Football Game Information

Southeast Missouri State vs. Tennessee-Martin

Date: Saturday, Oct. 28, 2000

Time: 6 p.m.

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

2000 Records: Tennessee-Martin 1-7 (0-6 OVC), Southeast Missouri 2-5 (0-4 OVC)

The Coaches: Tim Billings is 2-5in his first year at Southeast Sam McCorkle is 1-7 in his first year at UTM

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.

The Teams: Southeast Missouri is 2-5 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, Tennessee Tech and Murray State. The Indians have lost four straight.

Tennessee-Martin has lost seven straight and stands 1-7 overall and 0-6 in the OVC.

Series Record: Southeast leads the series 8-7 and has won three straight. In the three wins, Southeast has won by an average score of 39.7 to 9.3.

The Coaches: Tim Billings, an assistant at Marshall the past 10 seasons, is 2-5 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.

Sam McCorkle is 1-7 in his first year at UTM and is 21-51-2 in his seventh year as a collegiate head coach.

Last Season: The Indians led 30-0 after three quarters and coasted to a 36-7 win at Martin. Southeast quarterback Rashad West was 13-23 for 260 yards and one TD and also ran for a TD.

Last Week: Southeast committed seven turnovers in a 38-28 loss to Murray State. The Indians suffered a school record six interceptions, four by Rashad West and two by Bobby Brune.West rushed for 77 yards and three TD's as Southeast rolled up a season-high 421 yards in total offense.

Tennessee-Martin dropped a 27-0 decision to Eastern Kentucky. The Skyhawks, who are third in the OVC in rushing offense, rushed for 155 yards vs. EKU, but passed for only six yards.

Attendance Record Possible: A big crowd for the Tennessee-Martin game could give Southeast a new record for average attendance in a season. After three home games, Southeast is averaging 9,458 fans per game. Saturday's game will be Southeast's final home game of the season.

Joe Williams Leads OVC in Tackles: Defensive safety Joe Williams leads the OVC in tackles with 102 tackles for an average of 14.6 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 79 for an average of 11.3 per game.

Witczak Ranks 11th 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 11th nationally with an average of 42.0 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 8-8 in PAT's.

Mathis Third in OVC in Tackles for Losses: Corey Mathis has a total of 14 tackles for losses of 53 yards. He had two tackles for losses against Murray State.

Cooper High in OVC Stats: Junior Curtis Cooper ranks third in OVC kickoff and punt returns. He averages 21.05 yards per kickoff returns and 12.06 yards per punt return. He is ranked 21st nationally in punt returns. In all purpose yards, Cooper ranks fourth in the OVC with 109.86 yards per game.

Brune Goes Over 3,000 Yards Passing: Junior quarterback Bobby Brune surpassed the 3,000 yard mark in career passing yards during the Murray State game. He is 78-144 for 954 yards this season to give him career totals of 195-447 for 3,006 yards. Brune is currently ranked fourth in the OVC in passing and total offense. He is fifth in passing efficency. Brune has a passing efficency of 115.72 and has 968 yards in total offense for an average of 138 yards per game.

Weaver over 1,500 Yards Receiving: Senior wide receiver Leslie Weaver has 23 catches for 427 yards this season to push his career totals to 108 catches for 1,588 yards. Weaver currently ranks fourth in the OVC in total receiving yards with 427, fourth in yards per game with 61.00 and fifth in receptions per game with 3.29

Personnel Changes: David Fielder, last year's starter at center, was moved back to center for the Murray game. He had been starting at guard this season. Ryan Roth, who started a tight end in four of the first five games, was moved to defensive end during practice drills prior to the Tech game. 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. He came back with ten tackles vs. Murray State. True Freshman Eugene Amano started at left guard for the Indians.

Multiple Receivers: A total of 14 Southeast players have had catches this season. Leslie Weaver leads the way with 23 while Corey Chester has 21 and Tarik Simpson 19. Others with receptions include, Curtis Cooper, Ryan Roth, Jerl Huling, Andy Dunaway, Jake Hill, Iven Brown, Byron White, Charles McElroy, Mark Blissett, Marcus Patton. and offensive lineman Jonathan Jensen who caught a deflected pass in the SIU game.

Injury Update: Running back Iven Brown suffered a contusion to the outside of his left leg early in the Murray State game. He is probable this week. Defensive tackle James Jennette suffered a twisted knee in the Tech game and played only briefly in the Murray State game. He is probable for UTM. Freshman defensive tackle and deep snapper Travis Bucher suffered a sprained knee during practice last week and did not play against Murray State. He is doubtful this week. Defensive end Charlie Sorter 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..

Southeast is 2-0 vs. Gateway: The Indians are 2-0 against Gateway Conference schools with wins over Southern Illinois and Illinois State. Southeast has one more Gateway foe on the schedule this season with a Nov. 11 game at Southwest Missouri. Prior to this season, Southeast was 3-13 vs. Gateway teams since the Indians move to Division I-AA in 1991.

Six Captains: The Southeast players have elected six captains, three on offense and three on defense. Offensive captains are quarterback Rashad West, offensive guard David Fielder and wide receiver Leslie Weaver. Defensive captains are safety Isaac Powell, defensive end Asim Thomas and strong safety Joe Williams.

NATIONAL HONORS:

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

10-9 -- Ricky Farmer, Newcomer of theWeek 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.

Preseason All-OVC: Senior safety Isaac Powell, junior quarterback Rashad West and sophomore defensive lineman James Jennette received honorable mention preseason all-OVC. Southeast was picked to finish seventh in a preseason poll of OVC football coaches and sports information directors.

Next Week: Southeast will play at Eastern Illinois in a 1:30 p.m. OVC game. Tennessee-Martin plays at Southwest Missouri State.