Sept. 26, 2005

Southeast Missouri State at Samford

Date: Sept. 29, 2005

Time: 6:30 p.m. (CDT)

Location: Seibert Stadium, Birmingham, Ala. (6,700)

Affiliations: Samford, I-AA, Ohio Valley Conference

Southeast Missouri, I-AA, Ohio Valley Conference

2004 Records: Samford 4-7, 3-5 0VC, Southeast Missouri 3-8, 3-5 OVC

2005 Records: Samford 1-3, 0-1 OVC, Southeast Missouri 0-4, 0-1 OVC

The Coaches: Tim Billings is 23-38 in his sixth season at Southeast Missouri

Bill Gray is 20-22 in his fifth season at Samford

Television: Live national telecast on ESPNU.

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.

THE TEAMS: Southeast Missouri is 0-4 overall and 0-1 in the OVC while Samford is 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the OVC.

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

Samford is 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the OVC. The Bulldogs have a win over Edward Waters and losses to I-A Baylor, Furman and OVC foe Eastern Illinois.

THE COACHES: Tim Billings, a former assistant at Marshall, Missouri and Oklahoma, is 23-38 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. He is 2-1 vs. Samford.

Bill Gray is 20-22 in his fifth season at Samford. He is 1-2 vs. Southeast Missouri.

THE SERIES: Samford leads the series 3-2 and is 2-0 in games played in Birmingham. Since the Bulldogs joined the OVC, the series is tied 1-1.

LAST SEASON: The teams played a four overtime thriller at Houck Stadium in Cape Girardeau with Southeast Missouri claiming a 51-48 victory.

The teams combined for over 1,000 yards in total offense with Southeast rolling up 591 yards while Samford had 503.

Regulation play ended in a 31-31 tie and the teams matched touchdowns in the first two overtimes and a field goal each in the third overtime. Finally, in the fourth overtime, Southeast Missouri held Samford and then won the game on a 22-yard field goal by Derek Kutz.

NATIONAL TELEVISION: The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU which is available locally on Dish Network and Direct TV.

Charlie Neal will provide the play-by-play with Kelly Stouffer as the color analyst.

BALLATORE INJURED: Junior quarterback Kevin Ballatore got his first start of the season against Jacksonville State, but was injured in the third quarter and is lost from three to five weeks with a foot injury.

He 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.

Against Jacksonville State he was 22-37 for 195 yards before being injured.

For the season, Ballatore is 44-77 for 403 yards and two TD's. He has no interceptions.

Last season, Ballatore passed for 3,029 yards and 35 touchdowns at Santa Rosa CC in California. He led the nation in completion percentage.

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 81-144 with nine interceptions and two touchdowns for 816 yards.

MOSLEY WILL BE BACKUP QB: True freshman Markus Mosley, 6-4, 185, will be the backup quarterback. Mosley was an all-district quarterback at Chapel Hill High School in Tyler, Texas.

SPREADING THE WEALTH: Southeast quarterbacks have thrown to a total of 13 receivers this season with eight receivers having 11 or more catches and six having over 100 yards in receptions.

Junior running back John Radney leads in catches with 16 while senior wide receiver T.J. Milcic leads in receiving yardage with 257.

BIG TARGETS: Southeast quarterbacks have a pair of tall targets. Tight end Joseph Tuineau (6-8, 280) has 15 catches for 190 yards while T.J. Milcic (6-5, 200) has 15 catches for 257 yards including a 71 yard touchdown reception.

REDHAWKS LEAD THE OVC IN PASSING: Southeast leads the OVC in passing offense with 304.8 yards per game. Samford is second with 298.8.

O-LINE CHANGES: Francisco Perez, who missed much of preseason with an injury, got his first start at left guard in Saturday's loss to Jacksonville State. Austin Russell moved to right guard with John Ball starting at center.

INJURIES: Starting running back Austen Collins was injured on the second play of the opener and is out for the season.

Backup safety Mark Dunaway received a leg injury in the Missouri State game and will not play against Samford.

Junior quarterback Kevin Ballatore fractured his foot in the Jacksonville State game and is out from three to five weeks.

Defensive tackle Bernard Quinn suffered an elbow injury at Kent State, but returned for the Jacksonville State game.

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 22 carries for 92 yards while Holloman has 17 carries for 50 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.

SCHERMANN IS PERFECT: Redshirt freshman kicker Colin Schermann is 4-4 in field goals this season. He has connected from 32,20,30 and 28-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 six pass break ups, 18 tackles, two tackles for losses of eight yards and has recovered a fumble.

Hicks ranks 28th nationally in interceptions.

MILLER TOP TACKLER: Senior safety Mike Miller had 14 tackles vs. Missouri State and 11 vs. Jacksonville State to move to the team lead in tackles. After four games, Miller has 33 tackles, two tackles for a loss of three yards 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 13 tackles in four games, 3.5 sacks for 11 yards in losses and 2.5 sacks. Jones 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 and two punts blocked in the Jacksonville State game. For the season he has 25 punts for an average of 39.5 yards per punt with a long of 65 and six inside the 20.

PUNTING WOES: Despite having Division I-AA's top returning punter, Southeast ranks 114 out of 116 teams in net punting. The Redhawks have had four punts blocked and have botched two other punting opportunities.

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.

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 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.

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.

NEXT FOR THE REDHAWKS: Southeast will return to Houck Stadium for the Oct. 8 Hall of Fame game vs. Eastern Illinois. The kickoff will be at 6 p.m.