Assistant coaches for the team were: [2] The Pioneers scheduled season opener on September 6 at the Apprentice School in Newport News, Virginia, was cancelled[3] due to the arrival of Tropical Storm Hanna.

Union college wore down the Pioneer defense in the hot and humid weather conditions, holding the ball for over 22 minutes during the final two quarters.

[4] The Malone College football team piled up 30 unanswered first-half points in a 43–3 victory on the road Olivet Nazaarene (IL) University.

[7] The Tigers were finally able to get on the scoreboard with a field goal on their opening drive of the third quarter, but that would turn out to be the only points Malone's defense would surrender as the unit limited Olivet Nazarene to 167 yards of total offense and 10 first downs.

[13] Malone led 35–3 at halftime and then stretched its advantage to 42–3 midway through the third quarter before Taylor added two late scores to account for the 42–17 final.

[15] Malone moved up in rankings to 22nd in the NAIA National Poll and registered a come-from-behind 24–21 victory over local rival Walsh University at Fawcett Stadium.

Trailing 21–17 late in the fourth quarter, the Pioneers took possession of the ball with 4:03 remaining on the clock and proceeded to march down the field on a 12-play, 96-yard scoring drive that was capped off by a 31-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Billy Bob Orsagh to wide receiver Tyler Davis.

[16] Walsh then got the ball back with a little over a minute remaining, but was unable to get into field-goal range as the Pioneer defense stopped the Cavaliers on downs to cement the 24–21 victory.

[17] Malone entered this week ranked 18th in NAIA National Poll and registered its fifth consecutive victory on Saturday afternoon at Fawcett Stadium with a 22–6 non-conference win against Urbana University.

However, as it was able to do throughout the contest, the Malone defense came up with a big stop when it needed it most, keeping the Cougars out of the end zone on four straight plays to preserve the four-point triumph.

With the victory, Saint Francis secured at least a share of the league title, pushing its home winning streak to 50 games and improving its record to 9–0 overall and 5–0 in the MSFA Mideast.

[23] Ohio Dominican entered the game coming of a previous 56–0 win over Urbana while Malone came in after a 45–24 loss to Saint Francis (Indiana).

[28] At the conclusion of the 2008 regular season, Malone had created several impressive rankings for both individual and team play in the NAIA Division I, including:[29]