Sept. 7, 2005

Southeast Missouri State at Kent State

Date: Sept. 10, 2005

Time: 3:00 p.m. (CDT)

Location: Dix Stadium, Kent, Ohio (29,287)

Affiliations: Kent State, I-A, Mid-American Conference

Southeast Missouri, I-AA, Ohio Valley Conference

2004 Records: Kent State 5-6, Southeast Missouri 3-8

2005 Records: Kent State 0-1, Southeast Missouri 0-1

The Coaches: Tim Billings is 23-35 in his sixth season at Southeast Missouri

Doug Martin is 5-7 in his second season at KSU

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.k103fm.com.

www.GoSoutheast.com

THE TEAMS: Both teams are 0-1 with Southeast Missouri losing at home to nationally ranked Southern Illinois, 58-23, while Kent State lost at Michigan State, 49-14. Southeast was 3-8 last season while KSU was 5-6.

THE COACHES: Tim Billings, a former assistant at Marshall, Missouri and Oklahoma, is 23-35 in his sixth season at Southeast. He was the 2002 OVC Coach of the Year and the 2002 AFCA Region 3 Coach of the Year.

Doug Martin is 5-7 in his second season at Kent State.

THE SERIES: First Meeting

SOUTHEAST 0-MAC: The Redhawks are 0-6 vs. Mid-American Conference teams since 2000. Southeast has played at Marshall, at Eastern Michigan twice, at Ohio, at Bowling Green and at Central Michigan without winning. INJURIES: Starting running back Austen Collins was injured on the second play of the opener and is out for the season. He will undergo knee surgery.

TEAM ELECTS CAPTAINS: The Redhawks have elected four captains. The offensive captains are quarterback Mike Haley and wide receiver T.J. Milcic. Defensive captains are defensive end Edgar Jones and defensive safety Mike Miller.

HALEY IS THE QB: Senior Mike Haley will be the starting quarterback at Kent State. He started the opener and was 19-35 for 223 yards and one TD with two interceptions. Junior Kevin Ballatore also saw action completing 8-16 passes for 61 yards and one TD. He will see some playing action at Kent State.

BIG TARGETS: Southeast quarterbacks have a pair of tall targets. Tight end Joseph Tuineau (6-8, 280) had four catches for 43 yards in the opener while T.J. Milcic (6-5, 200) had three catches for 86 yards including a 71 yard touchdown reception.

HOLLOMAN IMPRESSIVE: True freshman running back Tim Holloman was pressed into duty when Austen Collins was injured on the second play of the opener. Holloman, who rushed for 1,673 yards and 16 TD's last season at Edgewater High School in Orlando, Fla., had seven carries for 43 yards with a long of 20 yards. He averaged 6.1 yards per carry.

HICKS PICKS: Redshirt freshman Monroe Hicks had one interception returned 47 yards for a touchdown in the SIU game. He also broke up a pass and recorded two tackles.

TAYLOR TOP TACKLER: Junior college transfer D'Eldrick Taylor was the top tackler in the season opener. He had eight tackles including five unassisted stops.

SIMONHOFF IS CONCENSUS ALL-AMERICAN: Junior punter David Simonhoff is a consensus first team preseason All-American. He was a second team All-America pick last season when he ranked second nationally in punting with a Southeast and OVC record of 46 yards per punt. Simonhoff is the only Redhawks player to be named preseason All-OVC. In the opener vs. SIU, Simonhoff had two punts blocked and averaged just 38.2 yards per punt. He had a long of 58 with one punt inside the 20.

PEREZ IS BACK: Francisco Perez, a returning starter at offensive guard, has missed a lot of work in the preseason due to a shoulder injury but has been cleared to play and will see action against KSU.

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR ON ACTIVE DUTY IN IRAQ: Damon Bradford, football defensive coordinator at Southeast Missouri State University is currently on active duty with the Tennessee National Guard in Iraq. Bradford joined the Southeast staff prior to the start of spring drills in 2004 and was called to active duty in the summer of 2004. He previously served as linebacker coach at Tennessee Tech.

ASSISTANT SID ON ACTIVE DUTY IN NEW ORLEANS: Patrick Clark, assistant sports information director at Southeast, has been called to active duty with his Illinois National Guard Unit and is helping with the Hurricane relief in New Orleans.

NEW COACHES: Southeast has five new coaches. Joe Dan Rogers (defensive backs), Rip Flippo (quarterbacks) and C. L. Miller III (defensive ends) joined the staff prior to spring practice while Derek Hill (defensive line) and Steve Canter (tight ends) joined the staff in late July.

The only holdovers from last year's staff are assistant head coach Kip Shaw (running backs), Mike Chavez (offensive line), and Rob Likens (offensive coordinator and wide receivers).

Canter, who joined the staff on the first day of fall drills, is a graduate assistant from Virginia Tech. He was a member of the Virginia Tech team in 2001, 2002 and 2003. He was the 2003 recipient of the Paul Frederick Cobb Award given to the player who shows the most enthusiasm and team spirit. He played in the 2002 Gator Bow, 2002 Diamond Walnut Bowl and 2003 Insight Bowl. Canter was a strength and conditioning graduate assistant on last year's Virginia Tech Sugar Bowl team.

REDHAWKS PICKED EIGHTH IN OVC: Southeast has been picked to finish eighth in the OVC in a preseason poll of league head coaches and sports information directors. Jacksonville State is picked to win the OVC with Eastern Kentucky second and Murray State third.

SOUTHEAST HAS THREE FORMER PLAYERS IN THE NFL: Southeast has had NFL draft choices in two of the last three years. Willie Ponder, a consensus All-American at Southeast, was drafted in the sixth round of the 2002 NFL draft by the New York Giants.

Ponder, the Southeast record holder for receiving yards in a season with 1,453 and career receiving yards record holder with 2,513 yards in 2001-2002, led the NFL in kickoff returns last season.

Eugene Amano, the 2003 Rimington Award winner as the top center in I-AA football, was drafted in the seventh round of the 2003 draft by the Tennessee Titans.

A four-year starter at Southeast, Amano was a part-time starter for the Titans last season and is currently number two on the Titan depth chart at center and both guard positions.

Dan Connolly, an offensive tackle for the Redhawks last season, was signed the day after the 2004 draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars and has made the team. He is currently listed as a second unit guard for the Jaguars.

KENT STATE CONNECTIONS: Southeast Missouri State president, Dr. Kenneth W. Dobbins, received his Ph.D. in higher education administration from Kent State in 1987. From 1981 until 1991, Dr. Dobbins held several positions at Kent State, serving as Assistant Director of Financial Affairs, Assistant Treasurer and Bursar, Registrar, Director of University Auditing and Adjunct Professor of Higher Education Administration. He left KSU in 1991 to become Vice President for Finance and Administration at Southeast Missouri State, and served as Executive Vice President from July 1993 until his appointment as President on July 1, 1999.

Coach Tim Billings is a former assistant at Marshall with the Thundering Herd going 3-0 vs. Kent State when he was on the staff.

BILLINGS ON TELEVISION: Southeast Missouri Football with Tim Billings is televised weekly on UPN-The Beat. Todd Richards hosts the show that airs at 6:30 p.m. each Thursday.

Tim Billings RADIO SHOW: Tim Billings has a one-hour radio show each Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. The show is broadcast live from Port Cape Girardeau on ESPN Radio, 1220 AM. Erik Sean is host for the show that also includes call-ins and audience participation.

NATIONAL TELEVISION FOR SAMFORD GAME: The Southeast game at Samford on Thursday, Sept. 29, will be televised live by ESPNU beginning at 6:30 p.m. (Central Time).

NEXT UP: Southeast will play at regional rival Missouri State on Saturday, Sept. 17, 6 p.m. in Springfield, Mo. The Bears are 0-1 going into a home game with Quincy on Saturday.