Southeast Missouri State at Tennessee Tech

Date: Saturday, Oct. 7, 2000
Time: 2 p.m. (CDT)
Location: Tucker Stadium (Cookeville, Tenn.) 16,500
2000 Records: Tennessee Tech 3-1 (2-0 OVC), Southeast Missouri 2-3 (0-2 OVC)
1999 Records: Tennessee Tech 5-5 (4-3 OVC), Southeast Missouri 3-8 (2-5 OVC)
The Coaches: Tim Billings is 2-3 in his first year at Southeast
Mike Hennigan is 23-24 in his 5th year at Tennessee Tech 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 Mike Legg providing color.
Internet: Southeast Radio Network broadcast can be heard over the internet at www.k103fm.com.
Follow the Indians on the internet at www.gosoutheast.com

Football Notes

The Teams: Southeast Missouri is 2-3 after a loss to Marshall, a road win over Southern Illinois, a home win over nationally ranked Illinois State and OVC losses to Western Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky. Tennessee Tech is 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the OVC. Tech has OVC wins over Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee-Martin and a non-conference win over Harding. The only Golden Eagle loss was to I-A Ohio University.

Series Record: Tennessee Tech leads the series 5-4. The teams are 2-2 in games played in Cookeville including a 29-24 Southeast win in 1998.

The Coaches: Tim Billings, an assistant at Marshall the past 10 seasons, is 2-3 in his first year as head coach at Southeast. He also served as an assistant at Missouri and Oklahoma. As an assistant, Billings coached in five I-AA title games and in four bowl games. Mike Hennigan is 23-24 in his fifth season at Tennessee Tech. He is 3-1 vs. Southeast.

Last Season: Tennessee Tech won 21-7 at Houck Stadium in Cape Girardeau. Southeast led 7-0 at the half, but the Golden Eagles scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to claim the win. Tech broke a 7-7 tie with a blocked punt return for a touchdown.

Last Week: Southeast led 20th ranked Eastern Kentucky 17-14 in the second quarter but could not hold on as the Colonels won 48-24. EKU rolled up 586 yards in total offense including 399 rushing yards. Southeast managed just 212 yards in total offense including just five rushing yards. Bobby Brune was 15-28 passing for 207 yards and two TD's. Tennessee Tech led 46-0 after three quarters in a 46-6 win over Tennessee-Martin. The Tech defense held Martin to just 53 total yards. In two OVC games Tech has given up only an average of 98 yards per game.

Joe Williams Ranks 2nd Nationally in Tackles: In the first release of NCAA I-AA football statistics released last Thursday, Southeast senior free safety Joe Williams was ranked second nationally. He currently has 69 tackles in five games for an average of 13.8 tackles per game Williams had 19 tackles against Western Kentucky and had a career high 20 tackles against Southern Illinois. He is currently second in the OVC in tackles. Isaac Powell is ranked 18th nationally in tackles with 54 for an average of 10.8 per game. Division I-AA defensive stats are released every four weeks.

Witczak Ranks 9th Nationally: Southeast punter Jason Witczak, who was selected as the I-AA national Special Teams Player of the Week after his punting performance against Illinois State, had a career long 66-yard punt against Eastern Kentucky and currently ranks 2nd in the OVC and 9th nationally with an average of 43.05 yards per punt. Witczak also handled PAT and field goal duties against EKU and was 3-3 on PAT's and had a 41-yard field goal.

Southeast Leads OVC in KO Returns: The Indians lead the OVC in kickoff returns with an average of 23.50 per return which ranks Southeast 22nd nationally in I-AA.

Cooper High in OVC Stats: Junior Curtis Cooper ranks second in OVC kickoff returns with an average of 24.42 yards per return. He had a 77-yard return on the opening kickoff at Eastern Kentucky Cooper ranks fourth in OVC punt returns with an average of 13.40 yards per return. In all purpose yards, Cooper ranks ninth in the OVC with 111 yards per game.

Multiple Receivers: A total of 13 Southeast players have had catches this season. Leslie Weaver leads the way with 19 while Corey Chester has 14. Others with receptions include Tarik Simpson, Curtis Cooper, Ryan Roth, Jerl Huling, Andy Dunaway, Jake Hill, Iven Brown, Byron White, Charles McElroy, Mark Blissett. and offensive lineman Jonathan Jensen who caught a deflected pass in the SIU game.

Brune Nears 3,000 Yards Passing: Junior quarterback Bobby Brune is closing in on 3,000 yards passing for his career. He is 48-92 for 618 yards this season to give him career totals of 165-395 for 2,670 yards.

Weaver over 1,500 Yards Receiving: Senior wide receiver Leslie Weaver has 19 catches for 365 yards this season to push his career totals to 104 catches for 1,517 yards. Weaver currently ranks third in the OVC in total receiving yards with 356, fourth in yards per game with 71.20 and fifth in receptions per game with 3.80.

Injury Update: Isaac Huddleston suffered a head injury in the Eastern Kentucky game and is out until at least the Murray State game. Defensive end Rodney Woodall suffered a knee injury at EKU and is questionable for the Tech game. Defensive tackle James Jennette suffered a hand injury but is probable for the Tech game. Defensive end Charlie Sortor and kicker/deep snapper Andy Cisne and quarterback Rashad West all missed the Eastern Kentucky game. They are all questionable for the Tech game. Freshman linebacker Travion Brock suffered a broken arm in Illinois State game and underwent surgery on Sunday, Sept. 17. He is out indefinitely. Defensive back Leotis Belcher broke his hand during practice on Tuesday, Sept. 19 and will be sidelined for at least three weeks.

Southeast is 2-0 vs. Gateway: The Indians are 2-0 against Gateway Conference schools with wins over Southern Illinois and Illinois State. Southeast has one more Gateway foe on the schedule this season with a Nov. 11 game at Southwest Missouri. Prior to this season, Southeast was 3-13 vs. Gateway teams since the Indians move to Division I-AA in 1991.

Six Captains: The Southeast players have elected six captains, three on offense and three on defense. Offensive captains are quarterback Rashad West, offensive guard David Fielder and wide receiver Leslie Weaver. Defensive captains are safety Isaac Powell, defensive end Asim Thomas and strong safety Joe Williams.

NATIONAL HONORS: 9-16 - Jason Witczak, Special Teams Player of the Week

OVC HONORS: 9-11 - Bobby Brune, Offensive Player of the Week.
9-11 - Curtis Cooper, Newcomer of the Week.
9-18 - Jason Witczak, Specialist of the Week.

Preseason All-OVC: Senior safety Isaac Powell, junior quarterback Rashad West and sophomore defensive lineman James Jennette received honorable mention preseason all-OVC. Southeast was picked to finish seventh in a preseason poll of OVC football coaches and sports information directors.

Next Week: Southeast will be idle. The Indians next game will be on Oct. 21 when they host Murray State in the 1 p.m. homecoming game.

Around the OVC: In OVC action on Oct. 14, Murray State is at Eastern Illinois, Tennessee-Martin is at Tennessee State and Eastern Kentucky is at Central Florida.