Live video: https://www.wiacnetwork.com/uwplatteville/. Jimmie Kaska will call the play-by-play and Wally Trouten will have the analysis for UWP's live stream 

Live statistics: https://www.letsgopioneers.com/sports/fball/2024-25/boxscores/20240907_ed4r.xml

Series: 8th meeting, UW-Platteville leads 6-1
Lakeland and UW-Platteville meet for the eighth time and for the second straight year. The Pioneers rolled to an 80-13 win in last year's game at Lakeland, scoring 56 points in the first half and rolling up 571 yards of offense and 30 first downs in the game. Robby Michael provided some of the few highlights for the Muskies, rushing for touchdowns from 14 and 13 yards out and gaining 87 yards on the ground. The teams last played at Platteville Sept. 22, 2018, with the Pioneers prevailing 49-12. Lakeland's lone win in the series came in the first meeting on Sept. 5, 1998, a 21-14 victory in the season opener. Kevin Fix passed for 201 yards and Curtis Beals rushed for 103 yards and a TD, and the Muskies defense forced six UWP turnovers.

About Lakeland: The Muskies begin their 88th season of football and will aim to improve on last year's 4-6 overall mark that included a 3-5 record in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. Lakeland's season was a mix of good and bad, with the good including convincing road wins at Buena Vista (Iowa) and Rockford and a rally from 20 points down with seven minutes left to defeat Eureka in the season finale. The Muskies also missed opportunities to move up the NACC standings, though, with a pair of three-point losses at home to Concordia Wisconsin and St. Norbert in the first half of the season, and had offensive struggles late in the season including three straight games later in the season failing to top 250 yards of offense.

Lakeland returns an experienced team for the second straight year, this year with 15 starters back led by Michael. A two-year starter at quarterback, the junior and Sheboygan native has over 3,200 yards passing and nearly 1,700 yards rushing in two years. A defense with eight returning starters includes second team all-NACC selection Jake Leclaire and honorable mention picks Shamond Oliver and Karlis Ozols. The Muskies were picked fifth in the NACC preseason poll of league coaches and sports information directors.

About UW-Platteville: The Pioneers finished 7-4 overall last year and 4-3 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. UWP ended the year on a high note with three straight wins including a victory over Augustana (Ill.) in the Culver's Isthmus Bowl, a game matching the top teams in the WIAC and College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin not selected for the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Pioneers' seven wins all came by at least 15 points, while four-point losses to Division II Michigan Tech and 6th-ranked UW-La Crosse keeping Platteville from a spot in the D-III playoffs.

Ryan Munz is in his third year as head coach after succeeding Mike Emendorfer, the winningest coach in program history who led the Pioneers from 1999-2021. UWP returns an experienced offense including starting QB Michael Priami and nearly all of its rushing and receiving production, but the defense lost 10 of 11 starters from a year ago. Platteville was picked fourth in the WIAC's preseason poll and is aiming for its first Division III playoffs visit since 2016.

Lakeland in season openers: Lakeland has an overall winning record in its history of football, but not in openers where it is 26-61 all-time in season-opening games. The Muskies have lost their opener each of the last two years, including a loss to Illinois College in 2022; before that, the Muskies had won five of their previous seven season debuts. This is the fourth time Lakeland and UW-Platteville have met in the opener, and the Pioneers come in with a 2-1 record in those games.

Roster makeup: The Muskies enter the season with a roster of 96 players that is dominated by natives of Wisconsin and Illinois. Wisconsin holds the lead over the pack with 36 Muskies on the roster, followed by 26 from Illinois. Next are Texas (7), Michigan (6), Indiana (5), Florida (4), California and Nevada (3) and Alabama (2). Including single members of the team from Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi and Washington, a total of 13 states are represented on this year's team.