Oct. 17, 2005

Southeast Missouri State at Eastern Kentucky

Date: Oct. 22, 2005

Time: 5:30 p.m. (CDT)

Location: Roy Kidd Stadium, Richmond, Ky. (20,000)

Affiliations: Eastern Kentucky, I-AA, Ohio Valley Conference

Southeast Missouri, I-AA, Ohio Valley Conference

2004 Records: Eastern Kentucky 6-5, 6-2 0VC, Southeast Missouri 3-8, 3-5 OVC

2005 Records: Eastern Kentucky 3-4, 3-1 OVC, Southeast Missouri 0-6, 0-3 OVC

The Coaches: Tim Billings is 23-40 in his sixth season at Southeast Missouri

Danny Hope is 16-14 in his third season at EKU

Radio: Southeast Radio Network anchored by K-103 FM in Cape Girardeau. Other network stations include KSIM in Sikeston and KWOC in Poplar Bluff. Todd Bonacki will do play-by-play with Ron Hines as the color analyst.

Internet: Southeast Radio Network broadcast can be heard over the internet at www.k103fm.com.

THE TEAMS: Southeast Missouri is 0-6 overall and 0-3 in the OVC. The Redhawks will be idle this week. Eastern Kentucky is 3-4 overall and 3-1 in the OVC.

Southeast Missouri has losses to Southern Illinois, ranked first nationally in Division I-AA, I-A Kent State, Missouri State, OVC favorite Jacksonville State, Samford and Eastern Illinois.

Eastern Kentucky has wins over Tennessee Tech, Samford and Jacksonville State with losses to Appalachian State, Western Kentucky, North Carolina State and Eastern Illinois.

THE COACHES: Tim Billings, a former assistant at Marshall, Missouri and Oklahoma, is 23-40 in his sixth season at Southeast. He was the 2002 OVC Coach of the Year and the 2002 AFCA Region 3 Coach of the Year. He is 2-3 vs.Eastern Kentucky.

Danny Hope is 16-14 in his third season at EKU. He is 1-1 vs. Southeast.

THE SERIES: Eastern Kentucky leads the series 13-2, but Southeast Missouri has won the last two games played in Richmond.

LAST SEASON: Eastern Kentucky scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to claim a 38-13 victory at Houck Stadium.

LAST WEEK: Southeast Missouri was idle while Eastern Kentucky dropped a 53-22 decision at Eastern Illinois in a battle for first place in the OVC. The Colonels out gained the Panthers 452 yards to 331, but had three interceptions and lost two fumbles. EIU led 21-0 in the first quarter and 31-14 at the half.

INJURIES: Starting running back Austen Collins was injured on the second play of the opener and is out for the season.

Defensive back Reggie AuBuchon received a leg injury in the Samford game and is lost for the season.

Running back John Radney received a toe injury in the Samford game and did not play against Eastern Illinois. He is probable vs. EKU.

Junior quarterback Kevin Ballatore fractured his foot in the Jacksonville State game and will see the doctor again later this week. He is expected to be out two to three more weeks.

Backup safety Mark Dunaway missed the Samford game after receiving a leg injury in the Missouri State game. He returned for the Eastern Illinois game and will play vs. EKU.

SIMONHOFF MOVES TO 5th NATIONALLY: Junior punter David Simonhoff leads the OVC in punting and ranks fifth nationally with an average of 42.9 yards per punt. He was the OVC Special Teams Player of the Week after averaging 52 yards per punt at Samford with a long of 80 yards. Simonhoff has four punts of 80 yards or further at Southeast.

Simonhoff was a consensus preseason All-American. He was a second team All-America pick last season when he ranked second nationally in punting with a Southeast and OVC record of 46 yards per punt. Simonhoff is the only Redhawks player to be named preseason All-OVC.

Simonhoff had two punts blocked in the season opener vs. SIU and two punts blocked in the Jacksonville State game. For the season he has 36 punts for an average of 42.9 yards per punt with a long of 80 and seven inside the 20. He ranks 5th nationally in punting.

MOSLEY GETS SHOT AT QB: True freshman Markus Mosley, 6-4, 185, was the starting quarterback against Eastern Illinois.

Mosley completed 8-17 passes for 50 yards with one interception. He had one rush for a seven yard gain.

He played in the fourth quarter of the loss at Samford and completed 6-12 passes for 94 yards with two interceptions.

Mosley was an all-district quarterback at Chapel Hill High School in Tyler, Texas.

BALLATORE INJURED: Junior quarterback Kevin Ballatore got his first start of the season against Jacksonville State, but was injured in the third quarter and is lost from three to five weeks with a foot injury. He came off the bench in the second half of the Missouri State game and drove the Redhawks on scoring drives of 64 and 85 yards. He was 14-19 passing for 147 yards and one TD. He also had three rushes for 15 yards.

Against Jacksonville State he was 22-37 for 195 yards before being injured.

For the season, Ballatore is 44-77 for 403 yards and two TD's. He has no interceptions.

Last season, Ballatore passed for 3,029 yards and 35 touchdowns at Santa Rosa CC in California. He led the nation in completion percentage.

HALEY AIRS IT OUT: Senior quarterback Mike Haley established a new Southeast record with 61 pass attempts vs. Kent State. He also tied the school record for completions with 34. He was 34-61 for 275 yards and a touchdown while being intercepted three times.

Haley came off the bench against Eastern Illinois and directed two fourth quarter scoring drives. He was 14-24 passing for 177 yards and two TD's while being intercepted once.

For the season, Haley is 110-200 with 11` interceptions and five touchdowns for 1,168 yards.

He ranks third in the OVC in passing yardage and is fourth in total offense, but has a league-high 11 interceptions.

SPREADING THE WEALTH: Southeast quarterbacks have thrown to a total of 14 receivers this season with 10 receivers having 11 or more catches and seven having over 100 yards in receptions.

T.J. Milcic leads the teams in catches and yardage with 23 for 375 yards. He also has a team-high three touchdowns.

BIG TARGETS: Southeast quarterbacks have a pair of tall targets. Tight end Joseph Tuineau (6-8, 280) has 17 catches for 219 yards while T.J. Milcic (6-5, 200) has 23 catches for 375 yards including a 71 yard touchdown reception.

REDHAWKS LEAD THE OVC IN PASSING: Southeast leads the OVC in passing offense with 285.8 yards per game. The Redhawks are 14th nationally in passing offense.

NEW RUNNING BACKS: With the loss of Austen Collins in the opening game, newcomers John Radney and true freshman Tim Holloman have gained more and more playing time. Holloman leads the team in rushing with 37 carries for 130 yards while Radney, who missed the EIU game with a toe injury, has 24 carries for 98 yards. Holloman had a 41-yard touchdown run against Kent State called back by a penalty.

SCHERMANN LEADS OVC: Redshirt freshman kicker Colin Schermann is 8-9 in field goals this season. He has connected from 32,20,30, 28, 35, 27, 20 and 31-yards. He leads the OVC in field goals per game and field goal percentage.

HICKS PICKS: Redshirt freshman Monroe Hicks has two interceptions with one returned 47 yards for a touchdown in the SIU game. He also has eight pass break ups, 23 tackles, two tackles for losses of eight yards and has recovered a fumble.

MILLER TOP TACKLER: Senior safety Mike Miller had 14 tackles vs. Missouri State and 11 vs. Jacksonville State to move to the team lead in tackles. After six games, Miller has 52 tackles, 3.5 tackles for a losses of four yards, one interception, one blocked kick, one quarterback hurry and two pass breakups.

JONES SACKS: Junior defensive end Edgar Jones had 2.5 sacks for seven yards in losses against I-A Kent State. He has a total of 18 tackles in six games, 5.0 tackles for 22 yards in losses and 4.0 sacks. Jones also has two quarterback hurries and one pass breakup.

McKENZIE GAINS ELIGIBILITY: Sophomore Aaron McKenzie (6-2, 290) played for the first time in the Jacksonville State game. He had two tackles and a fumble recovery. McKenzie is a transfer from Wake Forest who did not clear all eligibility hurdles until the Friday prior to the Jacksonville State game.

DEFENSIVE EXTRA POINTS: For the first time in Southeast football history, the defense scored two points on an opponents extra point try. Romae Rucker intercepted a Samford two point conversion try pass and returned it 99 yards for two points.

TEAM ELECTS CAPTAINS: The Redhawks have elected four captains. The offensive captains are quarterback Mike Haley and wide receiver T.J. Milcic. Defensive captains are defensive end Edgar Jones and defensive safety Mike Miller.

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR ON ACTIVE DUTY IN IRAQ: Damon Bradford, football defensive coordinator at Southeast Missouri State University is currently on active duty with the Tennessee National Guard in Iraq.

Bradford joined the Southeast staff prior to the start of spring drills in 2004 and was called to active duty in the summer of 2004. He previously served as linebacker coach at Tennessee Tech.

NEW COACHES: Southeast has five new coaches. Joe Dan Rogers (defensive backs), Rip Flippo (quarterbacks) and C. L. Miller III (defensive ends) joined the staff prior to spring practice while Derek Hill (defensive line) and Steve Canter (tight ends) joined the staff in late July.

The only holdovers from last year's staff are assistant head coach Kip Shaw (running backs), Mike Chavez (offensive line), and Rob Likens (offensive coordinator and wide receivers).

SOUTHEAST HAS THREE FORMER PLAYERS IN THE NFL: Southeast has had NFL draft choices in two of the last three years and currently has three players on active rosters in the NFL.

Willie Ponder, a consensus All-American at Southeast, was drafted in the sixth round of the 2002 NFL draft by the New York Giants.

Ponder led the NFL in kickoff returns last season and had a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in this season's opener vs. the Arizona Cardinals.

Eugene Amano, the 2003 Rimington Award winner as the top center in I-AA football, was drafted in the seventh round of the 2003 draft by the Tennessee Titans.

Amano was a part-time starter for the Titans last season and is currently number two on the Titan depth chart at center and both guard positions.

Dan Connolly, an offensive tackle for the Redhawks last season, was signed the day after the 2004 draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars and has made the team. He is currently listed as a second unit guard for the Jaguars.

BILLINGS ON TELEVISION: Southeast Missouri Football with Tim Billings is televised weekly on UPN-The Beat. Todd Richards hosts the show that airs at 6:30 p.m. each Thursday.

Tim Billings RADIO SHOW: Tim Billings has a one-hour radio show each Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. The show is broadcast live from Port Cape Girardeau on ESPN Radio, 1220 AM. Erik Sean is host for the show that also includes call-ins and audience participation.

NEXT FOR THE REDHAWKS: Southeast will host the homecoming game with Murray State on Oct. 29, 1 p.m.