Oct. 9, 2006

SEMO-Arkansas Football Notes
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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -

Southeast Missouri State @ Arkansas
Date:  Oct. 14, 2006
Kickoff:  1:00 p.m.
Location:  Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville, Ark.  (72,000)
Affiliations:  Arkansas, I-A, Southeastern Conference
	       Southeast Missouri, I-AA, Ohio Valley Conference
2005 Records:  Arkansas 4-7, 2-6 SEC
            SE Missouri, 2-9, 2-6 OVC
2006 Records:  Arkansas 4-1, 3-0 SEC, SE Missouri 3-2, 1-2 OVC
The Coaches:  Houston Nutt is 57-34 in his 8th season at Ark.,
              93-56 overall
  	    Tony Samuel is 3-2 at Southeast,
            37-59 in 9 years overall
Radio:  Southeast Radio Network anchored by
K-103 FM in Cape Girardeau.  Other network stations include
1380 ESPN in St. Louis, KSIM in Sikeston,
KWOC in Poplar Bluff and KMAL in Malden.
Internet:  Southeast Radio Network broadcast can be
heard over the internet at www.k103fm.com.

THE TEAMS: Southeast Missouri is 3-2 overall and 1-2 in the OVC after a 38-13 win over Austin Peay, a 44-23 win over Missouri-Rolla, a 38-7 loss at Jacksonville State, a 19-14 win over Samford and a 21-0 loss to Eastern Illinois, ranked 20th in I-AA. Arkansas, a 27-10 upset winner over number two ranked Auburn on Saturday, is 4-1 overall and 3-0 in the Southeastern Conference. The Razorbacks are ranked 17th by AP and 23rd in the Coaches Poll.

THE COACHES: Tony Samuel, an assistant at Purdue last season after serving as eight years as head coach at New Mexico State, is 3-2 in his first season at Southeast. He is 37-59 in his ninth year as a collegiate head coach. Samuel is 0-2 vs. Arkansas with losses in 2003 and 2004 while head coach at New Mexico State. Houston Nutt, a former coach at Murray State, is 57-34 in his eighth season at Arkansas and is 93-56 in his 13th season as a collegiate head coach. Nutt is 4-0 vs. Southeast Missouri while coaching at Murray State.

THE SERIES: Arkansas leads the series 1-0 with the only game 100 years ago when Arkansas won 12-0 in 1906.

SOUTHEAST IS 1-10 vs. I-A: Since moving to NCAA Division I-AA in 1991, Southeast Missouri is 1-9 vs. I-A opponents. The only win was over Middle Tennessee, 24-14, in 2002. The losses, all on the road, are to Hawaii, Marshall, Eastern Michigan (2), Arkansas State (2), Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Ohio and Kent State.

REDHAWKS LEAD THE NATION IN TO MARGIN: Southeast played four games without a turnover but suffered three in the 21-0 loss at Eastern Illinois. The Redhawks are ranked second nationally in I-AA a turnover margin at 2.0. Southeast ranks 13th nationally in net punting with 36.10 yards per game. The Redhawks rank 22nd nationally in sacks with 2.40 per game.

SIMONHOFF LEADS THE NATION IN PUNTING: David Simonhoff continues to lead the nation in punting with an average 45.04 yards per punt. After averaging 51.2 yards per punt against Jacksonville State, Simonhoff was voted the National Special Teams Player of the Week. At Jacksonville State, Simonhoff had five punts go over 50 yards, including two over 60, with a long of 66 yards. Simonhoff was named a first team preseason All-American by The Sports Network and I-AA.org. Simonhoff was a first team All-America pick by the American Football Coaches Association after last season when he again led the OVC in punting. In the opening win at Austin Peay, Simonhoff had four punts for an average of 45.5 yards per punt with three inside the 20. Simonhoff averaged 43.6 yards per punt during his previous three seasons at Southeast. In 2004 he established a new Southeast and OVC individual season record when he averaged 46 yards per punt. He has three punts of 80 yards or more and eight punts of 70 yards or more.

Edgar Jones LEADS I-AA IN SACKS AND TFL: Senior defensive end Edgar Jones is leads the I-AA nationally in sacks and tackles for losses. He averages 1.880 sacks per game and 2.20 tackles for losses per game. Jones has had at least one sack in every game.

CASPER 13th NATIONALLY IN TACKLES: Junior linebacker Adam Casper ranks 13th nationally in I-AA tackles with 10.6 per game. Casper, who leads the OVC in tackles, was in on 20 tackles at Eastern Illinois and added a blocked punt and a fumble recovery.

TWO QUARTERBACKS: The Redhawks have used two quarterbacks in each of the last two games. Senior Kevin Ballatore has started all five games, but sophomore Markus Mosley has seen action in the last two games. Ballatore is 42-79 with one interception for 397 yards and three touchdowns. Mosley, who also played briefly in the opener, is 5-10 for 72 yards with one interception and one TD.

RADNEY LEADS IN RUSHING AND SCORING: Senior John Radney leads the Redhawks in rushing with 62 carries for 291 yards and four TD's. He has a team-high 24 points. Tim Holloman, who has been slowed by an ankle injury suffered in the Samford game, has 49 carries for 271 yards and three TD's. He is questionable for the Arkansas game.

POSITION CHANGES: During the off week, there were some position changes. Defensive linemen Nick Ferguson and Jaunell Pugh moved to the offensive line. Ferguson will be a backup at one guard with Pugh a backup at the other guard. Fullback Corey Andrade moved to the defensive line .

BALANCED ATTACK: In the season opening win over Austin Peay, Southeast had 178 yards rushing and 180 yards passing.

INDIVIDUAL OVC STATS: David Simonhoff, the OVC leader in punting the last two seasons, is again on top with 45.04 yards per punt. Edgar Jones leads the league in sacks with 1.8 per game and tackles for losses with 2.0 per game.

CAPTAINS ELECTED: The Redhawks have elected two offensive and two defensive captains. Serving the offense will be quarterback Kevin Ballatore and wide receiver Oge Oge. The defensive captains are linebacker Seth Harrell and defensive end Edgar Jones who is serving his second season as a captain.

PRESEASON ALL-OVC: Simonhoff was a preseason all-OVC choice for the second straight year. He was joined on the preseason all-OVC team by sophomore kicker Colin Schermann and senior defensive end Edgar Jones.

SCHOLAR BALLERS: The Southeast football team is participating in the Scholar Baller program as a pilot project for the NCAA. Scholar Baller is a committed team of educators, administrators, professional athletes and entertainers dedicated to educating today's youth about the importance of academics using sports and entertainment. Scholar Baller is a nonprofit organization inspiring youth to excel in academics using incentive based educational programs that recognize the cultural power that sport and entertainment have in the development of character in a manner that transcends race, gender and class. The Southeast soccer and volleyball squads are also participating. All Southeast football players who have 3.0 or higher cumulative grade point averages will wear a Scholar Baller patch on their game jersey. Players with the special patches include Terry Anderson, Kevin Ballatore, Matt Boyack, Clayton Caron, Adam Casper, Joe Goff, Zach Leible, Kendall Magana, Francisco Perez, Colin Schermann and Joe Tuineau.

NEXT WEEK: Southeast will host Eastern Kentucky in the annual homecoming game. The kickoff will be at 1 p.m.