Aug. 25, 2003

Football Game Information Southeast Missouri State at Ohio University

Date: Thursday, Aug. 28, 2003

Time: 6 p.m. (CDT)

Location: Peden Stadium, Athens, Ohio

Capacity: 24,000

Affiliations: Ohio, I-A Mid-American Conference (East Division) Southeast Missouri, I-AA Ohio Valley Conference

Series: First Meeting

2002 Records: Ohio 4-8, Southeast Missouri 8-4

The Coaches: Tim Billings is 15-19 after three seasons at Southeast Missouri Brian Knorr is 5-18 after two seasons at Ohio.

Radio: Southeast Radio Network anchored by K-103 FM in Cape Girardeau. Other network stations include KSIM in Sikeston and KWOC in Poplar Bluff. Erik Sean will do play-by-play with Ron Hines as the color analyst. Internet: Southeast Radio Network broadcast can be heard over the internet at www.GoSoutheast.com or www.k103fm.com

www.GoSoutheast.com

P> Southeast Game Notes

THE TEAMS: Southeast Missouri was 8-4 and ranked 23rd nationally in Division I-AA last season while Ohio was 4-8. Southeast was 4-2 the I-AA Ohio Valley Conference while Ohio was 4-4 in the I-A Mid-American Conference-East. Southeast has been picked to win the OVC in a preseason poll of league head coaches. The Indians are ranked 20th nationally in the I-AA poll by The Sports Network and 21st nationally in the USA Today/ESPN poll.

THE COACHES: Tim Billings, a former assistant at Marshall, Missouri and Oklahoma, is 15-19 after three seasons at Southeast. Brian Knorr is 5-18 after two seasons at Ohio.

THE SERIES: This is the first meeting. <

SOUTHEAST VS. I-A: Since moving to NCAA Division I-AA in 1991, Southeast is 1-4 vs. I-A opponents. The win was over Middle Tennessee last season with two losses to Eastern Michigan and losses to Marshall and Hawaii.

SOUTHEAST VS. THE MAC: Southeast is 0-3 vs. Mid-American Conference teams with two losses to Eastern Michigan and one loss to Marshall.

WHO IS THE QUARTERBACK: Any one of three quarterbacks could take the opening snap against Ohio. Jack Tomco, a preseason all-OVC choice who is on The Sports Network Payton Watch list as one of the top 16 players in I-AA football is being challenged by Jeromy McDowell, who missed all but one game last season with a knee injury, and Andrew Goodenough, a transfer from Arizona State who started the Sun Devils' season opener at Nebraska last season before going down with a season ending knee injury. Tomco passed for 3,132 yards and 29 TD's while establishing nine new Southeast records last season. He ranked fifth nationally in passing efficiency. McDowell passed for 2,051 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2001 as a redshirt freshman. Goodenough passed for 2,836 yards and 33 touchdowns at Palomar JC in 2001 to win JC All-America honors.

BIEG NEWS: Preseason honorable mention all-OVC offensive guard Dan Bieg was cleared to play on Tuesday, Aug. 19. He had been held out of contact drills due to a slow healing thumb injury. He will be in the starting lineup for the season opener.

TOP RUSHER RETURNS: Corey Kinsey, who rushed for 1,067 yards last season, is a preseason all-OVC choice. He did not participate in spring drills while concentrating on academics, but will be in the starting lineup for the season opener.

OVC FAVORITE: For the first time ever, Southeast has been picked to win the Ohio Valley Conference title in voting by the league head coaches. Murray State was picked second, Eastern Illinois third, Eastern Kentucky fourth, Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech tied for fifth, Tennessee State seventh, Samford eighth and Tennessee-Martin ninth. The complete poll and OVC release is attached. Street & Smith's 2003 Football National Preview also picked Southeast to win the OVC title.

PRESEASON ALL-OVC: Southeast had a league-high seven players named preseason all-OVC with three more players gaining honorable mention. Jack Tomco, Corey Kinsey, Eugene Amano and Dan Connolly were first team selections on offense with Ryan Roth, Marco Tipton and Dimitri Patterson honored on defense. Honorable mention selections were Ricky Farmer, Mike Miller and Dan Bieg.

TWO TELEVISED GAMES: Two Southeast home games at Houck Stadium will be nationally televised. The home opener on Sept. 6 vs. Southern Illinois will be televised on Fox Sports Midwest and Fox Sports Chicago and will be available nationwide on Fox Sports Digital Nets. The game will kickoff at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 6. The homecoming game on Oct. 4 vs. Eastern Illinois will kickoff at 11:30 a.m. and will be televised live nationally by The Football Network.

TOMCO ON PAYTON WATCH LIST: Senior quarterback Jack Tomco is on the initial Sports Network Payton Watch List. The list profiles 16 potential candidates for the Walter Payton Award which is the I-AA equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. Tomco, who passed for over 3,000 yards and 29 touchdowns last season, is just the second Southeast player to ever be on the watch list. Last season, Willie Ponder was added to the list at mid-season and ended up finishing fourth in the Payton Award voting.

NUMBER CHANGE WITH MEANING: Senior defensive end Ryan Roth will wear number 32 this season to honor the memory of a high school teammate who was killed in the collapse of an apartment deck near Wrigley Field in Chicago on June 28. Rob Koranda was captain of the Naperville (Illinois) North High School team when Roth was a junior. Koranda, who wore number 32, went on to play one season of college football at Princeton before a shoulder injury ended his football career. "Koranda was a friend who was a real inspiration to me," said Roth who is a preseason all-OVC selection at defensive end. "I want to wear number 32 to honor his memory."

KANSAS TRANSFER NOT ELIGIBLE: Defensive tackle Brock Teddleton, 6-6, 315, planned to transfer from Kansas to Southeast, but failed to meet NCAA eligibility requirements

FAMOUS UNCLE: Former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield is the uncle of Southeast defensive back Marco Tipton. Holyfield attended the 2000 Southeast game at Tennessee State and talked to the team in the dressing room after the game.

SOUTHEAST ON RADIO: All Southeast football games will be broadcast live on the Southeast Football Network which is operated by the Zimmer Radio Group of Cape Girardeau. The flag ship station is K-103 Radio, 100,000 watt FM station, that has a signal that reaches into five states. Zimmer Radio group stations KSIM in Sikeston and KWOC in Poplar Bluff also carry the games. The games can also be heard on the internet at www.gosoutheast.com or www.k103fm.com. Erik Sean will be the play-by-play voice of Southeast football with former Indian quarterback Rick Wieser and Todd Bonacki offering commentary on home games and Ron Hines adding commentary on road games.

Tim Billings TV SHOW: Southeast Missouri Football with Tim Billings will be televised weekly on UPN-The Beat. Steve Sotak will host the show that will air on Thursday's at 6:30 p.m. beginning on August 28.

Tim Billings RADIO SHOW: Tim Billings will have a one-hour radio show each Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. The show will be broadcast live from Buffalo Wild Wings in Cape Girardeau on ESPN Radio, 1220 AM. Erik Sean will host the show that will include call-ins and audience participation.

WEEKLY MEDIA CONFERENCE: Coach Tim Billings meets with members of the media every Monday, 11:30 a.m., at the Alumni Center.

OVC TELECONFERENCE: Ohio Valley Conference football coaches will have a weekly teleconference beginning on Tuesday, August 26, 10:00 a.m. All league coaches will participate and will answer questions from the media. Coach Billings will be on at 10:35 a.m. each Tuesday. For more information contact Ryan Altizer at the OVC, (615) 371-1698.

www.GoSoutheast.com: Information on Southeast football can be found on the internet at www.GoSoutheast.com. The live broadcast of all Southeast games can also be heard over the internet.

HOME OPENER: Southeast will open the home season on Saturday, Sept. 6, 6:30 p.m. against SIU-Carbondale. The game will be televised live by Fox Sports Net Midwest and Fox Sports Net Chicago.