Southeast Missouri Football Game Notes Versus Eastern Illinois :: Team will entertain the Panthers for Homecoming

Oct. 15, 2002

Football Game Information

Eastern Illinois at Southeast Missouri State

Date: Oct. 19, 2002 (Southeast Homecoming)

Time: 1 p.m. (CDT)

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

Playing Surface: FieldTurf

Affiliations: Southeast Missouri, NCAA I-AA, Ohio Valley Conference Eastern Illinois, NCAA I-AA, Ohio Valley Conference

Series: Eastern Illinois leads the series 6-3

Last Meeting: Eastern Illinois 12, Southeast 0 last season at Charleston, Ill.

National Ranking: Eastern Illinois is ranked 7th, Southeast 26th by The Sports Network

2002 Records: Southeast Missouri 5-2 (2-0 0VC), Eastern Illinois 4-2 (2-0 OVC)

2001 Records: Southeast Missouri 4-7, Eastern Illinois 9-2

The Coaches: Tim Billings is 12-17 in his third season at Southeast Bob Spoo is 97-79-1 in his 16th season at EIU

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 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 - SE 50, UTM 35 Oct. 19 - Eastern Illinois Oct. 26 -- @Murray State Nov. 2 - Tennessee Tech Nov. 9 -- @ Eastern Ky. Nov. 16 -- Samford

THE TEAMS: The teams are tied for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference with 2-0 conference marks. Overall, Southeast is 5-2 while Eastern Illinois is 4-2. The Indians have won three straight games while the Panthers have won four straight.

THE COACHES: Tim Billings, a former assistant at Marshall, Missouri and Oklahoma, is 12-17 in his third season at Southeast Missouri. He is 0-2 vs. EIU. Bob Spoo is 97-79-1 in his 16th season at EIU. He is 6-1 vs. Southeast.

THE SERIES: Eastern Illinois leads the series 6-3 and has won the last two games. The last Southeast win was 45-38 in 1999 in the last meeting at Houck Stadium.

LAST SEASON: Playing in a driving rain storm, the Panthers won 12-0 as Southeast had only 156 yards in total offense.

LAST WEEK: Southeast rolled up 603 yards in total offense in a 50-35 win over Tennessee-Martin while Eastern Illinois drove 75 yards in the final 43 seconds to score a touchdown and beat Eastern Kentucky 25-24.

GOOD OVC START: Southeast is 2-0 in the OVC for the first time ever. The 50 points scored against Tennessee-Martin was the most points ever scored by the Indians against an OVC opponent topping the previous week's 49 points against Tennessee State.

NATIONAL RANKING: Southeast is knocking on the door of the national Top 25 lists. In this week's voting, based on votes received, Southeast is 26th in the Sports Network poll. Eastern Illinois is ranked 7th by the Sports Network.

TOP OFFENSES CLASH: The first place show down between the Indians and Panthers will feature the top two offenses in the OVC and the top two quarterbacks in the OVC. Southeast leads the league in total offense with 444 yards per game while Eastern Illinois is second with 441.17 yards per game. The Indians are the top scoring team in the OVC with 34.14 points per game, Eastern Illinois is third with 30 points per game. EIU quarterback Tony Romo, a leading contender for the Walter Payton Award, leads the OVC in passing 21.5 completions per game while Tomco is second with 20. In passing efficiency, Tomco is first with a rating of 156.07 while Romo is second with 148.23. Romo is responsible for a league high 18 points per game while Tomco is second with 15.43 per game. In total offense, Romo leads the OVC with 281.33 yards per game while Tomco is second with 246.29 yards per game.

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 is the national leader in total receiving yards with 790. Ponder leads the OVC in all receiving categories including receiving yards per game (112.86), total receiving yards (790) and receptions per game (7.29). 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 27th 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         0
UTM	     6	         104	 1       0     0         0

TOMCO OVC NEWCOMER OF WEEK: Junior quarterback Jack Tomco was named the OVC Newcomer of the Week for the third time this season after establishing three new school records and tieing another in the win over Tennessee-Martin. Tomco completed 29-39 passes for a school record 429 yards and a school record five touchdowns. His 429 yards in total offense was also a school record. He has tied the school record for touchdowns in a season with 17. The previous week he was the OVC Newcomer of the Week 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 also 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 junior from Anchorage, Alaska, leads the OVC in passing efficency and ranks second in passing, total offense and points responsible for. Nationally Tomco is 8th in passing efficiency and 21st in total offense. 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 UTM 39-29-1 429 5

KINSEY LEADS THE OVC IN RUSHING: Diminutive sophomore running back Corey Kinsey (5-9, 180), has rushed for over 100 yards in three of the six games played this season and leads the OVC in rushing with an average of 97.7 yards per game. Kinsey ranks 20th 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 48th 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
UTM     (Did Not Play)

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 the week prior to the Middle Tennessee game, granted him this season of eligibility

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 EIU game. Backup linebacker Todd Frazier, who fractured his hand in practice on Sept. 25 will miss the game and Demar Winston, who turned an ankle in practice last Tuesday missed the UTM game but is probable this week.

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
10-13 -- Jack Tomco, Newcomer 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.

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

Single Season Rushing Leaders 1. 1,371, Kelvin Anderson, 1992 2. 1,198, Curtis Cooper, 2001 3. 1,016 Kelvin Anderson, 1993 4. 1,005 Kelvin Anderson, 1994 5. 1,005 Dione Tyler, 1995 6. 973 ,Walt Smallwood, 1968

Single Season Receiving Yard Leaders 1. 1,116, Farron Haley, 1989 2. 1,090, Willie Ponder, 2001 3. 817, Ches Salyer, 1990 4. 815, Darrell Philon, 1991 5. 790, Willie Ponder, 2002 7. 773, Glenn Krupa, 1992

Single Season Reception Leaders 1. 77, Glenn Krupa, 1992 (Led NCAA I) 2. 72, Farron Haley, 1989 3. 70, Willie Ponder, 2001 4. 60, Darrell Philon, 1991 5. 58, Ches Salyer, 1990

Southeast Career Passing Leaders 1. 6,179 Jason Liley (1989-92) 2 5,853 Jeff Brown (1984-87) 3 4,808 Lance Brune (1970-73) 4 4,368 Joe Young (1979-81) 5 4,124 Bobby Brune (1998-01) 6 4,109 Greg Brune (1965-67) 7 3,935 Jim Eustice (1988-89)