GAME 5 – SOU (1-3, 0-0) vs. No. 8 Montana Western (3-1, 0-0)
1 p.m. Saturday | Ashland, Oregon | Raider Stadium (Laurel Field)
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ASHLAND – The opportunity to wipe the slate clean for the start of divisional play couldn't come at a better time for the Southern Oregon University football team.

The Raiders (1-3) ended non-divisional play on a three-game slide, which essentially left them with one path to the postseason: winning the Frontier Conference West title. Their six-game FC West round robin starts Saturday against the favorite to win the division, No. 8-ranked Montana Western (3-1). The SOU Homecoming matchup is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Raider Stadium's Laurel Field.

THE MATCHUP: The Bulldogs are winless in nine all-time trips to Ashland, and the Raiders are 12-5 overall in a series that started with their 30-12 NAIA Championship Series first-round victory in 2002. Every matchup since has been a Frontier counter, including last year's 28-26 SOU upset of then-No. 4 UMW in which Gunner Yates rushed for 149 yards. SOU will be Yates-less this time around – its offense has sputtered with the Frontier's reigning Offensive MVP sidelined by injury after taking just nine carries this season – while the Frontier's 2023 MVP, UMW quarterback Michael Palandri, has the Bulldogs humming. Palandri is averaging 361.3 passing yards with 15 touchdowns and only one interception, carrying UMW alongside the NAIA's top receiver, junior Eli Nourse.

NAIA TOP 25: The Frontier East has one representative in this week's NAIA coaches' poll, No. 5 Montana Tech, and the Frontier West has three: No. 8 Montana Western, No. 17 Carroll (Mont.) and No. 25 College of Idaho. Tech concluded an impressive non-divisional slate with wins against all three of those West squads and another at then-No. 24 SOU. The Raiders dropped out of the Top 25 following that loss. Defending NAIA champion Grand View (Iowa) remains the unanimous No. 1 in the poll.

THE FRONTIER FILES: This will be the first-ever weekend of Frontier divisional play. The new format was implemented after the conference added five new teams – four of them from the now-defunct North Star Athletic Association – to bring its football membership total to 14. The winners of both seven-team divisions will get automatic spots in the 20-team NAIA Championship Series. The Raiders joined the Frontier in 2012 and have gone 72-44 in conference play since, giving them a higher winning percentage (.621) than any other FC team in that span. SOU went 5-3 in Frontier play each of the last two seasons to finish fourth in the standings.

QUICK HITS:

• The most glaring positive SOU could take away from its 11-10 loss last week at Dakota State (S.D.) was the performance of its defense, which stopped the Trojans on eight consecutive drives before the game-winning field goal with 12 seconds left. Thanks to six SOU sacks, DSU netted negative-17 rushing yards; and even without those sacks, the Trojans averaged 1.1 yards on 20 rushing attempts. The Raiders are surrendering 3.0 yards per carry on the season, the defense's best clip since SOU joined the Frontier.
• Even at full strength, the biggest question mark hanging over the Raiders entering the season was an inexperienced offensive line that returned one starter. They've since lost two offensive linemen to injury and now have a pair of true-freshman starters on their depth chart. Still, graduate transfer Fresh Ison is averaging more yards per carry (5.6) than any FC West running back and has netted 135 on 22 carries over his last two outings.
• Gabe Foster, who led the Frontier in sacks a year ago, is on a 10-sack pace again after posting two with 3 ½ tackles for losses and a forced fumble last week. The senior ranks second among FC West players in both sacks (4) an TFL (7), and dating back to 2024 he has 11 sacks and 14 ½ TFL in SOU's last seven games.
• Junior quarterback Dom Montiel is 11th on the NAIA leaderboard at 275.5 passing yards per game, completing 61% of his attempts. His top target, Brandon Barthel, is one of 12 players in the country averaging over 100 reception yards (101.8). Barthel is also tied for 11th on the national leaderboard with five receiving touchdowns.
• All-Frontier junior safety Spencer Kuffel needs nine more tackles to reach 100 for his career. He owns 25 with six for losses and an interception this season. Before redshirting last season with an injury, he was third among NAIA players with six picks in 2023.

HOME HISTORY: The Raiders are 117-71 all-time at Raider Stadium and had won eight in a row at home before a loss to Montana Tech in their last appearance. SOU is 41-17 as the designated home team in Frontier games, including a 12-13 record against ranked teams in conference play. The Raiders have won their last two homecoming games by 40-plus points.

MORE ON WESTERN:

• The aforementioned Eli Nourse, son of head coach Ryan Nourse, has accumulated over 100 receiving yards 11 times since the start of last season and in all four outings this year. His average of 159.5 is the best in the country by a margin of 11 yards, and he has already made 42 catches. In two career games against SOU, the junior has compiled 21 receptions for 280 yards and four TDs.
• Nourse isn't the only receiving weapon for a Bulldogs team that uses its running backs sparingly. (Palandri, their quarterback, has accounted for five of the team's six rushing TDs and more carries than anyone on the roster.) Seth Shook is the reigning Frontier Offensive Player of the Week after making three catches for three scores and 124 yards in last week's 41-21 win over Dickinson State. Shook is posting 89.3 yards per game and leads the team with six TDs.
• Defensively, the Bulldogs are allowing 20 points per game and are especially effective against the pass, conceding only 5.6 yards per attempt. Senior lineman Tyler Walker leads the charge and the Frontier with nine tackles for losses and 5 ½ sacks. As a team, the Bulldogs have amassed 15 sacks compared to opponents' two.
• Ryan Nourse, in his 12th season as head coach, owns a 67-46 record and led the Bulldogs to Frontier championships three of the last four years. He collected his first playoff win last year before UMW bowed out in the national quarterfinal round against Morningside (Iowa). His teams are 3-7 against SOU.