Kearney, Neb. – The 115th football season in Nebraska-Kearney history kicks off Thursday night (Sept. 2) when the Lopers host the Missouri Southern State Lions at Ron & Carol Cope Stadium at Foster Field.

The game, likely to feature some rain and wind, is slated to begin at 7 p.m. and is sponsored by First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO). Fans can watch via The MIAA Network, listen to KRVN 93.1/106.9 FM and follow along with live stats. Finally, go to HomeTown Ticketing to attend the game. (online sales only; no cash accepted at the ticket window). 

UNK leads the all-time series, 11-7, and has taken three straight over the Lions. This will be the third time in four years the two have met on opening night, the Lopers winning 45-0 in 2018 and 39-27 in 2019.

Fifth-year head coach Josh Lynn and his staff once again will get to see a fresh face across the field as MSSU hired Abita Bradley as the program's 14th all-time head coach back in February. In his four season-openers, Lynn has faced first-year head coaches in 2017 (Missouri Western's Matt Williamson), 2019 (MSSU's Jeff Sims) and 2020 (Pittsburg State's Brian Wright) with MSSU having new offensive and defensive coordinators in 2018.

The Lopers are coming off a 7-5 2019 season in which it posted the program's fourth all-time postseason win, a 50-33 decision over Winona (Minn.) State in the Mineral Water Bowl. UNK then went 2-0 in a COVID-shortened 2020 season, winning at Pitt State for the first time in 37 years and downing in-state rival Chadron State at home.

Missouri Southern played just one game in 2020/2021, winning at Southern (Okla.) Nazarene of the Great American Conference. On a blustery March day, the Lions got a 51-yard touchdown pass and stopped a late two-point conversion to win, 21-20. In 2019, MSSU went 2-9 with the victories coming over Lincoln and Northeastern State.

The Lopers are beyond a veteran team as they have 37 players who've been apart of the program for at least four years. That includes graduate students (eight), "super" seniors (eight), redshirt seniors (eight) and redshirt juniors. By way of contrast, Missouri Southern has 61 true or redshirt freshmen doting its roster. Some of those freshmen have been around since 2019 but redshirted and then didn't burn an eligibility year last fall/this spring.

Both programs return four 2019 All-MIAA players; QB TJ Davis (Colorado Springs), running back Dayton Sealey (Hastings St. Cecilia) and offensive tackles Corey Hoelck (Giltner) and Kooper Reece (Valentine) for UNK and linebackers Richard Jordan Jr. and Colton Winder, tight end Keandre Bledsoe and receiver Brian Boyd Jr. for the Lions.

Jordan Jr. had 18 tackles in the loss to UNK two years ago. The Lopers raced to leads of 20-0 and 33-6 before MSSU got within six, 33-27, early in the fourth quarter. Kearney managed to get a fourth down stop and then went down the field to finish the game's scoring.

UNK finished with 302 yards on the ground, part of a school-record 4,135 yards and 45 TD's that fall. The Lopers went for 828 more yards and nine scores in just two games last fall. Not surprisingly, the Blue & Gold are among the Division II leaders in every rushing category.

Sealey (1,551) and Davis (1,377) have the most career rushing yards with safety Blake Bubak (Columbus) at 111 tackles to lead the Loper defense. UNK is slated to start seven graduate/super/redshirt seniors on defense.

Meanwhile, 6-4 Dawson Herl will make his first collegiate start at QB for the Lions. He redshirted in 2019 and didn't appear the March win over SNU. Eastern Illinois transfer Jaylon Banks started that game and serves as the backup. Senior back Josh Mercer (156 yards, one TD) provided the offense in the win over the Crimson Storm with Boyd Jr. (43 recep., 706 yards, two TD's) and Bledsoe (35 recep., 437 yds., two TD's) having big 2019 numbers catching balls from a QB who previously was at Georgia and Iowa State. Finally, Jordan Jr. totaled 120 tackles in 2019, having two games of 18 stops and another with 25.

UNK returns to "The Jungle" on Sept. 11 to face Pitt State at night with MSSU's home opener coming that afternoon against Northeastern State.