Southeast Travels In-State to Play No. 6 Missouri :: Redhawks defeated Southwest Baptist in Week 1

Sept. 1, 2008

Date: Sept. 6, 2008
Kickoff: 6:00 p.m. (CST)
Location: Memorial Stadium, Columbia, Mo. (68,349)
Affiliations: Missouri, BCS, Big XII Conference, Southeast Missouri, FCS, Ohio Valley Conference
2007 Records: Missouri 12-2, 7-1 (Big XII), Southeast Missouri 3-8, 2-6 (OVC)
2008 Records: Missouri 1-0, Southeast Missouri 1-0
Television: FSN Pay-Per-View
The Coaches: Gary Pinkel, 50-37 in his 8th year at Mizzou, Tony Samuel is 8-15 in his 3rd year at Southeast
Radio: Southeast Radio Network anchored by K-103 FM in Cape Girardeau. Other network stations include Team 1380 in St. Louis, KSIM in Sikeston, KWOC in Poplar Bluff and KMAL in Malden. Erik Sean will do play-by-play with Ron Hines offering analysis.
Internet: Southeast Radio Network broadcast can be heard over the internet at www.k103fm.com.

THE TEAMS: Both teams are 1-0 after season opening wins. Southeast beat Division II Southwest Baptist 35-28 in overtime while Missouri beat number 20 ranked Illinois 52-42.

THE COACHES: Tony Samuel is 8-15 in his third season at Southeast. He is 42-72 in 11 years as a head coach including eight seasons at New Mexico State. Gary Pinkel is 38-34 in his seventh year at Missouri and is 111-71 in his 17th year as a collegiate head coach.

THE SERIES: Missouri leads the series 1-0 with Missouri winning 20-0 in 1936 when Southeast was coached by Abe Stuber.

LAST WEEK: The Redhawks had to come from behind to defeat Southwest Baptist 35-28 in overtime. Southeast trailed 28-12 going into the fourth quarter, but scored 23 straight points to claim the win. Doug Spada's 47-yard field goal tied the game with 1:41 remaining and Lillard's 23-yard pass to Miles Edwards in overtime gave the Redhawks the win.

ABOUT MISSOURI: The Tigers, ranked sixth nationally in the BCS, are 1-0 after a 52-42 win over Illinois in St.Louis. The Tigers rolled up 549 yards in total offense, but allowed Illinois 532 yards in total offense. Chase Daniel was 26-45 passing for 323 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. All-American receiver and return man Jeremy Maclin had four punt returns for 56 yards and three kickoff returns for 145 yards including a 99-yard TD return. Maclin had 234 all-purpose yards.

QUOTING COACH SAMUEL: "I watched the Missouri vs. Illinois game on television and was really impressed with Missouri. They have a darned good football team. They are fast, strong up front and play extremely hard. The quarterback (Chase Daniel) is the trigger man, but he has a number of good running backs and receivers. They are the real deal."

MIZZOU GAME ON PAY-PER-VIEW: Missouri and FSN have announced that the Southeast Missouri game will be televised live via pay-per-view. The pay-per-view telecast will be available on participating cable systems in the region and nationwide to satellite dish customers. Suggested retail price for residential purchase is $29.95.

SOUTHEAST 1-12 vs. BCS (I-A) TEAMS: Since moving to FCS (I-AA) in 1992, Southeast Missouri is 1-12 vs. BCS (I-A) teams. The only win was a victory at Middle Tennessee, 24-14, in 2002. Last season, the Redhawks lost at Cincinnati. The Missouri game will be the first against an opponent from the Big 12.

OVC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Senior quarterback Houston Lillard (Oakland, Calif./Laney CC) and junior cornerback Eddie Calvin (St. Louis, Mo./Rockwood Summit) were awarded the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week Awards.
Lillard was 27-39 passing for a career-high 387 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Southeast comeback Thursday. He passed for 265 yards after halftime. Down 28-12 with 10:43 left in regulation, Lillard hit fellow senior Michael Williamson (Arlington, Texas/Lamar) on a 14-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 10. Less than five minutes later, he connected with sophomore Miles Edwards (Sicklerville, N.J./Winslow Township) on a career-long 80-yard scoring strike to pull the Redhawks within three. After the game went into overtime, Lillard again found Edwards for a 23-yard touchdown pass that proved to be the game-winner after the Southeast defense held on the ensuing possession.
Calvin registered a career-high with three interceptions in the first half of Thursday's contest. He gained 71 return yards, including a 62-yard return on the final play of the first half. He also added seven tackles and broke up a pass in the game.

REDHAWKS IN THE NATIONAL STATS: After just one game, Southeast ranks second nationally (FCS) in passing offense with 387 yards per game, seventh in net punting with 43.40 per punt and ninth in passing efficiency with 177.94.

LILLARD TOPS NATIONALLY IN TOTAL OFFENSE: Senior quarterback Houston Lillard leads the nation (FCS) in total offense after 351 yards in the opening win over Southwest Baptist. He ranks seventh nationally in passing efficiency with 177.97.

EDWARDS NATIONAL LEADER IN RECEPTIONS PER GAME: Sophomore Miles Edwards leads the nation in receiving yards per game with 204 in the season opener. He also ranks second in receptions per game with 10, seventh in all-purpose running with 204 yards per game and 12th in scoring with 12 points.

CALVIN LEADS THE NATION IN INTERCEPTIONS: Junior Eddie Calvin leads the FCS with three interceptions.; He had three interceptions in the first half of the Southwest Baptist game and also had seven tackles and one pass break up.

STAUFFER SECOND NATIONALLY IN TACKLES: Senior linebacker Nick Stauffer is tied for second nationally in tackles with 16. He had 10 solo stops and six assists. Stauffer also had a fumble recovery.

GUGLER TOPS IN SACKS: Ben Gugler, a converted tight end, had two sacks in the season opener to rank him tied for first in the FCS.

SPADA HANDLES ALL KICKING: Preseason all-OVC Doug Spada will handle all kicking and punting. In last week's opener, Spada averaged 47.60 yards per punt to rank second nationally and had field goals of 33 and 47 yards to rank tied for first nationally in field goals per game with two.
Spada, was an honorable mention All-American and first team all-OVC selection last season when he averaged 42.5 yards per punt.
As a prep player in Shelby, N.C., he was MVP of the soccer team and trained for soccer in England with the prestigious Chelsea Football Club.

INJURIES: Linebacker Patrick Malone (foot) and running back Henry Harris (knee) missed the Southwest Baptist game with injuries. They are doubtful for the Missouri game.

CAPTAINS: The football team has elected five captains for the 2008 season. Quarterback Houston Lillard and wide receiver Michael Williamson will captain the offensive unit while the defensive captains will be linebacker Nick Stauffer, tackle Nick Ketelsleger and cornerback Kendall Magana.

REDHAWKS IN THE NFL: Three former Redhawks players are on NFL rosters going into the first game of the season. Eugene Amano is an offensive lineman with the Tennessee Titans, Dan Connolly is an offensive line with the New England Patriots, Dimitri Patterson is a cornerbackback for the Kansas City Chiefs and Edgar Jones is a tight end for the Baltimore Ravens.

COACHING CHANGES: There are minimal coaching staff changes for the 2008 season. Eric Ravellette has left the staff after two seasons to become an assistant coach at Ferris State. Graduate assistant Matthew Vincent has taken a job as a graduate assistant in compliance at Central Michigan.
Justin Kramer, who was director of football operations and defensive line coach, will move to the offense as tackles and tight ends coach. Kramer, who was an offensive lineman during his playing days at Southern Illinois-Carbondale, will also be recruiting coordinator. Doug Brady, a former quarterback for Tony Samuel at New Mexico State, has joined the staff as a graduate assistant. He will work with the quarterbacks. Pat Christian, a defensive lineman for the Redhawks last season, will be a student assistant working with the defensive line that will be tutored by head coach Tony Samuel.
Creston Moore is the new director of football operations for the Redhawks. He worked with the team video last season.

STRENGTH COACH LEAVES: Redhawks strength coach Clete McLeod has resigned to accept a job as football strength coach at Oregon State. Southeast hopes to announce the hiring of a new strength coach this week.

BCS TRANSFERS: The Redhawks have two new BCS transfers. Running back Henry Harris is a transfer from the University of Memphis and Ashton Farmer is a transfer from Arkansas State. Both will be eligible this season.
Harris, 5-8, 185, played in four games at Memphis last season. As a prep star at Christian Brothers High School in Memphis, he rushed for 1,579 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior.
Farmer, 6-7, 240, played basketball at Arkansas State the past two seasons. He played in 62 basketball games at ASU. Farmer was a prep football and basketball player at Charleston High School. He caught 39 passes for 658 yards as a high school senior.

NEBRASKA CONNECTION: Eight Southeast coaches have ties to Nebraska. Head coach Tony Samuel played at Nebraska and served as an assistant coach under Tom Osborne. New outside linebackers coach Troy Dumas was an All-American linebacker for the Huskers, wide receivers coach Lorenzo Brinkley, defensive backs coach Kenny Wilhite, defensive coordinator Tim McGuire and offensive line coach Brian Boerboom all played for the Huskers. Running backs coach Chris Norris played under Tom Osborne when Samuel was an assistant in Lincoln and the father of offensive tackles/tight ends coach Justin Kramer had Samuel as a position coach.

REDHAWKS AGAIN HAVE ST. LOUIS RADIO STATION: The Southeast Missouri Football Radio Network will again include 1380 ESPN Radio in St. Louis. The network, operated by Mississippi River Radio will be anchored by 100,000-watt K-103 FM in Cape Girardeau. Other network stations include KSIM, Sikeston; KWOC, Poplar Bluff and KMAL, Malden. Erik Sean will be the play-by-play voice of Redhawks football with former quarterback Rick Wieser adding commentary for home games and Ron Hines, Sports Information Director, handling commentary on road games. Todd Bonacki will be a sideline reporter for home games.

Tony Samuel ON RADIO: In addition to pre and post-game shows on the Southeast Radio Network, Samuel will be on KGIR, 1220 Radio in Cape Girardeau every Monday at 9 a.m. Fans can call in questions to the show hosted by Erik Sean.

REDHAWKS FOOTBALL WITH Tony Samuel: Samuel will have a weekly 30-minute television show on The Heartland's CW, WQWQ-TV. The show will air at 11:05 p.m. on Mondays and will be hosted by KFVS-TV sports director Todd Richards. The show will also be shown on Charter Cable Channel 11 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday's at 8 p.m. It will also be run on the KFVS-TV/Southeast Weather Channel (Charter Channel 113) on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights at 6:30 p.m. KFVS 12 WEBCAST: All Southeast home football games, except the Sept. 11 game on ESPNU, will be WebCast by KFVS12.com. Randy Ray will handle the play-by-play with Todd Richards adding commentary.

OVC SPORTS.TV: Southeast football games will also be video streamed on the Ohio Valley Conference's premium website, OVCSports.tv which can be accessed by logging on to the league's official website, OVCSports.com. Subscriptions are available on an annual, seasonal and per event basis.

TECH GAME ON ESPNU: The Redhawks will host Tennessee Tech in the OVC opener on Thursday, Sept. 11, in a game that will be nationally televised by ESPNU. Charlie Neal will have the play-by-play with Jay Walker adding commentary.

NEXT WEEK: The Redhawks will host Tennessee Tech in the OVC opener at Houck Stadium. The game will kickoff at 6:30 p.m. and will be televised live by ESPNU.