising trajectories. Jackson last year ranked third in FC sacks (5) and eighth in FC tackles for losses (8), while Purcell led the team in total tackles (49). Ty Glumbik, their captain at linebacker and another honorable mention honoree, enters his senior season with 107 tackles over 25 outings.
• The Raiders had the No. 1 red-zone scoring rate (31-of-32) in the NAIA last year thanks in part to place-kicker Brian Batres. The All-FC honorable mention junior went 9-of-11 on field-goal attempts – his only misses coming from 40-plus yards – with a best of 48 yards that matched the sixth-longest in SOU history.
• The Raiders finished 6-4 last season, ending with their best six-game stretch (5-1) since 2017. All four of their losses came against teams that were among the final NAIA Top 25.