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HISTORY & TRAD.
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Football To Host Southern Illinois Game notes and depth chart for September 8 matchup.
Sept. 4, 2001
Complete Release in PDF Format
Southeast Missouri State vs. Southern Illinois THE TEAMS: Southeast is 0-1 after a tough 16-12 road loss at I-A Eastern Michigan while SIU will be playing in its season opener. Both teams were 3-8 last season. THE COACHES: Tim Billings, a former assistant at Marshall, Missouri and Oklahoma, is 3-9 in his second season at Southeast Missouri. He is 1-0 vs. SIU. Jerry Kill, former head coach at Emporia State and Saginaw Valley State, is in his first season at SIU. THE SERIES: Southeast Missouri leads the long series 34-27-8. Since Southeast moved to Division I-AA in 1991, SIU leads the series 6-3. The teams first met in 1913 with Southeast gaining a 17-14 win. LAST SEASON: Southeast staged the third best comeback in Division I-AA history by coming back from a 31-0 first half deficit to win 34-33 at McAndrew Stadium in Carbondale. In the comeback, Bobby Brune completed 16-25 passes for 230 yards and two TD's including the game winning 63-yard scoring pass to Curtis Cooper with just 1:18 remaining. Cooper also had a 66-yard punt return for a touchdown. Tom Koutsos had 23 carries for 159 yards and three TD's for Southern Illinois. LAST WEEK: Eastern Michigan got its only touchdown of the game with 1:47 remaining to give the I-A Eagles a 16-12 win over Southeast. Curtis Cooper rushed the ball 16 times for 129 yards to become the first 100-yard rusher since Rashad West rushed for 135 yards in the final game of 1999. Junior college wide receivers Adrian Sanders and Willie Ponder both had strong games. Sanders had seven catches for 70 yards and one TD while Ponder had six catches for 120 yards. Redshirt freshman quarterback Jeromy McDowell, in his first collegiate game, completed 17-35 passes for 222 yards and one TD while being intercepted once. True freshman kicker Derek Kutz had field goals of 27 and 23 yards. MATHIS HONORED BY OVC: Senior linebacker Corey Mathis was selected as the Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week after recording 12 tackles against Eastern Michigan. Mathis' total included three tackles for losses of nine yards and one quarterback sack for a three yard loss. HOME OPENERS: Since moving to Division I-AA in 1991, Southeast is 4-6 in home openers at Houck Stadium. Last season, the Indians opened the home season with a 28-25 win over Illinois State, nationally ranked at the time. SOUTHEAST VS. GATEWAY: Southeast was 2-1 vs. Gateway Conference teams last season with wins over SIU and Illinois State and a loss to Southwest Missouri. Southeast will host Southwest Missouri State next week and will play at Illinois State on Sept. 22. McDOWELL SOLID IN OPENER: Redshirt freshman Jeromy McDowell has been tabbed the starting quarterback for the Indians after beating out two seniors. In the opener at Eastern Michigan, McDowell completed 17-35 passes for 222 yards and one TD while being intercepted once. He ranks first in the OVC in total offense with 188 yards per game. McDowell threw for 23 touchdowns while completing 63% of his passes two seasons ago at North County High School in Bonne Terre. The 23 TD passes in a season ranks as the ninth best ever by a Missouri high school player. He was a three-time all-state selection. Seniors Rashad West, who has been hampered by a knee injury, and Bob Brune will backup McDowell. West has thrown for 1,828 yards and rushed for 677 yards in his two seasons at Southeast. Brune has passed for 3,415 yards in his three seasons at Southeast. NEW RECEIVERS LEAD OVC: After one game, junior college transfer Adrian Sanders leads the OVC and ranks 15th nationally in receptions per game with seven. Willie Ponder leads the OVC and ranks 15th nationally in receiving yards per game with 120 FRESHMAN KICKERS: Southeast kicking duties will be handled by a pair of true freshmen. Derek Kutz is scheduled to kick PAT's and field goals while Brian Emmendorfer will kick off. Kutz, who was 2-3 in field goals in the opener and is tied for the OVC lead and ranks in a tie for second nationally with two field goals. He holds five Missouri high school records including 52-52 PAT's last season, the best career PAT percentage with 98-99, 93 straight PAT's and 28 career field goals. He is tied for the state record for kicking points with 81 last season. His long field goal in high school was 46 yards. Emmendorfer has two of the longest field goals in Missouri high school history, 57 and 58 yards. YOUNG SQUAD: The current Indian squad has 47 freshman and sophomores on the 76 man squad. There are 37 freshmen including redshirt freshmen and 9 sophomores. There are 19 juniors and only 11 seniors. Only two starters on offense (center West McKee and tackle Justen Meyer) and three starters on defense (tackle James Jennette, and defensive backs Leotis Belcher and Isaac Huddleston) were a part of the Southeast football program when Billings became head coach. INJURIES: Junior defensive tackle Jermaine Motley suffered a sprained knee in the Eastern Michigan game and is questionable for the SIU game. Backup linebacker Tyson Gooch underwent shoulder surgery just prior to the start of fall drills and will be out for the season. Senior center Jon Jensen has never fully recovered from a shoulder injury and has left the team. Junior defensive end Ryan Roth is recovering from foot surgery and is out indefinitely. NESSMITH RULED INELGIBLE: Sophomore wide receiver Chris NesSmith has been declared academically ineligible for the season. SIX CAPTAINS SELECTED: The Indian squad has elected six captains for the 2001 season. Serving as offensive captains will be senior running back Curtis Cooper and junior wide receivers Willie Ponder and Adrian Sanders. Defensive captains will be junior linemen James Jennette and Jermaine Motley along with sophomore linebacker Ricky Farmer. NEW STRENGTH COACH: Paul Helsel has joined the Southeast staff as strength and conditioning coach after serving as assistant strength and conditioning coach at Marshall since April of 1998. Helsel worked as an assistant at Alabama from 1994 to 1998. He has both Bachelor and Master's degrees from Alabama and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). BROTHERS: The Southeast defensive line could have two Motleys. Junior defensive tackle Jermaine Motley is a returning starter in the defensive line while his younger brother, sophomore Jeremy Motley, will battle for playing time at defensive end. Jeremy, 6-4, 260, was a quarterback in high school. UNCLES: Former NFL standout Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions is the uncle of Southeast wide receiver Adrian Sanders. Barry Sanders attended last Saturday's game at Eastern Michigan. Former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield is the uncle of Southeast defensive back Marco Tipton. Holyfield attended last year's Southeast game at Tennessee State and talked to the team in the dressing room after the game. ACADEMIC HONORS: Five members of the football team have been honored as members of the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll. Alex Alameda, Andy Dunaway, Mike Gross, Chuck McElroy and Justen Meyer were honored for having a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or higher. PRESEASON ALL-OVC: Senior linebacker Corey Mathis, who ranked 16th nationally in tackles for losses last season, has been named to the preseason all-OVC football team. Junior defensive lineman Jermaine Motley, senior running back Curtis Cooper and sophomore offensive guard Eugene Amano were named honorable mention preseason all-OVC. PRESEASON POLLS: Southeast is picked sixth in the preseason poll of OVC coaches and sports information directors. At least one national publication picks Southeast fifth in the OVC. SIX HOME GAMES: Southeast will have six home games at Houck Stadium beginning with regional rivals Southern Illinois on Sept. 8 and Southwest Missouri on Sept. 15. Tennessee-Martin will be the Family Weekend foe on Oct. 6 and Murray State will be the homecoming opponent on Oct. 20. Eastern Kentucky will be at Houck on Nov. 3 and the Indians close the regular season at home against Quincy on Nov. 10. All home games begin at 6 p.m. except the homecoming game that will kickoff at 1 p.m. RADIO REACHES FIVE STATES: Southeast football games are broadcast throughout Southeast Missouri and into four additional states on the Southeast Football Network operated by the Zimmer Broadcast Group of Cape Girardeau. The games can be heard worldwide on the internet at www.gosoutheast.com. Erik Sean will be in his second season of doing play-by-play of Indian games. Former Southeast quarterback Rick Wieser will add commentary for home games with Ron Hines providing commentary on road games. NEXT WEEK: Southeast Missouri will host Southwest Missouri in a 6 p.m. game at Houck Stadium. Southern Illinois will play at Ball State. DEPTH CHART: For this week's depth chart, check out the PDF file at the top of the page to access the chart and the entire release. |
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