Week 1 Game Notes at UW-Stout

For the first time in program history, the Carroll University football team will open their season on a Thursday night, as they will kickoff their 2024 season at UW-Stout in Menomonie, Wis. on Thursday at 6 p.m. In a game of firsts, this will also mark the first time that these two schools have ever faced each other on the gridiron, despite each program existing for more than 100 years.

"We've never played a Thursday night game to open the season, so we're excited about that," Carroll Head Football Coach Mike Budziszewski said. "Our players enjoy playing under the lights, and I think it's going to be an awesome atmosphere up in Menomonie."

Both teams finished last season by dropping two of their final three contests. UW-Stout ended the season 4-6, while Carroll posted a 5-5 record, while competing in the WIAC and CCIW conference, respectively, which traditionally are two of the better NCAA Division-III conferences around.

"It's great to have a non-conference match-up between schools from two of the best conferences in the entire country," Budziszewski said. "It also keeps us relatively local in the state of Wisconsin, which is great for recruiting, and it will just be a quality college football game."

Last season, Carroll ripped off three wins to start the season, which is the program's best start since 2014 when they won their first seven games. In order for the Pioneers to eclipse last season's start, they must first take care of business this week. They'll also have to do the majority of that away from home early in the season, as they don't host a home game until September 28.

"We have a 1-0 philosophy of winning each week. It doesn't matter who or where we play," Budziszewski said. "We are excited to get back to the friendly confines of Schneider Stadium later this month, but for now, we have to go take care of business on the road."

Carroll relied heavily on their offensive attack last season, breaking school records for both single season points (364) and yards (4,027), among others. This year's team is expected to have that kind of impact on both sides of the ball, with high hopes for a defensive unit that lost just three players from a year ago.

"Our defense has been working really hard during Fall camp. We're going to be a defense that will have a great opportunity to stop every offense we see this season," Budziszewski said. "This is a great way for them to start the season, proving to the WIAC and CCIW, all the work they've put in to get to this point."

Much like Carroll, UW-Stout also scored a lot of points last season, averaging 33.4 points per game. They finished the year ranked third in the WIAC in passing yardage (293.9 ypg) and fifth in rushing (136.9 ypg). They will battle a Carroll team that allowed just 99.2 rushing yards per game last season, while recording 36 sacks and yielding 18.7 points per game. All of those ranked among the top three in the CCIW.

"UW-Stout is a well coached team that always plays hard, and they have talent all across the board," Budziszewski said. "We just have to play our brand of football and stop their run game, while establishing ours."

This non-conference contest will hopefully prepare the Pios for when things matter the most - the usual grueling nine-game slate of CCIW games, which will all follow next week's bye.

"Anytime we play a quality opponent, it's going to get us prepared," Budziszewski said. "We're treating this like any other, but it's going to be a great opportunity for us to see where we match up against a quality opponent from the WIAC."