Sept. 18, 2000

After an exciting 28-25 home win over nationally ranked Illinois State of the Gateway Conference, Southeast Missouri State will host league leading Western Kentucky in the OVC opener for the Indians on Saturday at 6 p.m.

Southeast is now 2-1 while Western Kentucky is 2-0 and 1-0 in the OVC. The Hilltoppers have an OVC win over Tennessee-Martin and a win last Saturday over Elon, ranked 14th nationally in Division I-AA.

Western Kentucky is the OVC's highest ranked team in the Sagarin Ratings of all Division I teams (I-A and I-AA). The Hilltoppers are rated 97th nationally by Sagarin while Southeast is 162nd. Using the Sagarin formula, WKU is a 13 point favorite in Saturday night's game.

But rankings don't seem to bother the Indians who used big plays to knock off 12th ranked Illinois State in front of 8,125 enthusiastic fans at Houck Stadium

Isaac Huddleston had a 46-yard interception return for a touchdown, Curtis Cooper scored on a 55-yard run on a faked punt and Rodney Woodall scored on an 80-yard fumble return in the fourth quarter.

With Southeast fans screaming encouragement the Southeast defense held off Illinois State seven times inside the 10-yard line in the final two minutes of play.

Western Kentucky has been dominant in two wins this season, whipping Tennessee-Martin 71-0 and shutting out Elon 23-0 on the road. In OVC team statistics, Western Kentucky leads in nine team statistical categories. The Hilltoppers are the only team in I-AA football that have not allowed a point scored this season.

Western allows opponents just 159 total yards per game while rushing for 343.5 yards per game. WKU averages a league best 47 points per game.

Southeast ranks second in the OVC in both kickoff and punt returns while Huddleston is tied for the league lead in interceptions with two. Cooper is third in the league in kickoff returns with an average of 15.83 yards per return and is ranked sixth in all purpose yards with 102.3 per game.

Punter Jason Witczak who had four punts over 50 yards in the win over Illinois State including a 63 yard effort, ranks third in OVC punting with an average of 42.83 yards per punt. He was named the OVC Special Teams Player of the Week for his effort against Illinois State.

It will be Southeast's OVC opener against an unbeaten and highly touted Western Kentucky team. It should be another exciting game.