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HISTORY & TRAD.
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Southeast Missouri Football Notes Versus Tennessee-Martin
Oct. 7, 2002 Football Game Information Southeast Missouri State at Tennessee-Martin Date: Oct. 12, 2002 Time: 2 p.m. (CDT) Location: Hardy Graham Stadium, Martin, Tenn. (7,500) Playing Surface: Grass Affiliations: Southeast Missouri, NCAA I-AA, Ohio Valley Conference Tennessee-Martin, NCAA I-AA, Ohio Valley Conference Series: Southeast Missouri leads the series 10-7 Last Meeting: Southeast Missouri won 45-30 at Houck Stadium 2002 Records: Southeast Missouri 4-2 (1-0 0VC), Tennessee-Martin 2-4 (0-1 OVC) 2001 Records: Southeast Missouri 4-7, Tennessee-Martin 1-10 The Coaches: Tim Billings is 11-17 in his third season at Southeast Sam McCorkle is 5-23 at UTM and 25-67-2 in his 9th season 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 color analyst. Internet: The Southeast Radio Network broadcast can be heard over the internet at www.GoSoutheast.com. Southeast Schedule/Results Aug. 29 - SE 42, UAM 41 2OT Sept. 7 - SE 21, SIU 14 Sept. 14 -- E. Mich 35, SE 32 Sept. 21 - SMS 28, SE 21 Sept. 28 - SE 24, MT 14 Oct. 5 - SE 49, TSU 25 Oct. 12 -- @Tenn.-Martin Oct. 19 - Eastern Illinois Oct. 26 -- @Murray State Nov. 2 - Tennessee Tech Nov. 9 -- @ Eastern Ky. Nov. 16 -- Samford THE TEAMS: Southeast Missouri is 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the OVC after beating Tennessee-State 49-25 last Saturday. The Indians have losses to I-A Eastern Michigan and Southwest Missouri and wins over Arkansas-Monticello, Southern Illinois and I-A Middle Tennessee. Tennessee-Martin is 2-4 overall and 0-1 in the OVC. THE COACHES: Tim Billings, a former assistant at Marshall, Missouri and Oklahoma, is 11-17 in his third season at Southeast Missouri. He is 2-0 vs. UTM. Sam McCorkle is 5-23 in his third season at UTM and is 25-67-2 in his ninth season as a collegiate head coach. THE SERIES: Southeast Missouri leads the series 10-7 and has won the last five games. The last UTM win was 7-6 at Houck Stadium in 1996. LAST SEASON: Southeast scored 21 fourth quarter points to pull out a 45-30 win at Houck Stadium. GOOD OVC START: Southeast is 1-0 in the OVC for the first time since 1993. The Indians have never been 2-0 in the league. The 49 points scored against TSU was the most points ever scored by the Indians against an OVC opponent and was Southeast's highest point total since scoring 49 points against Northwest Missouri State in 1989. NATIONAL RANKING: Southeast is knocking on the door of the national Top 25 lists. In this week's voting, based on votes received, Southeast was 28th in the Sports Network poll and 32nd in the ESPN/USA TODAY poll. PONDER ON PAYTON WATCH LIST: Senior wide receiver Willie Ponder has been added to The Sports Network's 16-man Payton Watch list, a preliminary grouping of candidates for the Walton Payton Award - the Division I-AA football equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. He leads the OVC in all receiving categories including receiving yards per game (114.3), total receiving yards (686) and receptions per game (7.5). Ponder is fourth in the OVC in scoring with 7.0 points per game and ranks second in all-purpose running with 134.8 yards per game. Nationally, Ponder ranks seventh in receptions per game, ninth in receiving yards per game and 24th in all-purpose running. He was the OVC Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 17 after catching nine passes for 101 yards and two TD's in the Indians 21-14 win over SIU. Ponder had three catches in Southeast's 80-yard game winning drive that concluded with a 38-yard touchdown catch with 0:49 remaining in the game. Ponder has compiled over 100 receiving yards in all but one game this season. Lindy's football magazine and Don Hansen's Football Gazette have both named Ponder to their second team Division I-AA All-America team. Last season, Ponder led the OVC in receptions per game with 6.36, receiving yards per game with 99.09 and receiving yards with 1,090. He had 70 catches and scored a team-high 11 touchdowns. Ponder Game by Game Opp. Catches Yards TD KOR Yards TD UAM 8 116 1 1 8 0 SIU 9 101 2 1 21 0 EMU 6 121 1 0 0 0 SMS 9 137 1 3 63 0 MTS 5 90 0 2 31 0 TSU 8 121 2 0 0 0TOMCO OVC NEWCOMER OF WEEK: Junior quarterback Jack Tomco was named the OVC Newcomer of the Week for the second time t his season after equaling a school record with four TD passes against Tennessee State. He completed 25-36 passes for 300 yards and four TD's. He was previously named the OVC Newcomer of the Week after completing 15-23 passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns in the 21-14 win over SIU. The last four touchdown effort by a Southeast quarterback was when Jeff Brown threw four TD passes against Mississippi College in 1986. Tomco ranks 2nd in the OVC in passing with 111-170 for 1,310 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He was 24-33 for 298 yards and two TD's at Eastern Michigan and 27-45 for 297 yards vs. SMS. Tomco is third in OVC pass efficiency with a rating of 145.1 and is third in OVC total offense with 215.8 yards per game. Tomco threw for 2,100 yards and 16 touchdowns last season at Scottsdale Community College. Tomco Game by Game Opp. Att-Comp-Int Yards TD UAM 10-6-2 82 0 SIU 23-15-0 129 2 EMU 33-24-0 298 2 SMS 45-27-2 297 2 MTS 23-14-2 204 2 TSU 36-22-1 300 4 NESSMITH OVC SPECIALIST OF WEEK: Sophomore punt returner Chris NesSmith is the OVC Specialist of the Week after a 44-yard punt return for a touchdown against Tennessee State. NesSmith had four punt returns for 53 yards and also had five catches for 47 yards and a touchdown. KINSEY 3rd IN OVC RUSHING: Diminutive sophomore running back Corey Kinsey (5-9, 180), has rushed for over 100 yards in three of the six games this season. He ranks third in the OVC rushing with an average of 97.7 yards per game. Kinsey ranks 16th nationally in rushing and is on course to establish a new school record for rushing in a season. He ranks fourth in the OVC and 53rd nationally in all-purpose running with 115.7 yards per game. Kinsey Game by Game Opp. Rush Yards TD Catches Yards TD UAM 21 180 1 1 5 1 SIU 24 132 0 0 0 0 EMU 13 29 0 2 6 0 SMS 22 108 0 6 47 0 MTS 22 60 0 1 11 0 TSU 19 77 0 0 0 0 MOTLEY GAINS ELIGIBILITY: Senior defensive tackle Jermaine Motley has been granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA. Going into the season, Motley did not have enough hours to satisfy NCAA academic progress guidelines, but due to extenuating circumstances, he appealed his eligibility and the NCAA, in a ruling last week, granted him this season of eligibility In his first game of the season, Motley had three tackles including 1.5 tackles for losses of three yards. McDOWELL IS OUT: Sophomore quarterback Jeromy McDowell injured his left knee in practice on Sept. 2 and underwent surgery in St. Louis on Monday, Sept. 9. McDowell tore the ACL in his knee executing a drill in practice and will be lost for the remainder of this season. BIG O-LINE: The Southeast offensive line averages 306 pounds per man. The tackles are Justen Meyer (6-5, 295) and Dan Connolly (6-4, 295), the guards are Taurean Robinson (6-4, 320) and Dan Bieg (6-4, 305) and the center is Eugene Amano (6-3, 315). INJURIES: The Indians should be at near full strength for the UTM game. Only backup linebacker Todd Frazier, who fractured his hand in practice on Sept. 25 is expected to miss the game. PRESEASON HONORS: Southeast had six players named to the preseason All-OVC football team with three more earning honorable mention. It is the highest number of preseason honors since Southeast joined the OVC in 1991. Four defensive players were on the first team including senior tackle James Jennette, junior linebacker Ricky Farmer, and senior defensive backs, Prince Anderson and Demar Winston. On offense, Ponder and sophomore tackle Dan Connolly were named to the first team. Sophomore quarterback Jeromy McDowell, junior offensive guard Eugene Amano and sophomore defensive back Dimitri Patterson were honorable mention selections. OVC WEEKLY HONORS: 9-2 - Andrew Winters, Specialist of Week 9-9 - Willie Ponder, Off. Player of Week Jack Tomco, Newcomer of Week 9-16 - Keiki Misipeka, Newcomer of Week 9-30 - Keiki Misipeka, Off. Player of Week Keiki Misipkea, Newcomer of Week Ricky Farmer, Def. Player of Week 10-6 - Jack Tomco, Newcomer of Week Chris NesSmith, Specialist of Week FIVE ELECTED CAPTAINS: Five players have been elected as captains for the 2002 season. Defensive captains will be Ricky Farmer, James Jennette and Ryan Roth while offensive captains will be Jeromy McDowell and Willie Ponder. HITTING THE BOOKS: The football team had a record 25 players honored last spring as Southeast Scholar Athletes for having a 3.0 or higher cumulative grade point average. Eleven Southeast players have been named to the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll for having a 3.2 or higher GPA. Junior tight end Chuck McElroy leads the football scholars with a 3.8 grade point average. He attended an NCAA Leadership Conference during the summer. SOUTHEAST PICKED SIXTH IN OVC RACE: Southeast was picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll of league head coaches and sports information directors. The five teams ahead of the Indians are all ranked in the top 25 nationally by at least one publication. Eastern Illinois was picked to repeat as league champion with Eastern Kentucky second, Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State tied for third, Murray State fifth, Southeast sixth and Tennessee-Martin seventh. TIM BILLINGS RADIO SHOW: Tim Billings has a radio show each Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. The show, on KGIR, 1220 AM, originates from Show-Me's Restaurant in Cape Girardeau. TELEVISION FOR MURRAY STATE GAME: The Indian game at Murray State on Oct. 26 will be televised live on Fox Sports Net South that goes into over nine-million homes in the southern United States. The kickoff has been moved to 2:30 p.m. NEXT GAME: Southeast will return to Houck Stadium for the Homecoming game against preseason OVC favorite Eastern Illinois. Game time will be 1 p.m. SCHOOL STAT LEADERS: Single Season Passing Leaders 1. 2,580, Jason Liley, 1990 2. 2,326, Jason Liley, 1992 3. 2,128, Jim Eustice, 1989 4. 2,051, Jeromy McDowell, 2001 5. 1,959, Greg Brune, 1966 |
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