Sept. 20, 2005

Jacksonville State at Southeast Missouri State

Date: Sept. 24, 2005

Time: 6:00 p.m. (CDT)

Location: Houck Stadium, Cape Girardeau, Mo. (10,000)

Affiliations: Jacksonville State, I-AA, Ohio Valley Conference

Southeast Missouri, I-AA, Ohio Valley Conference

2004 Records: Jacksonville State 9-2, 7-1 0VC, Southeast Missouri 3-8, 3-5 OVC

2005 Records: Jacksonville State 0-3, Southeast Missouri 0-3

The Coaches: Tim Billings is 23-37 in his sixth season at Southeast Missouri

Jack Crowe is 31-27 in his sixth season at JSU

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 Rick Wieser as the color analyst.

Internet: Southeast Radio Network broadcast can be heard over the internet at www.k103fm.com.

THE TEAMS: It will be the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both teams who are winless on the season.

Southeast Missouri has losses to Southern Illinois, ranked third nationally in Division I-AA, I-A Kent State and Missouri State.

Jacksonville State, the preseason OVC favorite and two-time defending champion, has last minute losses to Furman and Chattanooga and a loss to I-A UAB.

THE COACHES: Tim Billings, a former assistant at Marshall, Missouri and Oklahoma, is 23-37 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.

Jack Crowe is 31-27 in his sixth season at Jacksonville State and is 45-57 in his eighth season as a collegiate head coach after having also served as head coach at Arkansas.

THE SERIES: Jacksonville State leads the series 5-4 and has won both games since the Gamecocks joined the OVC in 2003. The last win for Southeast was 19-13 in 1969.

LAST SEASON: Jacksonville State beat Southeast 47-9 in the final regular season game of the year. The Gamecocks held the Redhawks to 233 yards in total offense while rolling up 548 yards in total offense.

BALLATORE WILL START: Kevin Ballatore came off the bench in the second half of the Missouri State game and drove the Redhawks on scoring drives of 64 and 85 yards. He was 14-19 passing for 147 yards and one TD. He also had three rushes for 15 yards.

On Monday, Coach Tim Billings announced that Ballatore would start against Jacksonville State. "Ballatore moved the team and gave our offense the spark we've been missing," Billings said. "We will see what he can do against Jacksonville State."

For the season, Ballatore is 22-37 for 208 yards and two TD's. He has no interceptions.

INJURIES: Starting running back Austen Collins was injured on the second play of the opener and is out for the season. Defensive tackle Bernard Quinn suffered an elbow injury at Kent State and did not play at MSU. He is questionable this week.

Backup safety Mark Dunaway received a leg injury in the Missouri State game and is doubtful this week.

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 AIRS IT OUT: Senior quarterback Mike Haley established a new Southeast record with 61 pass attempts vs. Kent State. He also tied the school record for completions with 34. He was 34-61 for 275 yards and a touchdown while being intercepted three times.

For the season, Haley is 67-118 with six interceptions and two touchdowns for 656 yards.

BIG TARGETS: Southeast quarterbacks have a pair of tall targets. Tight end Joseph Tuineau (6-8, 280) has 13 catches for 155 yards while T.J. Milcic (6-5, 200) has 12 catches for 220 yards including a 71 yard touchdown reception.

NEW RUNNING BACKS: With the loss of Austen Collins in the opening game, newcomers John Radney and true freshman Tim Holloman have gained more and more playing time. Radney leads the team in rushing with 17 carries for 73 yards while Holloman has 16 carries for 47 yards. Holloman had a 41-yard touchdown run against Kent State called back by a penalty.

Wide receiver Brandon Simpson is the third leading rusher with three carries for 42 yards.

HICKS PICKS: Redshirt freshman Monroe Hicks has two interceptions with one returned 47 yards for a touchdown in the SIU game. He also has five pass break ups, 16 tackles, two tackles for losses of eight yards and has recovered a fumble.

MILLER TOP TACKLER: Senior safety Mike Miller had 14 tackles vs. Missouri State to move to the team lead in tackles. After three games, Miller has 22 tackles, one tackle for a loss of one yard and one quarterback hurry.

JONES SACKS: Junior defensive end Edgar Jones had 2.5 sacks for seven yards in losses against I-A Kent State. He has a total of 11 tackles in three games and also has two quarterback hurries.

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.

Simonhoff had two punts blocked in the season opener vs. SIU. For the season he has 20 punts for an average of 38.2 yards per punt with a long of 65 and five inside the 20.

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).

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 and currently has three players on active rosters in the NFL.

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 and had a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in this season's opener vs. the Arizona Cardinals.

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.

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 Samford in game that will be nationally televised by ESPNU. The kickoff on Thursday, Sept. 29, will be at 6:30 p.m.