LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Eastern Oregon University football team celebrates Homecoming Saturday by welcoming Montana Tech to Community Stadium

The No. 21 Orediggers bring a 4-2 overall record and a 4-1 Frontier Conference record to La Grande. Tech's lone loss was a 31-13 loss at No. 2 Carroll on Sept. 25. Montana Tech beat Montana Western at home in its last game, 36-26. All Frontier Conference teams had a bye week last week.

Montana Tech owns a two-game win streak over the Mountaineers, including the last time the two teams met in La Grande on Oct. 24, 2009, and the Orediggers upset the then-ranked No. 18 Mountaineers, 28-24. The Mountaineers watched a 24-14 lead slip away in the second half, and were unable to punch in a final score in the two minutes in the game. EOU ended the game six yards short of the endzone after a final effort on the final play of the game.

Eastern's Chris Ware attempted 42 throws, and 297 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. Jordyn Jackson led EOU receiving with 76 yards on six catches. Miller had five catches for 62 yards. Tech was led by Matt Komac's 208 yards on 15 of 21 passing. He had two touchdowns and an interception for 208 yards through the air. Knuchel carried for 108 yards on 25 carries with two touchdowns.

The Orediggers beat Eastern Oregon to open Frontier Conference play this season on Sept. 4, in Butte, Mont., 39-21. The Mountaineers were ranked No. 21 and Montana Tech amassed 467 yards of total offense. Komac completed 14 of his 24 pass attempts for 234 yards and four touchdowns and ran in two scores. JT McIntyre caught four passes for 103 yards and a score. Drew Savage led the OreDiggers on the ground with 109 yards on 10 carries.

The Mountaineers had 307 yards of offense; 87 yards came on the ground. Ware was 18 of 34 for 220 yards, threw three touchdowns, and was intercepted twice. EOU committed nine penalties and was charged with 76 yards, compared with Montana Tech's six penalties for 50 yards. Eastern's Kevin Sampson ran for 84 yards on 19 carries and Kirk Miller caught four passes for a team-high 90 yards receiving.

The Mountaineers won a 32-20 decision at Alumni Coliseum last season, but it was only their second win ever at Montana Tech. The Orediggers led EOU after the first quarter in last season's first meeting on Sept. 19 in Butte, Mont. But the Mountaineers outscored Tech 27-13 over the final three quarters and won the game.

Tech holds an 11-5 edge in the 16 meetings with the Mountaineers all-time. The Orediggers have lost two of their last three trips in La Grande. Montana Tech is 5-3 at Community Stadium all-time.

Eastern is currently second in the conference averaging 32.8 points per game, while Tech is fourth at 24.8 points per game. The Mountaineer offense is first with an average of 421.7 yards per game and the Orediggers are averaging 344.5 yards per outing which is fourth. EOU leads the league in rushing offense per game (194.3) and is second in passing offense per game (227.3). Montana Tech gives up an average of 155.3 yards per game on the ground. Eastern's 25.4 first downs per game are fifth in the NAIA.

Sampson leads the conference in most rushing statistics and is third in the NAIA in All-Purpose Yards (1,155), All-Purpose Yards per game (192.5), and total rushing (841). The junior is fourth in the NAIA in rushing yards per game (140.2). He has been named Frontier Conference Offensive Player of the Week for two consecutive weeks. He has three straight games over 100 yards rushing.

Sampson needs 383 yards to break Tyronne Gross' school record for rushing yards in a season. Gross had 1,223 yards in 2005. Sampson's 140.2 yards on the ground per game currently tops the EOU record. In 2005, Gross averaged 135.9 yards per game rushing. Sampson is eighth on the Eastern all-time rushing yards in a career with 1,202. He needs 22 yards to overtake the seventh position. Tim Sicocan holds the record with 2,585 yards from 1997 to 2000.

Ware has a good chance to break his 10th school record Saturday. If the junior can throw four pass attempts he will have his fourth career EOU record. Ware would top Chuck Nyby's pass attempt record of 992 attempts in a career. Ware needs 29 completions to break Nyby's completions in a career school record as well.

Seath Kimball has broken three school records this season. The senior owns five school records, including four career marks. If he forces one more fumble this season he will have the EOU career record for forced fumbles in a career with five.

Saturday's game kicks off at 1 p.m. and will be broadcast locally in La Grande on KCMB 104.7 FM and worldwide on EOUSports.com. There is also a video stream on Eastern's new sportscast page, “Eastern Sports Network.” Fans will now have a chance to chat on the player page as they watch the game. The free service is presented by Penn Atlantic broadcast services. A free download of Microsoft Silverlight is needed to view the stream and can be downloaded HERE.

Winds will be calm for Saturday's kickoff and temperatures are forecasted in the low 60's during the game. Clear skies and no precipitation are forecasted as well.