Date: Saturday, Oct. 21, 2000

Time: 1 p.m.

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

2000 Records: Murray State 3-4 (1-2 OVC), Southeast Missouri 2-4 (0-3 OVC)

The Coaches: Tim Billings is 2-4 in his first year at Southeast Joe Pannunzio is 3-4 in his first year at Murray State.

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 Game Day Notes

The Teams: Southeast Missouri is 2-4 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, Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee Tech. Murray State is 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the OVC. The Racers OVC losses are to Western Kentucky and Eastern Illinois with a win over Tennessee-Martin.

Series Record: Murray State leads the series 28-5-1. The Racers have won the last seven games in the series. The last Southeast win was 27-21 in 1992 at Houck Stadium.

The Coaches: Tim Billings, an assistant at Marshall the past 10 seasons, is 2-4 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. Joe Pannunzio is 3-4 in his first year as a collegiate head coach. Pannunzio is a former assistant at Auburn, Mississippi, Minnesota, Texas Christian, Kansas and Southern Colorado.

Last Season: Murray State built up a 38-0 lead after three quarters and won the game 45-18. In the first half, Murray State scored on a blocked punt, an interception, a run and a pass.

Last Week: Southeast was idle while Murray State dropped a 48-7 game to Eastern Illinois. Eastern Illinois held Murray State to just 203 total yards and forced four turnovers. The Murray defense was shredded for 428 yards in total offense. Murray freshman quarterback Stewart Childress was 16-31 passing for 169 yards, but failed to throw a TD pass for the first time this season and had his streak of 200-yard games ended at five. Childress continues to lead the OVC in passing with133-238 for 1,729 yards and 12 TD's.

Southeast's Last Game: At Tennessee Tech on Oct. 7, Southeast out gained the Golden Eagles 292 yards to 262 yards but still dropped a 31-6 decision. The 262 yards by Tech was the lowest total for any Southeast opponent this year. Freshman Ricky Framer had 19 tackles, Joe Williams had 18 tackles and Corey Mathis had 11 tackles including six tackles for losses of 18 yards and a quarterback sack for a loss of six yards. Quarterback Bobby Brune had 259 yards in total offense to account for all but 33 yards of the Southeast offense. Brune completed 23-42 passes for 218 yards and rushed the ball 14 times for 41 yards. Jason Witczak had field goals of 44 and 33 yards to account for all of the scoring.

Personnel Changes: Ryan Roth, who started a tight end in four of the first five games, was moved to defensive end during practice drills last week. He played 22 plays at defensive end against Tech and recorded three tackles. True freshman Rick Farmer had hoped to redshirt this year, but was pressed into action in the Tech game as a starter at middle linebacker and responded with 19 tackles. True Freshman Eugene Amano started at left guard for the Indians.

Farmer was OVC and National Newcomer of the Week: True freshman Ricky Farmer was named the Teamlink/CFAA National Newcomer of the Week after being named OVC Newcomer of the Week after recording 19 tackles in his first ever collegiate game against Tennessee Tech. Farmer, a 2000 graduate of Bishop Verot High School in Fort Myers, Fla., was a first team all-area performer his junior and senior seasons.

Corey Mathis Third in OVC in Tackles for Losses: Junior linebacker Corey Mathis had six tackles for losses in the Tech game to rank third in the OVC. Mathis has a total of 12 tackles for losses of 50 yards.

Joe Williams Ranks 2nd in OVC Tackles: Defensive safety Joe Williams ranks second in the OVC in tackles with 87 tackles for an average of 14.5 per game. Williams had 19 tackles against Western Kentucky and had a career high 20 tackles against Southern Illinois. Isaac Powell ranks fourth in OVC tackles with 11.3 per game.

Witczak Ranks 6th Nationally in Punting: 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, has taken over the punting lead in the OVC and ranks sixth nationally with an average of 42.8 yards per punt. Witczak has a long punt of 66 yards which is tops in the OVC. He is 3-5 in field goals and is 4-4 in PAT's. He leads the Indians in scoring with 13 points.

Cooper High in OVC Stats: Junior Curtis Cooper ranks third in OVC kickoff and punt returns. He averages 22.47 yards per kickoff returns and 11.44 yards per punt return. In all purpose yards, Cooper ranks sixth in the OVC with 109.83 yards per game.

Multiple Receivers: A total of 14 Southeast players have had catches this season. Leslie Weaver leads the way with 21 while Corey Chester has 19 and Tarik Simpson 15. Others with receptions include, Curtis Cooper, Ryan Roth, Jerl Huling, Andy Dunaway, Jake Hill, Iven Brown, Byron White, Charles McElroy, Mark Blissett, and Marcus Patton. 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 71-132 for 836 yards this season to give him career totals of 188-435 for 2,888 yards. Brune is currently ranked third in the OVC in passing, fourth in passing efficiency and fifth in total offense. Brune has a passing efficiency of 113.76 and has 839 yards in total offense for an average of 129.6 yards per game.

Weaver over 1,500 Yards Receiving: Senior wide receiver Leslie Weaver has 21 catches for 373 yards this season to push his career totals to 106 catches for 1,534 yards. Weaver currently ranks fourth in the OVC in total receiving yards with 373, fifth in yards per game with 62.17 and fifth in receptions per game with 3.50.

Injury Update: Quarterback Rashad West has missed the last two games with an assortment of injuries, but is probable for the Murray State game. Defensive back Isaac Huddleston missed the Tennessee Tech game with a head injury but is probable for Murray. Defensive tackle James Jennette suffered a twisted knee in the Tech game but is probable for Murray State. Deep snapper Andy Cisne has missed the last two games with a neck injury but is probable for Murray State. Defensive back Leotis Belcher broke his hand during practice on September 19, but is probable for the Murray State game. Freshman defensive tackle and deep snapper Travis Bucher suffered a sprained knee during practice last week and will not play against Murray State. Defensive end Charlie Sortor remains sidelined with a shoulder injury. Freshman linebacker Travion Brock suffered a broken arm in Illinois State game and underwent surgery on Sunday, Sept. 17 and is out for the season.

Next Week: Southeast hosts Tennessee-Martin in a 6 p.m. game at Houck Stadium. It will be the final home game of the season for the Indians.

NATIONAL HONORS:

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

10-9 -- Ricky Farmer, Newcomer of the Week by Teamlink/CFAA

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.

10-9 - Ricky Farmer, Newcomer of the Week.